Every single time I get in the car to go somewhere, along the way a car coming toward me will cross the yellow line just as it gets close to me. Tom says this is because drivers aren't paying attention and follow their eye-line so when they see a vehicle they automatically pull the car toward that vehicle. I just wish I could stop hugging the berm and get to ride on my lane without worrying about a head-on collision. Frequently when we were driving back and forth to Fond du Lac for Zach's college, I would nearly go off the road because of it. And the other drivers were inevitably talking on their cell phones.
I finally picked up my prescriptions today. I've been trying for 3 days to get them refilled but the nurse kept needing to tell me about my labs and at the end of each conversation I would remind her I needed them refilled. Today still not meds so I called the dr office and talked to the nurse who said they should have gone through so she put them through again. It doesn't happen every time, but it does happen a few times a year, which is too many in my book. But there are worse things out there so I keep my doctor.
I picked up some more yarn today because it was $3 a skein on the sale rack. It's Vanna's Choice in Linen and I got enough for a sweater and hat (I took all they had of that color) for $21. This is what happens when you wander around StuffMart waiting for your prescription to be ready. I also picked up some Red Heart yarn with some misgivings. I want to make a bag but I thought the other yarns there...Vanna's Choice and Caron Simply Soft...were just too lightweight so I went with something sturdy. And I mean sturdy. I'm using a size 4 needle (circular) and I plan on lining it so it won't sag. Plus, I wanted a particular shade of green and RH was the only brand that had it. I looked at Hobby Lobby yesterday but didn't really like their selection much. I almost got some sock yarn while there but as I'm not knitting socks right now, I didn't buy any. Besides, nothing really tried to throw itself in my cart.
I got three loads of laundry washed but only two dried on the line. Professor decided at 5:30 a.m. that he wanted me to play with Baby, the ball and his bone with him. By the time he got tired of it, I was awake so I finished up the end of Mistress of Spices on tv and went down to the basement and started laundry. I had two loads out by 9 a.m. But rain was in the forecast so I put off hanging out the third load. Good thing because the second load was barely dry when it started raining. Timing is everything.
I got 2 zucchini from the garden this morning and will get some green beans tomorrow. The peas don't seem to be doing much more than blooming so I hope they will produce later. The grapevine has at least 10 bunches of grapes on it so I have high hopes for next year when I put up the fence for it. I might have to buy another grape vine because propagating didn't work well.
I also have about a dozen green tomatoes and a handful of green peppers on the vine. Won't be long. I'm keeping an eye on my sunflowers. I'd like to get them in before the birds get them although they'll get them back in the winter.
Time to get back to knitting and watching the commentary for Fellowship of the Ring (director and writers.) That's my favorite with the creative crew second. Then the actors. I got Ballykissangel series 5 from the library today so I'll watch that tomorrow after I put in a day of heavy cleaning inside and out.
Off to be productive.
TTFN
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Someone stole my week
I will get my new boob next week! I like the new styles as my old one is triangular and doesn't cover much area. The new one covers more of my chest wall and is much lighter. The bras are nice and lacey, too. I can't wait.
I got woke up at 8 a.m. again this morning. I know the nurse has a set time to take care of calls but I had so hoped to sleep in a bit this morning. Since I flunked the cholesterol portion of my labs, the dr wanted me to come in and "discuss it." Which means she wants me to come in so she can yell at me for not taking care of myself, impress upon me the seriousness of the situation and put me on another, more expensive medication. I told the nurse that I would make some lifestyle changes but that I wasn't coming in. She called while I was gone and left a message for me to call back. When I did she let me know the doctor would go along with it but my numbers better be down in 6 months.
Crap. I guess I'd better take this seriously now.
I'm going to collapse on my bed here in just a few minutes. Tom won't be happy that supper tonight is Taco Bell but I forgot to lay anything out for supper and I'm really tired from all this racing around all week. I used up a tank of gas already. In the car, silly. Yeah, I used up all the gas I had, too.
Professor is pouting. I expect it's because I haven't been home much. I'll start taking him walkies tomorrow to make up for it. I could use the walkies, too.
I'm off to bed and maybe a short bit of knitting. I'm too tired for much else.
TTFN
I got woke up at 8 a.m. again this morning. I know the nurse has a set time to take care of calls but I had so hoped to sleep in a bit this morning. Since I flunked the cholesterol portion of my labs, the dr wanted me to come in and "discuss it." Which means she wants me to come in so she can yell at me for not taking care of myself, impress upon me the seriousness of the situation and put me on another, more expensive medication. I told the nurse that I would make some lifestyle changes but that I wasn't coming in. She called while I was gone and left a message for me to call back. When I did she let me know the doctor would go along with it but my numbers better be down in 6 months.
Crap. I guess I'd better take this seriously now.
I'm going to collapse on my bed here in just a few minutes. Tom won't be happy that supper tonight is Taco Bell but I forgot to lay anything out for supper and I'm really tired from all this racing around all week. I used up a tank of gas already. In the car, silly. Yeah, I used up all the gas I had, too.
Professor is pouting. I expect it's because I haven't been home much. I'll start taking him walkies tomorrow to make up for it. I could use the walkies, too.
I'm off to bed and maybe a short bit of knitting. I'm too tired for much else.
TTFN
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Okay...one more to go and this time I really mean it
I passed my A1C with flying colors but flunked the cholesterol portion of the test. I never know what to study for. I also passed my mammogram and surgeon's visit so those are out of the way for another year. Tomorrow, though, I head to West Bend for a new breast prosthesis. Mine is more than 50% duct tape and not very comfortable, not to mention shaped funny. And it's been too small for years. I'll have one that fits and a new mastectomy bra. Two, actually.
And then I'm staying home the rest of the week. I hope.
This is hard on a die-hard homebody. I'm not a recluse but I do feel safest and best at home.
I haven't gotten a lot of knitting done, no studying, no piano practicing or drawing/painting. I've barely kept up with the dishes and the living room floor needs vacuuming desperately. The garden needs hoeing, laundry needs washed and hung out on the line and the yard needs mowing. Okay, Zach can mow the yard but we're out of gas so I need to get that first.
