Jun 18, 2006

I'm Back, and smarter than ever

The Primed conference was a lot of fun this year.



It was a little lonely as I'm used to going with a PA colleague of mine, but I managed okay. I heard a lot of interesting lectures from some of the most intelligent people I think I'll ever meet. Dr Weinstein, author of "Life Principles" gave a motivating talk about ethics and what should drive us to do the right thing. I also learned a lot about treating perimenopausal symptoms....and don't look forward to the day when I have to experience that misery. The last lecture I heard was on the bird flu. To summarize, it's a frightening thing that we should all think about and prepare for. When/if it hits, the best chance towards protecting yourself is social distancing, aka quarantine. I hope you all consider stockpiling some food and water so that you can stay at home for several weeks. If it hits, it will be fast and furious, passing through the area in 3-4 weeks. The people with the best immune systems will have the highest mortality rates. There really isn't a possibility to manufacture the drugs or vaccine in enough time. So, not to be depressing or act like the sky is falling. It almost seems a bit Y2K, but our lives weren't in jeopardy with Y2K, so I take this a lot more seriously.

Anyway, on a more positive note. I had plenty of time to knit. I made these....



If you can't tell, they're tiny baby socks in the K3P1 ribbing sock pattern that Shari, Amber and I are doing a knit-a-long on right now. I'm also making it along the cuff for sock 2 of my Kool Aid yarn. Anytime a fellow conference goer asked about the socks I was more than thrilled to tell them, "I dyed the yarn myself out of Kool Aid!" Being so nieve to yarn-dying they were thrilled to learn of the process, and of course, I was more than thrilled to share. I may not be an expert on the treatment of gout or sacroiliac joint dysfunction, but I can talk about sock yarn til I'm blue in the face.
The little socks are actually for Amber's baby, Nolan, hope they fit. For those of you who don't know Nolan, take a look.



What a babe!

Besides lots of learning, I also scored some cool swag - bags, mugs, jump drive, wireless mouse... It's no celebrity swag, I'll tell you that. No one was trying to push diamond bracelets or cruises to Alaska in my hands, but I always love a good travel mug. I know you can't see it, but the portfolio is personalized with action-squad.com. A little PR for my hubby.



Now back to home and normalcy. Back to spackling and watering the flowers. The weed/holly hock is looking like it may bloom soon!

10 comments:

patty said...

Hey Ang! Glad you had a safe trip. Good advice for the avian flu. Y2K or not I guess we'd better prepare ourselves. Did I read you right? The best immune systems won't do too well? Quit taking the vitamin C!? Just when I got on a health kick!

Does Nolan (CUTE!) get the baby socks? He's a keeper Amber and Shari!

Anonymous said...

I heard the fashionistas on the Style network have a low occurance of flu and other viral infections because of their stylish socks.

Isaac Mizrahi, never sick a day in his life.

It's true.

Kim Davis said...

So what exactly do we need to stockpile? I think we have enough food to survive for 4-6 weeks without leaving the house (maybe I would need to buy some more frozen vegetables, canned fruit, and dog food) but can we drink tap water or not? How much water do we need for 4-6 weeks? How do you call in sick for "being afraid you'll get avian flu" without getting fired? I am all for being paranoid about germs.

Angie said...

You'll want to stockpile bottled water because you have to consider that many of the municipalities may be turned off because people won't be working. You wouldn't be in trouble for not going to work because it would be sort of like the Katrina situation, work is the last thing on anyone's mind. Schools would probably be the first thing closed anyway since they are so germ ridden.

Anonymous said...

The only concern I have is having enough yarn to knit with since I won't be able to leave the house. Should I go yarn shopping again?
The socks are adorable for little Nolan. Thanks Angie!! He sure is the best baby ever.

Anonymous said...

Definitely LOVE the little socks Angie!!!! You put me to shame with your knitting abilities and speed. I finally got going on my sock and after knitting on it for a while noticed that I was short a stitch so that's why my ribbing wasn't turning out. So, started over last night. Argh. As for the flu, I agree with my mom....must go buy more yarn :) (although at the rate I'm going the socks should last me until it is over). Maybe we should email the yarn harlot to tell her about buying more yarn for the flu as a way to justify her stash.

Anonymous said...

PS. Am I the only one concerned that Brian knows how to use the word fashionista in a sentence AND knows about the Style network??

Anonymous said...

We only have 15 channels on our TV, I'm guaranteed to stop on Style based on the statistics alone.

Kim Davis said...

You're all right--do you know how immaculate our homes would all be if we were home for 4-6 weeks? Do you think that cable and the internet would still be on or would I have to entertain myself??

Anonymous said...

I just received Nolan's socks in the mail and they are the most ADORABLE thing I have ever seen! I can't wait for him to wake up from his nap (did I just say that?) to try them on him!!!!!!! Love you Ang!