I've got a hole in my heart, literally, not figuratively. It's a congenital defect, that I've always known about, but I didn't realize that it affected me much at all except for the inability to do very strenuous exercise. As it got worse over the years, I thought that I couldn't mow the grass all in one day or run for the bus because I let myself get more than a little out of shape. Not so, it turns out. I don't feel any different than I did 3 or 4 months ago, but it is nice to not feel like I've squandered my good health because I'm tired a lot or lazy because I dread things like going on vacation because of all the walking.
I'm going to go get it fixed next week. The doctors call it a "repair." It turns out that sucker is huge. It goes from 3.2 to 3.5 centimeters! I don't quite get how it is that I'm alive at all when you consider that the diameter of an average garden hose, at 5/8 inches, is about half the size of my hole. I'm having heart surgery on Wednesday, the 31st of March. Here's a link that explains what I've got: Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) It's supposed to take about 6 months for my heart to shrink down to normal size and finish remodeling itself. I'm supposed to have all the energy in the world. I'm cynical about that, but we'll see. I'll do my best to use the situation as a catapault into a much more active life style. I will try to knit stranded knitting holding a yarn ball in each hand. I'll burn twice the calories!
I'll be in the hospital a few days and then off work for around 4 weeks. It's pretty amazing what doctors can do through just a couple of small incisions. I won't have to heal any bones, like say, my sternum. That's why the recovery is so short. Of course, I'll have to see to believe it, but with an efficient heart I should be able to heal more quickly than before, right?
Things are battened down pretty well on this end. I just laid in 5 boxes of kitty litter. I'm trying to get the house fit for company. I've made extra keys. My uncle will come to take me home from the hospital and stay a couple of days. He has promised soup. I've requested no noodles. Then my cousin in crime is taking a whole week off work and is coming out from California to
spend it with me. There will be knitting. We are both looking forward to it.
If you have any advice about any of this, lay it on me.
This next project has grown on me. I started it quite a while ago. It's somewheres in the blog archives. I set it aside (euphemistically speaking) because I thought it was uggggggggg-ly! I unearthed it and dusted it off a few weeks ago. I added about 4 more inches all the way around. The last rounds I bought more yarn for, just to get closing colors. I'm happy with the size and the ending. I have plenty more Peaches N Sugar N Cream in the stash, but trying to get colors next to each other that are pleasing takes a toll on us sensitive types. It is perfectly baby blanket sized and has the right feeling of weightiness. I have 2 possible candidates for giftees, but a whole lot of ends still to weave. They are on the other side. 
Here is my main project right now. I want to finish by March 29th, hence the near monogamy. Guess what it is. Nope, not a set of willy warmers nor banana keepers. They are in fact socks. When people see me knitting and ask what I am knitting/crocheting, I enjoy telling them that it's the other sock, which it is. The pattern is 