Tom is thinking of taking a vacation next month and wants to know if I want to go anywhere. Really, I'm okay (wiping hysterical tears from my eyes) and I do want to go see some of the stuff in Wisconsin I haven't seen yet. There is an Indian mound not too far from here and I've never seen Wisconsin Rapids. I'm not interested in the park but I am interested in the scenery. And I plan on digging around to find more places, maybe even Old Wisconsin. But always home by night because I don't like to sleep away from home.
I'm in The Return of the King already but I had some movies in at the library so I'll fit that in somehow but I'm in my LOTR mode and really just want to watch that. Maybe this weekend I'll have a marathon on the commentaries and get tons of knitting done.
I can't believe July is almost over. Did someone fast-forward summer?
Off to fix supper.
TTFN
And then I'm staying home the rest of the week. I hope.
This is hard on a die-hard homebody. I'm not a recluse but I do feel safest and best at home.
I haven't gotten a lot of knitting done, no studying, no piano practicing or drawing/painting. I've barely kept up with the dishes and the living room floor needs vacuuming desperately. The garden needs hoeing, laundry needs washed and hung out on the line and the yard needs mowing. Okay, Zach can mow the yard but we're out of gas so I need to get that first.
Tom is thinking of taking a vacation next month and wants to know if I want to go anywhere. Really, I'm okay (wiping hysterical tears from my eyes) and I do want to go see some of the stuff in Wisconsin I haven't seen yet. There is an Indian mound not too far from here and I've never seen Wisconsin Rapids. I'm not interested in the park but I am interested in the scenery. And I plan on digging around to find more places, maybe even Old Wisconsin. But always home by night because I don't like to sleep away from home.
I'm in The Return of the King already but I had some movies in at the library so I'll fit that in somehow but I'm in my LOTR mode and really just want to watch that. Maybe this weekend I'll have a marathon on the commentaries and get tons of knitting done.
I can't believe July is almost over. Did someone fast-forward summer?
Off to fix supper.
TTFN
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Two down, one to go
The annual mammogram is out of the way and I have an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow for the annual follow up visit. I'm at the 8 1/2 year mark cancer free. So while I really hate these appointments, I will not stop making them because without the mammogram, I wouldn't have known I had cancer until it was too late. Get those mamms, ladies! With digital technology, they aren't as painful and they can see right away if the films are readable.
Labs this morning were painful. It took three tries and two techs before they got blood. My veins are crap from the chemo 8 years ago. The only good one rolls away from the needle and only one of the techs there has ever managed to get blood first time and she wasn't there. The last two sticks were painful; one left a huge bruise on my hand and the other one brought tears to my eyes from the pain. She went after a vein in my thumb/wrist. I'm not blaming them. They were very professional and as kind as they could be but as I said... my veins are crap.
It was mighty hot today...temps at around 87F plus whatever humidity, which was a bit substantial. I should be working in the basement since this is Basement Tuesday. I'll get to it in a bit though. I need time to unwind from the drive and the boob squashing. One of the advantages of just having one is that it's half the time and half the discomfort.
I need to make sure I tell the surgeon I need a prescription for a new prosthesis as mine is duct taped so much it's a solid mass instead of being nice and pliable, which means another trip out of town to a pharmacy in West Bend.
I didn't get tons of knitting done yesterday because I was so tired and achy from the arthritic knee so I just laid there and watched The Two Towers instead. Tonight will be The Return of the King after which I will take a break and watch some stuff that is in at the library. One of the items is The Jesus Camp. I have heard so much about it and Zach wants to watch it as well since he's had too many experiences with that kind of attitude at our former fundie church.
But I will pick those up tomorrow after the surgeon's appointment. I'm taking the freeway up tomorrow because I'm tired of all the little towns and stop signs and traffic lights and farm equipment. Plus this way I only have to merge onto one freeway instead of two. It's about 10 minutes longer but a much smoother ride.
At some point I need to get out and hoe the garden. If I get up early enough tomorrow I might take a stab at it. It's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow morning so that might prevent me from hoeing. Thursday looks good though. I have lots of green tomatoes and dozens of orange blossoms on the zucchini but no zucchini yet. No peas or green beans yet either.
Zach is having foot problems again so he's not able to do a lot that requires walking or standing much. It seems to be a recurring problem but not one that would require a doctor's visit so we treat at home with over-the-counter stuff and hope it will clear up once and for all.
It's too hot to walk tonight so I'll try to get out and do it tomorrow morning...pending rain, of course. Professor has a condition known as "honk" where he honks like a goose at times, ending in a cough. It's common in chihuahuas...in fact, his dad has it. He's having a flare up of it so I don't want to walk him since it exacerbates the situation. He really does need to get some weight off. That will help.
Well, I need to get to work. At the very least I need to get some trash out of the basement and clean up the kitchen before the health department closes me down and I can't cook in there anymore. Wait a minute...
All I really want to do is crawl into bed though. I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night because anytime I have to get up early I don't sleep. It's like...the law or something. Eh, it's too hot to do that anyway. I'll plug my mp3 player into my ears and listen to the podcast and try to ignore the fatigue.
TTFN
Labs this morning were painful. It took three tries and two techs before they got blood. My veins are crap from the chemo 8 years ago. The only good one rolls away from the needle and only one of the techs there has ever managed to get blood first time and she wasn't there. The last two sticks were painful; one left a huge bruise on my hand and the other one brought tears to my eyes from the pain. She went after a vein in my thumb/wrist. I'm not blaming them. They were very professional and as kind as they could be but as I said... my veins are crap.
It was mighty hot today...temps at around 87F plus whatever humidity, which was a bit substantial. I should be working in the basement since this is Basement Tuesday. I'll get to it in a bit though. I need time to unwind from the drive and the boob squashing. One of the advantages of just having one is that it's half the time and half the discomfort.
I need to make sure I tell the surgeon I need a prescription for a new prosthesis as mine is duct taped so much it's a solid mass instead of being nice and pliable, which means another trip out of town to a pharmacy in West Bend.
