Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Why so much i-cord?

Sara left a comment: I've been reading your blog for a while now and have never figured out why it is "144 inches of I-cord! Enlighten please!

It's all Kirsten's fault.

Years and years ago, Kirsten was my roommate. We were good friends, went to the same church, and while I was messing around online with a boy crush, she had a nice crush on Jeep Boy, who lived across the hall. (You can tell my market is teenagers, right?) Kirs went away to be a missionary for 2 years on a ship, and moved to Oregon when she came back. I stayed here. Last July, Kirsten came here to visit. It was her first visit here where I was a knitter, and I made her go yarn shopping with me and show me everything she knew because I was so new. Somehow I decided I neeeeeeded to knit a Booga Bag. I bought the Noro, cast on, and over the next few days knitted my bag. Then it was time to knit the i-cord, and I hate i-cord. I whined, we watched the movie Wimbledon, and Kirsten was kind enough to knit a great lot of i-cord for me. We passed it back and forth for a couple hours.

Of course you know, lots of i-cord means lots of measuring. I asked her how much i-cord I had to knit, and she said, "Six feet is good," or something, and then I (who am math challenged) said, "How many inches is that?"

I had just measured my i-cord and after all this knitting had about 54 inches. (I could barely stand to knit any more i-cord and needed encouragement.) Kirsten's answer was "144?" and the look on my face must have been terrible, because we laughed till we nearly wet our pants.

Later I decided that if there was a seventh circle of knitting hell for me, it would involve knitting 144 inches of i-cord a day, the ultimate in knitted futility. I decided it was catchy, and that's how I named the blog.

So, remember the asthma trouble of last week? Late Saturday night I figured out it was my stomach and not asthma at all. The pains were different and involved more of not being able to expand my chest than my normal asthma pattern of hauling in air under a weight on my chest. Also it seemed like my inhaler just wasn't doing anything for me. After much talking with Mom (the nurse) and so much stomach pain yesterday I could barely stand it, I went to the doctor. It was about the weirdest exam ever - she kept asking me all these strange questions that I couldn't really say yes or no to. Have I felt like I was getting a kidney infection recently? Blah blah. She poked at my ankles (I guess for fluid, there was none.) The upshot is that I have acid reflux ickiness or a very irritated and mad stomach lining - the treatment is the same. So for at least two weeks I have to take Nexium and avoid caffeine and stop eating an hour and a half before bedtime (which I am sorry to say I have been doing). I am not thrilled about taking another prescription but if it helps, great. Probably the different time of eating is permanent and I have been hitting the caffeine too much for a couple of months - twice a week is about right for diet cokes for me. The Nexium is supposed to let my stomach lining replace itself without extra acid to irritate it. I got a lecture: someone my age should not be popping Tums twice a week .

Oh, and, to answer another comment...my kitty Fiona absolutely loves her laser pointer and will chase it till she pants. She'll chase, stalk, run up and down walls, and completely exhaust herself. (Grady could care less.) They also love ping-pong balls. Weird, huh?

13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the explanation about your blog name, I had wondered myself. I hope the prescription works and that you feel better soon. My cat LOVES straws.

7:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love that..laughing until you pee! It's the best feeling! Great story!

8:38 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

haha..I love the story behind your blog name!! now every time I see it, I'll have that funny little memory.

and at least you figured out what's going on...hope your stomach is back to new soon!

pets are fun. :)

.♥.

11:17 AM  
Blogger Misty said...

Tinker (one of my kitties) has an obsession with socks. He just goes crazy over them. And not just any sock. Only athletic ankle socks. And especially the ones from Old Navy.

The Cheat (other kitty) has a thing for hair. He loves to be picked up so he can stick his nose in your hair. And then he drools. A lot.

2:50 PM  
Blogger Zonda said...

Well I had always wondered too! Maybe you had days and days of knitting it LOL!

So glad you've found the culprit. Get better! Mine went away, hoping yours does once it's healed!
Take care! :)

On the laser..it is funny to see them do that..hehe

10:46 PM  
Blogger noblinknits said...

ROFL! That is a great reason! Best of luk with the tummy thing. Caffeine can be a real stinker. Herbal teas take some getting used to but are worth a try eg chamomile, redbush, and mint.

6:02 AM  
Blogger sgeddes said...

Great story! I always wondered the significance of your blog name. It seemed that there had to be a story behind it!

9:13 AM  
Blogger Chris said...

Thanks for sharing the story - I was wondering, too!

And I'm glad to hear they figured out what was wrong. Hopefully you start to feel better soon.

3:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the i-cord story. Now, I don't want to hear from everyone who reads your blog, but, I don't mind knitting it at all. So in the future I'll do your handles, I'll do your baby-bootie ties, I'll knit your i-cords! You just keep on blogging!

12:27 AM  
Blogger Knittymama said...

Wow, you're the only other person I've heard to have that problem. I was diagnosed w/ asthma, spent years taking all this medication that never helped. Finally figured out it was acis re-flux. Crazy...

5:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Acid reflux can have a number of causes. It could be a digestive intolerance to something you're eating a lot of (most common are grain, wheat or gluten), an insufficient amount of digestive enzymes and healthy gut flora.

I had acid reflux for a week and took wheat out of my diet, ate real yogurt every day first thing for breakfast with a probiotic, and took digestive enzymes with each meal and after a few weeks it went away and I've never felt it since.
But I do keep up with the digestive enzymes and eating real yogurt most days :).

10:08 PM  
Blogger Stephanie said...

I hate i-cord too.

5:23 PM  
Blogger fabulous yarn said...

Jen!

We've been trying to track you down - can you email us at fabulousyarn@gmail.com so thatwe can email you your winning gift certificate from your beautiful entry at Share & Win Blog where people share their projects and win a FAB Gift Certificate!

Please let us know asap!

5:50 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home