Month: February 2021

Vaccines are coming

Since the vaccines were announced I have been trying to find a way to help. I applied to some part-time positions and wrote to the school district and my county office to let me work or volunteer for them. There was a ton of interest in using me, but no one offering me any actual positions.

After a month of emails and phone calls and applications (including digging up an old public hearing document that had the email address for a person I saw on a news story about a local vaccine clinic) (yeah, I felt like a stalker), I finally got a lead from the Jeffco public health department. They told me to register on the CVM website so they can use me. I later learned that there were issues with taking liability for volunteers, that the recent PREP Act fixed this by putting all liability on the state for any licensed volunteers. And, of course, hiring is always limited and slow, so a paid position will be harder to acquire than volunteering.

Things started to happen fast. I registered and did the FEMA training, and followed-up with (i.e. continued pestering) my collected contacts at the county office.

As promised, 10 days later when my background check cleared, I started getting invitations to volunteer at the vaccine clinics.

Thursday was my first shift!

What a day to start! We got about 4-5 inches of snow overnight. At home that meant the schools canceled in-person learning, and the remote lessons were basically “have fun in the snow!” So the plan for Ben to simple drop off and pick-up the kids for me became a lot more complicated. Poor guy.

For me it meant wearing many layers. My assignment was “Post-Op Supervisor.” This was a drive-through vaccine clinic run by the county. A paramedic and myself instructed and supervised every person to stay for 15 or 30 minutes in case they have a reaction to the shot. We reviewed symptoms and answered questions, directed parking, and answered about 4 car honks of people have mild issues (all resolved, none wanted to escalate to the hospital). This meant I spent about 8 hours standing in the snow and sun, speaking more than I have in a year, and talking louder than usual to be heard over the rumbling trucks.

I came home exhausted. My feet were aching so badly, I was fighting my Reynauds all day (yay for heated gloves!), and my voice was dry and cracking. But I haven’t been so happy in a long time. I had no energy in my body but my mind was energized and peaceful.

They gave out 510 vaccines that shift. I met some great people working the clinic and saw many polite people who were thrilled to be getting their vaccine. It was so uplifting to be a part of a solution. It was also a big step for me returning to work after quitting clinical practice 7 years ago. My confidence grew and I felt validated and wanted. My supervisor and coworkers were all so grateful I was there and said they hoped I would be back.

I have 6 more shifts scheduled for March at a different drive-through clinic in Lakewood. They tend to request volunteers last-minute: Thursday’s shift request was only 3 days prior. So I hope I can add more time in the Arvada clinic too. Bonus points if it doesn’t lead to frozen fingers and sunburned eyes! I really want to be a vaccinator and actually give the shots, but even if I only get pre-op education and observer roles, I’ll be happy. I learned a lot about what to pack and wear for comfort, and I look forward to helping more.

No one asked me if I needed the vaccine. The county is strict and they said they kick out about 100 people every day who made appointments but don’t meet the qualifications. So I didn’t think I would get one and was afraid to ask. At the end of my shift I finally asked my supervisor to confirm that I won’t be getting one, just so I can tell my family for sure it’s not happening. To my surprise, she apologized! She said they usually check every morning huddle for who needs one, and that I absolutely “deserve” a vaccine for being a volunteer. She rushed me into the fire station bay where the shots were given, but they didn’t have any extra doses left. She was super apologetic and told me to ask for one at my next shift.

Meanwhile, I had put myself on Kaiser’s waiting list as a healthcare worker once my CVM registration was approved. By coincidence, on Friday afternoon I got an email that it was my turn! I took the next available appointment and ta da! Today I got the Moderna vaccine!

I’m so happy. I had joked that I would bake a cake to celebrate the day I got the shot. So I did.

Things are looking up.

My Birthday!

Last week I celebrated my last birthday on this side of the hill – 39! Ben and the boys did their best to give me a special day even though we couldn’t go out anywhere like we usually would.

I didn’t take many pictures. It was a very nice, relaxing day. I slept in, and then was greeted with cheers and a banner and a giant pile of presents. I was spoiled by all my family this year, with lots of crafting things, baking supplies, and beautiful things to wear. I had pleasant video calls with the Waterhouses and the Masons, and even my German penpal living in Tianjin! I received many birthday greetings by text message and a couple quick porch visits from friends bearings gifts. I truly felt loved!