I didn't get tons of knitting done yesterday because I was so tired and achy from the arthritic knee so I just laid there and watched The Two Towers instead. Tonight will be The Return of the King after which I will take a break and watch some stuff that is in at the library. One of the items is The Jesus Camp. I have heard so much about it and Zach wants to watch it as well since he's had too many experiences with that kind of attitude at our former fundie church.
But I will pick those up tomorrow after the surgeon's appointment. I'm taking the freeway up tomorrow because I'm tired of all the little towns and stop signs and traffic lights and farm equipment. Plus this way I only have to merge onto one freeway instead of two. It's about 10 minutes longer but a much smoother ride.
At some point I need to get out and hoe the garden. If I get up early enough tomorrow I might take a stab at it. It's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow morning so that might prevent me from hoeing. Thursday looks good though. I have lots of green tomatoes and dozens of orange blossoms on the zucchini but no zucchini yet. No peas or green beans yet either.
Zach is having foot problems again so he's not able to do a lot that requires walking or standing much. It seems to be a recurring problem but not one that would require a doctor's visit so we treat at home with over-the-counter stuff and hope it will clear up once and for all.
It's too hot to walk tonight so I'll try to get out and do it tomorrow morning...pending rain, of course. Professor has a condition known as "honk" where he honks like a goose at times, ending in a cough. It's common in chihuahuas...in fact, his dad has it. He's having a flare up of it so I don't want to walk him since it exacerbates the situation. He really does need to get some weight off. That will help.
Well, I need to get to work. At the very least I need to get some trash out of the basement and clean up the kitchen before the health department closes me down and I can't cook in there anymore. Wait a minute...
All I really want to do is crawl into bed though. I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night because anytime I have to get up early I don't sleep. It's like...the law or something. Eh, it's too hot to do that anyway. I'll plug my mp3 player into my ears and listen to the podcast and try to ignore the fatigue.
TTFN
Monday, July 26, 2010
Crawling out from under that rock I've placed on my shoulders
I've decided to stop stressing out over labs and medical appointments and just do the best I can. While I can do a better job of choosing good foods and exercising more, I just can't do the diet thing or worry about losing weight. Yes, my body shape is one of the worst health-wise, but worrying about it hasn't done any good the past 10 years so worrying about it now isn't changing anything. I'm tired of the focus of my life being on food: what I eat, when I eat it and how much of it I eat. If I diet, I'm constantly thinking about when I can eat again, how much of it I can eat and why I'm hungry all the time. And then I get so hungry I go on a binge and eat everything in sight because, damn it! I'm hungry.
If I think about dieting, I'm always planning one last binge before I start dieting and and since that day keeps getting postponed, I'm on a constant binge.
No more! I did it before and I can do it again. I stopped obsessing about food, just ate and focused on other things. I lost a few pounds but I stopped gaining for a year. Now if I just focus on eating healthy foods and not worrying about quantity or times or how much, just focus on eating, being satisfied and feeling better about myself, I can do this. All I need to do is add exercise. It's the getting healthy that's important, not losing weight.
I weeded the garden a bit this morning but it needs hoeing badly. And the yard needs trimming as well but today was another errand day, tomorrow is medical appointment day so it will be Wednesday before I can get a good day's work done. I really want to tackle the house, clean it and de-clutter it because I'm feeling claustrophobic with all the stuff we've got here. I've got to figure out a way to make the living/dining room more efficient because you can't move through here without turning sideways. I could give up my bedroom and go back to sleeping on the couch, except I'm sleeping so well lately and it would limit other family members from using the couch when they would like to. Plus I would be without a bedroom again.
The basement isn't an option because it leaks and is dank and smelly down there. The room off the upstairs bedroom won't work because of the stairs and my knees and because Tom smokes up there and I just can't handle cigarette smoke anymore. So...my bedroom has to stay where it is.
I'll have to think about this for a while before I get to moving heavy pieces of furniture around.
The green Sweeping Statement is no more because I thought I had another skein of yarn and there is no way I can make it our of what I've got. So I'm back to blue but the center section will have a waterfall stitch instead of leaves. Horizontal wasn't working for me anyway. I like a vertical stitch in that center.
I have a hankering to knit a shawl. I'm not sure what color I want to use, but the brown yarn would give me an earth shawl with the earthy autumn holidays coming up. I just need to come up with a pattern I like. And I need to work on something small so I feel like I'm finishing something, too. Either a dishcloth of that amulet bag I've been thinking about designing.
I had planned on tackling the kitchen tonight though but I have to fast after midnight, which isn't normally a problem, but it would help if I was asleep by then so I don't want to get too stimulated with activity. Cleaning binges generally keep me up all night. Maybe tomorrow night when it doesn't matter when I get to sleep.
I need to start supper after which I'd like to take a walk. Walking is doing my blood sugar a world of good so I want to keep it up. Then I plan on crawling into bed and knitting and watching my annual Lord of the Rings extended edition marathon in which I watch all the movies, commentaries and documentaries. I'm overdue in fact. I'll adjust if any movies come in at the library but for now I'm going to binge on LOTR. I find it very motivating creatively.
But now I'm off to get things done.
TTFN
If I think about dieting, I'm always planning one last binge before I start dieting and and since that day keeps getting postponed, I'm on a constant binge.
No more! I did it before and I can do it again. I stopped obsessing about food, just ate and focused on other things. I lost a few pounds but I stopped gaining for a year. Now if I just focus on eating healthy foods and not worrying about quantity or times or how much, just focus on eating, being satisfied and feeling better about myself, I can do this. All I need to do is add exercise. It's the getting healthy that's important, not losing weight.
I weeded the garden a bit this morning but it needs hoeing badly. And the yard needs trimming as well but today was another errand day, tomorrow is medical appointment day so it will be Wednesday before I can get a good day's work done. I really want to tackle the house, clean it and de-clutter it because I'm feeling claustrophobic with all the stuff we've got here. I've got to figure out a way to make the living/dining room more efficient because you can't move through here without turning sideways. I could give up my bedroom and go back to sleeping on the couch, except I'm sleeping so well lately and it would limit other family members from using the couch when they would like to. Plus I would be without a bedroom again.
The basement isn't an option because it leaks and is dank and smelly down there. The room off the upstairs bedroom won't work because of the stairs and my knees and because Tom smokes up there and I just can't handle cigarette smoke anymore. So...my bedroom has to stay where it is.
I'll have to think about this for a while before I get to moving heavy pieces of furniture around.
The green Sweeping Statement is no more because I thought I had another skein of yarn and there is no way I can make it our of what I've got. So I'm back to blue but the center section will have a waterfall stitch instead of leaves. Horizontal wasn't working for me anyway. I like a vertical stitch in that center.
I have a hankering to knit a shawl. I'm not sure what color I want to use, but the brown yarn would give me an earth shawl with the earthy autumn holidays coming up. I just need to come up with a pattern I like. And I need to work on something small so I feel like I'm finishing something, too. Either a dishcloth of that amulet bag I've been thinking about designing.
I had planned on tackling the kitchen tonight though but I have to fast after midnight, which isn't normally a problem, but it would help if I was asleep by then so I don't want to get too stimulated with activity. Cleaning binges generally keep me up all night. Maybe tomorrow night when it doesn't matter when I get to sleep.
I need to start supper after which I'd like to take a walk. Walking is doing my blood sugar a world of good so I want to keep it up. Then I plan on crawling into bed and knitting and watching my annual Lord of the Rings extended edition marathon in which I watch all the movies, commentaries and documentaries. I'm overdue in fact. I'll adjust if any movies come in at the library but for now I'm going to binge on LOTR. I find it very motivating creatively.
But now I'm off to get things done.
TTFN
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Same old, same old
Nothing got done this weekend but that's not exactly breaking news. Nothing getting done seems to be the status quo for me. I did walk Professor this morning early on and I'm going to try to do that daily if I can. I'm really dreading Tuesday. I stress out so much over my labs, knowing that my numbers are going to be way high and I'll get a scolding from either the doctor or her nurse. I don't know why I do this to myself but I tend to sabotage the numbers by eating way wrong in the weeks prior.
I wish I could get back to just not caring about food. I lost weight doing that until I got pressured by both the doctor and my mother about dieting. I'm still planning diets even though I know they don't work. My mom constantly tells me of a new diet plan whenever I call and is just so sure that me not losing weight is because I'm not trying hard enough. Couldn't be further from the truth. But what do I know?
I also hate driving up to Fond du Lac. I don't mind the mammogram so much but I hate the drive. It messes up my whole day since I'm on the road for about 2 hours coming and going, then the appointment. Then after the mamm, I have to trot upstairs to make an appointment with the surgeon for my annual checkup with him. I can't do them both on the same day because I need the mamm results first.
Then in October is my annual physical, which I'm going to try to put off until November because the insurance company is so picky about making sure you have more than a year between visits. Plus, I keep thinking that if I put it off, I have more time to lose weight before I see her. Yeah...right.
We have a prankster in the neighborhood and I can't for the life of me think of why he's targeting us. A few weeks ago I went to get in the car and the light switch was on and the battery was dead. I hadn't been anywhere for a couple of days and didn't notice. I thought maybe I had, just that once, forgotten to turn the lights off and shrugged it off to my fault. Yesterday I got in the car and the light switch was on again and this time I know for a fact that I turned them off. Plus, the alarm would have alerted me because I had the door wide open when I turned the key off.
So I'm keeping the car locked at all times. I have no idea why someone would go into the driveway to do this. We haven't done anything to anyone in this neighborhood and our new neighbor we've pretty much ignored, in spite of his frequent parties. He's not bothered us at all so there is no need. Unless someone has complained and he thinks it's us. Which doesn't make any sense either since he makes no noise whatsoever. The only thing that might be a problem is parking since he has no real parking in front because of the fire hydrant (and his friends consistently park in front of it) but we have no problem with him parking in front of our house at all. So I'm at a loss...except the last time the lights were turned on, he was having an overnight party and Friday night he had another one.
Could be a coincidence. I just haven't got a clue who could be doing this. But they won't find it easy to do next time. Especially as we have a car alarm.
It looks to be beautiful for the next few days but tomorrow I have to run some errands and Tuesday is full of medical appointments so it will be Wednesday before I can get outside to work and it's supposed to rain then. I think it's too late to plant the herbs unless I just do some indoor pots and I have nowhere to put them. The house is so cluttered that we don't have any flat surfaces that are clear. None.
Well, supper is nearly ready and then I'm crawling into bed to catch up on True Blood and knit on Sweeping Statement, only this time in Caron Eco and in green. And the center section isn't honeycomb cable but leaves and I just couldn't knit all those leaves in blue. I just hope I have enough yarn for it.
TTFN
I wish I could get back to just not caring about food. I lost weight doing that until I got pressured by both the doctor and my mother about dieting. I'm still planning diets even though I know they don't work. My mom constantly tells me of a new diet plan whenever I call and is just so sure that me not losing weight is because I'm not trying hard enough. Couldn't be further from the truth. But what do I know?
I also hate driving up to Fond du Lac. I don't mind the mammogram so much but I hate the drive. It messes up my whole day since I'm on the road for about 2 hours coming and going, then the appointment. Then after the mamm, I have to trot upstairs to make an appointment with the surgeon for my annual checkup with him. I can't do them both on the same day because I need the mamm results first.
Then in October is my annual physical, which I'm going to try to put off until November because the insurance company is so picky about making sure you have more than a year between visits. Plus, I keep thinking that if I put it off, I have more time to lose weight before I see her. Yeah...right.
We have a prankster in the neighborhood and I can't for the life of me think of why he's targeting us. A few weeks ago I went to get in the car and the light switch was on and the battery was dead. I hadn't been anywhere for a couple of days and didn't notice. I thought maybe I had, just that once, forgotten to turn the lights off and shrugged it off to my fault. Yesterday I got in the car and the light switch was on again and this time I know for a fact that I turned them off. Plus, the alarm would have alerted me because I had the door wide open when I turned the key off.