My one plan for the day was to indulge in lunch alone. I listened to a podcast on the drive down to Shake Shack and had lunch by myself in my car. Ahhh. For dinner we had Thai take-out and watched Paddington 2. I baked myself a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting. We were surprised when snow started to fall, making a beautiful, cozy end to a wonderful day.

King cake

We have never celebrated Mardi Gras and I have never had king cake. My curiosity was too strong this year, so I made one myself. Basically a big cinnamon roll? Huh. Can’t really go wrong with enriched dough and cinnamon sugar. It made a warm and exciting after school snack. (They helped me with the sprinkles.)

Crafty winter times

With the new year I felt the urge to purge my yarn stash. Usually I match yarn to pattern and follow the instructions with minimal changes. But these next three projects were entirely improvised.

First, I whipped up some leg warmers. Very basic 2×2 rib tubes. This was a rough, raw, sheepy wool from Wales. These leg warmers will be perfect to layer with boots on a snowy day.

Then I found a gorgeous ball of superwash sock yarn. I think I bought this green and purple blend in Chicago, but I’m not sure. I love the colors so much, I didn’t want to hide them under my pants hem as socks. Instead I made a close-fitting cowl, sort of like a turtleneck-dickie. I knit two stockinette triangles, then joined them and continued in the round with ribbing. It looked a little odd, so I added a tassel – perfect!

My next project was a little more ambitious. I’ve had many skeins of this berroco wool blend for YEARS. I knew I wanted to make a sweater, but I could never find a pattern I liked for the variegated coloring. I finally decided to make the most basic of sweaters on a knitting machine and just get. it. done.

Well, my knitting machine was falling apart. It was an entry-level model made of foam and plastic. I was proud of the purchase when I made it in my early twenties, but now the machine has lots of chipped or worn out pieces. When I called my mom for advice, she declared that I should have a better machine. A few days later with a Happy Birthday from mom, I had a lovely, functional, reliable machine!

I set up the machine and had a gauge sample knit in only 30 minutes! After washing, drying, and measuring, I did some math to make the sweater. The latest trend amongst knitters is puffy sleeves. What better time to experiment? I mapped out a crop sweater with balloon sleeves and got to stitching. I had all the pieces made in about 1 1/2 hours! It took much longer to figure out how to seam them together, and then hand-knit the ribbed cuffs.

It’s a kooky little sweater but I LOVE IT!

I’m already scheming to rip out a previously knit cardigan that’s too big, to make another puff sweater (maybe like this?).

BTW, the next trend I’m seeing on ravelry is bobbles. They’re everywhere! I want to make a lacy-bobble-halo sweater, but that’s a hand-knit project for another day.

The PTA wanted to making rice pack neck warmers for all the teachers for Valentine’s Day. Knowing that I’m crafty (I knit during meetings), they asked me to help. I made a test sample and wrote up a tutorial for the other 4 sewers. Then I made 14 more neck warmers. I struggled with my old Necchi, like usual. I’ve had it for maybe 20 years? I feel like it’s always being cranky with me, even after getting it serviced and adjusted and new belts and what-not. It’s constantly knots up my starter threads, or jams, or skips stitches, or doesn’t feed the fabric evenly. Well, that new knitting machine got me thinking how much I would enjoy sewing better if my sewing machine just worked.

After much online research and testing out some store models I bought a Janome 3160QDC. Happy Birthday to me again! I get presents all month long! 😉

I LOVE this machine too. It’s like night and day between my old machine and this one.

I thought I would want a basic mechanical work-horse. But after trying one with automatic reverse or quilt knotting, thread cutting, a needle-threader, and up/down needle positioning, I realized yes, yes I do want those shiny bells and whistles please.

After getting it out the box and running some scrap fabric through for a few minutes (per the manual), I put some additional quilted stitches on a leftover neck warmer. Like BUTTER, my new Janome.

I’ve been wanting to make the Pins and Paws pattern since I finished Sam’s dragon quilt. Gotta wait for my pre-cut fabric to come from Etsy, then I can match it to backing and binding and dive in!

While waiting, I used scrap fabric to make a quilt block. I’ve never done triangles before and I wanted to make sure I could it before moving up to the Pins and Paws. I think I’m good to go!

Speaking of paws, the cats are up to their usual antics – passive fighting for warm spots, actual fighting for . . . Spite? Dominance? Entertainment? Who knows.

Some random pics from the last few weeks:

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