So I'm keeping the car locked at all times. I have no idea why someone would go into the driveway to do this. We haven't done anything to anyone in this neighborhood and our new neighbor we've pretty much ignored, in spite of his frequent parties. He's not bothered us at all so there is no need. Unless someone has complained and he thinks it's us. Which doesn't make any sense either since he makes no noise whatsoever. The only thing that might be a problem is parking since he has no real parking in front because of the fire hydrant (and his friends consistently park in front of it) but we have no problem with him parking in front of our house at all. So I'm at a loss...except the last time the lights were turned on, he was having an overnight party and Friday night he had another one.
Could be a coincidence. I just haven't got a clue who could be doing this. But they won't find it easy to do next time. Especially as we have a car alarm.
It looks to be beautiful for the next few days but tomorrow I have to run some errands and Tuesday is full of medical appointments so it will be Wednesday before I can get outside to work and it's supposed to rain then. I think it's too late to plant the herbs unless I just do some indoor pots and I have nowhere to put them. The house is so cluttered that we don't have any flat surfaces that are clear. None.
Well, supper is nearly ready and then I'm crawling into bed to catch up on True Blood and knit on Sweeping Statement, only this time in Caron Eco and in green. And the center section isn't honeycomb cable but leaves and I just couldn't knit all those leaves in blue. I just hope I have enough yarn for it.
TTFN
Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday is just another day
My knees are still screaming at me and I'm taking it personally. The right one feels swollen although it doesn't look like it but it still feels hot to the touch today and when I bend it, it feels bigger than the left one. Always after you've been to the doctor, right?
I got the tomatoes tied up this morning after Professor woke me up at 7 a.m. to go lie on the front porch and survey his kingdom. I found a huge weed that wasn't a pepper plant that had grown up around one of the pepper plants. The leaves were very similar in shape so it fooled me for a while. It looks like I'll have green beans before long. I'm hoping to get some lettuce planted this weekend but the garden is pretty muddy right now and we're supposed to have heavy rain tonight and tomorrow morning so I don't want to plant seeds that will get washed away. I'll wait until Sunday.
I am getting used to waking up early and starting to like it because I'm sleeping better. I've been crashing around midnight I am getting a little bit more sleep but I'm getting deeper sleep as well. It's time to start the walking and exercising now. I was extravagant and bought myself a new mp3 player because Tom's won't accept the podcasts I listen to, plus this one has an FM radio on it in addition to playing videos. No, I'm not going to watch videos while I walk. The library has e-books I can download so I can listen to books on this as well. It was on sale and only a few dollars more than the mp3 player I bought Tom a few years ago. Plus when I get all healthy and everything from the walking I'll be doing, it will be a great investment.
I've got two appointments on Tuesday so I'm going to have to do the basement on Monday. Or I might get some done this weekend as well. I've got labs and my mammogram...in two different cities. I wish I had everything within a reasonable range but I do like the people at St. Agnes Hospital/Clinic so it's a trade-off. While I'm up there I'll make my appointment with the surgeon for my annual cancer check up. I can usually get in the same week but I do have a couple of weeks' worth of medicine left if I can't. My labs will suck this time because I've been really bad with my eating and not exercising. Which means I'll get a talking to from the doctor.
It's muggy right now from all the rain yesterday and this morning. I can't imagine paying for air conditioning but it would be nice now and then to have some relief from the heat and humidity when the heat index creeps up toward 100 F. It does wear me out. Another reason to get rid of this extra weight...it acts like a winter coat.
Homemade macaroni and cheese for supper tonight. I like using the toaster oven rather than the big oven because it doesn't heat the house up so much and uses less electricity. It does limit me at times but I've been mostly using the toaster oven for about 3 years now so I should be used to it.
I started Yggsdrasil last night. Getting started was a pain as the dpns kept falling out so I ended up using a circular needle and knitting back and forth until I had enough stitches on the needle to manipulate better. I'm not sure how it's going to turn out or if I will be able to manage it but I'll give it a go. I'm not going to do the full afghan because I probably don't have enough yarn but I'll do the smaller version. The Sweeping Statement is coming along as well, slowly but steadily.
I had heard that StuffMart was going to stop selling Peaches & Cream cotton yarn and when I went last week to see, the shelves were empty. I was lamenting until I went down the aisle today to visit and pet the yarn, as I usually do, and saw that they had Sugar & Cream cotton yarn now. I can live with that. Now if they would just stop filling the shelves with Red Heart yarn and put up more Caron and Lion Brand.
Well, I'm off to start supper and then I'm going to put a cold pack on my knee and go to bed to knit and watch Ballykissangel series 4 from the library. I also got Foyle's War and Brideshead Re-visited. Plus I haven't started watching True Blood this season yet. And Haven is on Syfy tonight. I should get tons of knitting done.
I also got a book on drawing and painting from the library because Vicki is encouraging me to get back to that and she's right. I need to keep up with it if I'm going to be any good at it. Same as any talent.
But tonight is for knitting.
TTFN
I got the tomatoes tied up this morning after Professor woke me up at 7 a.m. to go lie on the front porch and survey his kingdom. I found a huge weed that wasn't a pepper plant that had grown up around one of the pepper plants. The leaves were very similar in shape so it fooled me for a while. It looks like I'll have green beans before long. I'm hoping to get some lettuce planted this weekend but the garden is pretty muddy right now and we're supposed to have heavy rain tonight and tomorrow morning so I don't want to plant seeds that will get washed away. I'll wait until Sunday.
I am getting used to waking up early and starting to like it because I'm sleeping better. I've been crashing around midnight I am getting a little bit more sleep but I'm getting deeper sleep as well. It's time to start the walking and exercising now. I was extravagant and bought myself a new mp3 player because Tom's won't accept the podcasts I listen to, plus this one has an FM radio on it in addition to playing videos. No, I'm not going to watch videos while I walk. The library has e-books I can download so I can listen to books on this as well. It was on sale and only a few dollars more than the mp3 player I bought Tom a few years ago. Plus when I get all healthy and everything from the walking I'll be doing, it will be a great investment.
I've got two appointments on Tuesday so I'm going to have to do the basement on Monday. Or I might get some done this weekend as well. I've got labs and my mammogram...in two different cities. I wish I had everything within a reasonable range but I do like the people at St. Agnes Hospital/Clinic so it's a trade-off. While I'm up there I'll make my appointment with the surgeon for my annual cancer check up. I can usually get in the same week but I do have a couple of weeks' worth of medicine left if I can't. My labs will suck this time because I've been really bad with my eating and not exercising. Which means I'll get a talking to from the doctor.
It's muggy right now from all the rain yesterday and this morning. I can't imagine paying for air conditioning but it would be nice now and then to have some relief from the heat and humidity when the heat index creeps up toward 100 F. It does wear me out. Another reason to get rid of this extra weight...it acts like a winter coat.
Homemade macaroni and cheese for supper tonight. I like using the toaster oven rather than the big oven because it doesn't heat the house up so much and uses less electricity. It does limit me at times but I've been mostly using the toaster oven for about 3 years now so I should be used to it.
I started Yggsdrasil last night. Getting started was a pain as the dpns kept falling out so I ended up using a circular needle and knitting back and forth until I had enough stitches on the needle to manipulate better. I'm not sure how it's going to turn out or if I will be able to manage it but I'll give it a go. I'm not going to do the full afghan because I probably don't have enough yarn but I'll do the smaller version. The Sweeping Statement is coming along as well, slowly but steadily.
I had heard that StuffMart was going to stop selling Peaches & Cream cotton yarn and when I went last week to see, the shelves were empty. I was lamenting until I went down the aisle today to visit and pet the yarn, as I usually do, and saw that they had Sugar & Cream cotton yarn now. I can live with that. Now if they would just stop filling the shelves with Red Heart yarn and put up more Caron and Lion Brand.
Well, I'm off to start supper and then I'm going to put a cold pack on my knee and go to bed to knit and watch Ballykissangel series 4 from the library. I also got Foyle's War and Brideshead Re-visited. Plus I haven't started watching True Blood this season yet. And Haven is on Syfy tonight. I should get tons of knitting done.
I also got a book on drawing and painting from the library because Vicki is encouraging me to get back to that and she's right. I need to keep up with it if I'm going to be any good at it. Same as any talent.
But tonight is for knitting.
TTFN
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Wild Weather
What a storm.
Zach had to send his Wii off for repair so we went to town to the UPS Store and we were going to take a few side trips to the library (Ballykissangel series 4 is in) and pick up an item or two at StuffMart but before we could get there the sky opened up and it was a deluge. We sat in the parking lot for a while, debating what to do and waiting for it to ease up a bit but it didn't show signs of stopping. So...we headed home with the defroster on full, the wipers on full and still didn't have good visibility. I kept finding myself in flooded parts of the road that I couldn't see until I got there. And our car sits very low to the ground. I was afraid of getting stuck in the water or not having brakes on the other side. Fortunately we got home just minutes before the tornado warning expired.
We listened to the radio on the way home and kept track of where the cell was and decided we weren't in immediate danger. I got home to find that two windows were open and it had rained in a lot. Otherwise we were wet but unharmed.
I could go back to the library now but I think I'll wait. I didn't get much sleep last night for the pain in my knees (arthritis) and other aches (fibromyalgia.) Today the knees are screaming bloody murder so I took some ibuprofen and a tramadol. As tired as I am I shouldn't drive with the tramado so I waited until I got homel. Normally it doesn't make me sleepy but I was already sleepy to begin with. So...I don't drive on those occasions. If I have to drive, I don't take the tramadol. I've been taking them for long enough that I know when I shouldn't take them and when it's okay.
The nurse at the rheumatologist asked me the other day if my knees ever got so bad I wanted go gnaw them off. I laughed and said it never got that bad. I spoke too soon. Movement today has been really bad. As a result I've gotten little done and supper will consist of bacon and eggs...easy to fix and everyone fixes their own.
Ah...the sun is out.
I'm going to have to tie up the tomatoes tomorrow. The rain was so hard today they're drooping but my knees are telling me not to bother...they'll be okay until tomorrow. My zucchini is looking good. I should have plenty but not too much. I'm a big zucchini eater so it takes a lot for it to be too much. I should plant some romaine lettuce tomorrow, too. I've only got two pea plants growing so I have enough room for several heads of lettuce.
I'm going steady on the Sweeping Statement, with a different insert besides the honeycomb cable. It should be nice and warm this winter since it covers me from my knees up, as long as I belt it. Otherwise I'll keep tripping on it and stretching it out of shape. I'm also going to knit a cabled sweater, crochet a shawl and knit the Yggdrasil afghan. At least that's my plan. It should keep me pretty busy through Thanksgiving. Plus the dishcloths I plan on knitting as well.
Well, the tramadol is kicking in and I'm going to go start supper. Tonight will be another early night I hope. I got up at 6:30 a.m. because it started raining and I had a shirt on the line and the car windows were down. After that I just couldn't get back to sleep.
I had hoped to get the kitchen scrubbed down but my knees say, "no way."
TTFN
Zach had to send his Wii off for repair so we went to town to the UPS Store and we were going to take a few side trips to the library (Ballykissangel series 4 is in) and pick up an item or two at StuffMart but before we could get there the sky opened up and it was a deluge. We sat in the parking lot for a while, debating what to do and waiting for it to ease up a bit but it didn't show signs of stopping. So...we headed home with the defroster on full, the wipers on full and still didn't have good visibility. I kept finding myself in flooded parts of the road that I couldn't see until I got there. And our car sits very low to the ground. I was afraid of getting stuck in the water or not having brakes on the other side. Fortunately we got home just minutes before the tornado warning expired.
We listened to the radio on the way home and kept track of where the cell was and decided we weren't in immediate danger. I got home to find that two windows were open and it had rained in a lot. Otherwise we were wet but unharmed.
I could go back to the library now but I think I'll wait. I didn't get much sleep last night for the pain in my knees (arthritis) and other aches (fibromyalgia.) Today the knees are screaming bloody murder so I took some ibuprofen and a tramadol. As tired as I am I shouldn't drive with the tramado so I waited until I got homel. Normally it doesn't make me sleepy but I was already sleepy to begin with. So...I don't drive on those occasions. If I have to drive, I don't take the tramadol. I've been taking them for long enough that I know when I shouldn't take them and when it's okay.
The nurse at the rheumatologist asked me the other day if my knees ever got so bad I wanted go gnaw them off. I laughed and said it never got that bad. I spoke too soon. Movement today has been really bad. As a result I've gotten little done and supper will consist of bacon and eggs...easy to fix and everyone fixes their own.
Ah...the sun is out.
I'm going to have to tie up the tomatoes tomorrow. The rain was so hard today they're drooping but my knees are telling me not to bother...they'll be okay until tomorrow. My zucchini is looking good. I should have plenty but not too much. I'm a big zucchini eater so it takes a lot for it to be too much. I should plant some romaine lettuce tomorrow, too. I've only got two pea plants growing so I have enough room for several heads of lettuce.
I'm going steady on the Sweeping Statement, with a different insert besides the honeycomb cable. It should be nice and warm this winter since it covers me from my knees up, as long as I belt it. Otherwise I'll keep tripping on it and stretching it out of shape. I'm also going to knit a cabled sweater, crochet a shawl and knit the Yggdrasil afghan. At least that's my plan. It should keep me pretty busy through Thanksgiving. Plus the dishcloths I plan on knitting as well.
Well, the tramadol is kicking in and I'm going to go start supper. Tonight will be another early night I hope. I got up at 6:30 a.m. because it started raining and I had a shirt on the line and the car windows were down. After that I just couldn't get back to sleep.
I had hoped to get the kitchen scrubbed down but my knees say, "no way."
TTFN
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Ow!
It has been a very productive day but I can barely stand up now. I woke up at 8:30 a.m., immediately got out of bed, dressed and hooked Professor's harness on and went walkies with him. Then I took down 2 loads of clothes from the line and added 3 more over the course of the morning. I straightened up the kitchen and then Zach and I headed out to the library and some shopping.
I ran into someone I knew (how rarely that happens!) and talked to her for about 15 minutes and then had to get out of there to get home because I could no longer bend my knees at that stage. Now my poor arthritic knees are yelling at me for not treating them better. I took some ibuprofen but I suspect I'll have to add some tramadol if I want to get the clothes off the line.
I should have paced myself better but I so need to get things done. Tomorrow I have to hoe the garden and tie up the tomatoes and plant some lettuce. And Professor needs to be walked daily as he's waddling these days. So am I but it's going to take more than morning walks with the dog for that.
I worked more on the...tabard thing...last night It's coming along but there is so much to knit that eventually it's going to be too hot to knit on for a while. Then I should move to another project, like dish cloths or maybe even sketching. Vicki was asking about my pencil sketching/painting. I'm going to pick them up tonight for a while. I miss doing them but I just am so tired at the end of the day my brain doesn't work anymore, but you've inspired me to get back to it. Thanks.
I need to get some pictures of my projects and the garden but let me hoe it first, otherwise you won't know what's a plant and what's a weed. I'm not sure I completely know.
Short entry today but I've got to get outside and get the laundry. Then there is supper to start and clothes to fold and put away. I did way too much today for my stamina. I'll pay for this tonight.
TTFN
I ran into someone I knew (how rarely that happens!) and talked to her for about 15 minutes and then had to get out of there to get home because I could no longer bend my knees at that stage. Now my poor arthritic knees are yelling at me for not treating them better. I took some ibuprofen but I suspect I'll have to add some tramadol if I want to get the clothes off the line.
I should have paced myself better but I so need to get things done. Tomorrow I have to hoe the garden and tie up the tomatoes and plant some lettuce. And Professor needs to be walked daily as he's waddling these days. So am I but it's going to take more than morning walks with the dog for that.
I worked more on the...tabard thing...last night It's coming along but there is so much to knit that eventually it's going to be too hot to knit on for a while. Then I should move to another project, like dish cloths or maybe even sketching. Vicki was asking about my pencil sketching/painting. I'm going to pick them up tonight for a while. I miss doing them but I just am so tired at the end of the day my brain doesn't work anymore, but you've inspired me to get back to it. Thanks.
I need to get some pictures of my projects and the garden but let me hoe it first, otherwise you won't know what's a plant and what's a weed. I'm not sure I completely know.
Short entry today but I've got to get outside and get the laundry. Then there is supper to start and clothes to fold and put away. I did way too much today for my stamina. I'll pay for this tonight.
TTFN
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Feels like Monday
Tom is home and seems rested. It sounds like he had a good time with his brother and even brought home some fish. They did stuff to prepare for deer hunting season because nothing else really matters, eh?
I figured since no rain was predicted it would be a good day to do laundry. I got two loads done but when I went downstairs to clean the basement (it being Tuesday) and get the second load, there was water everywhere. The drain to the washer was clogged up. After fiddling with the drain with a wire clothes hanger, I let it drain for a while and scooped up the dirt and washcloth that had apparently stopped up the drain. I've got load number 3 in the washer and hope to get load number 4 washed as well. But I doubt it will make it out on the line tonight. I'm running out of room out there.
I've been trying to listen to podcasts on Tom's mp3 player but it's giving me headaches because I can't get the podcasts to play when I hit the play button. I can play music just fine and I can play the audible exerpts just fine but nothing on the podcasts. So...I dug out my old portable cd player and am burning discs the old fashioned way. I'll have to dig out my side pouch to wear around my waist so I can move about while listening to them. It means that they will take up more room but at least I'll have hard copies for later. Now I have to go burn the podcasts I've already listened to. And find someplace to store them as I don't have individual cases for them.
The...I don't know exactly what to call it. It's not a sweater or a poncho or a vest...I guess it's more like a tabard...whatever...the project I'm working on is coming along. I like the leaves but I'm not putting the purl row in because I like it smooth in between. It's called the welted leaf pattern from Barbara Walker's stitch dictionary. And it's going much quicker than the honeycomb stitch did. Easier on my wrists, too.
I think I'm going to be monogamous for a while until I get a bit further along then maybe move onto some dishcloths so I have something small and cool to knit on. I have a pair of socks I need to re-knit a bit since they are two different sizes. They were a gift for someone else but since then I've changed my mind about giving something that requires so much love and effort to someone who won't appreciate it. And since I do appreciate it very much, it goes to me. :-)
I can't believe we're on the downhill side of July. Time goes so quickly and I don't have anything to show for it. Hopefullly now that I'm feeling marginally more energetic that will keep building until I can get a lot done in a day and then I will have something to show for it.
Well, supper needs my attention and I can tell no more clothes are going out on the line tonight so I'm going to get ready for bed right after supper, watch some dvds and knit. I finished up Bride & Prejudice last night and loved it. Hurray for Bollywood!
TTFN
I figured since no rain was predicted it would be a good day to do laundry. I got two loads done but when I went downstairs to clean the basement (it being Tuesday) and get the second load, there was water everywhere. The drain to the washer was clogged up. After fiddling with the drain with a wire clothes hanger, I let it drain for a while and scooped up the dirt and washcloth that had apparently stopped up the drain. I've got load number 3 in the washer and hope to get load number 4 washed as well. But I doubt it will make it out on the line tonight. I'm running out of room out there.
I've been trying to listen to podcasts on Tom's mp3 player but it's giving me headaches because I can't get the podcasts to play when I hit the play button. I can play music just fine and I can play the audible exerpts just fine but nothing on the podcasts. So...I dug out my old portable cd player and am burning discs the old fashioned way. I'll have to dig out my side pouch to wear around my waist so I can move about while listening to them. It means that they will take up more room but at least I'll have hard copies for later. Now I have to go burn the podcasts I've already listened to. And find someplace to store them as I don't have individual cases for them.
The...I don't know exactly what to call it. It's not a sweater or a poncho or a vest...I guess it's more like a tabard...whatever...the project I'm working on is coming along. I like the leaves but I'm not putting the purl row in because I like it smooth in between. It's called the welted leaf pattern from Barbara Walker's stitch dictionary. And it's going much quicker than the honeycomb stitch did. Easier on my wrists, too.
I think I'm going to be monogamous for a while until I get a bit further along then maybe move onto some dishcloths so I have something small and cool to knit on. I have a pair of socks I need to re-knit a bit since they are two different sizes. They were a gift for someone else but since then I've changed my mind about giving something that requires so much love and effort to someone who won't appreciate it. And since I do appreciate it very much, it goes to me. :-)
I can't believe we're on the downhill side of July. Time goes so quickly and I don't have anything to show for it. Hopefullly now that I'm feeling marginally more energetic that will keep building until I can get a lot done in a day and then I will have something to show for it.
Well, supper needs my attention and I can tell no more clothes are going out on the line tonight so I'm going to get ready for bed right after supper, watch some dvds and knit. I finished up Bride & Prejudice last night and loved it. Hurray for Bollywood!
TTFN
Monday, July 19, 2010
The mini-vacation ends
This weekend has been a laid-back, restful one in which I got some things done but didn't knock myself out doing them. I did some weeding, some minor cleaning and some reading, knitting and writing. Very little cooking though...it's as close as I get to a vacation.
I frogged back on the Sweeping Statement project I was working on because all that honeycombing was taking forever and not friendly to my hands and wrists. So I changed the insert area to a leaf pattern I got from my Barbara Walker stitch dictionary...wefting leaves or something like that. I like it and the knitting is going much faster now. I might actually finish this before winter at this rate.
I still haven't decided what to do with the Tree of Life afghan. I'm looking again at the Yggdrasil again. But only the center section. I don't have enough yarn or long enough needles to do the next part. I've got to use up what yarn I've got and not buy anymore, even at sale prices, because we are in triple lockdown mode financially. Taxes are due at the end of this month.
I slept in this morning. Professor woke me up at 8:30 a.m. wanting out so I let him out and then went back to bed after he came back in. I have to drive up to Fond du Lac for a doctor's appointment today and didn't want to get sleepy on the way up there, especially in this heat...and front windows that don't roll down. And no air conditioning. The truck has a/c but other than that we haven't had a vehicle with a/c since we moved here. All the vehicles we buy used apparently were sold because the a/c went out.
Had a bit of a miracle over the weekend. I was working in my area behind the garage that we have designated the Faery Garden and went to put the solar lights back in the ground and found the keys Tom lost about a year ago. I'm giving credit to the faeries as we had just been talking about them taking and bringing back items such as keys but I'm sure Tom won't agree with me. That's okay. I know it was the faeries.
Zach and I are experimenting on a vegetarian diet again, trying this time to keep each other built up instead of enabling. He's planning on eating meat once a week but I'm doing this largely for ethical reasons so I'm going to try to stay on plan. I'm going to fix it so I make a veg meal and Tom can just cook his own meat because that's my downfall...cooking it. Zach can cook the weekly meat meals he plans on eating that way I'm not handling meat so much. It would be good for me physically as well. I desperately need to get this weight off before I shorten my life more than it's already been shortened.
I need to schedule my mammogram and surgeon's annual visit today while I'm up there. I should have done it already but I'm not terribly behind. Just a couple of weeks off. I hate all these visits because they all cost the co-pay and all that adds up. Another reason to get healthier so I can keep some of the costs down...like maybe get off some of the medication. I'll be taking the cancer meds until I die probably, unless they find something better or determine there is no value to it. They are so new that no one knows the long term effects yet.
Time to start getting ready for my hot and boring trip up there. At least this visit will be over with for another 6 months.
TTFN
I frogged back on the Sweeping Statement project I was working on because all that honeycombing was taking forever and not friendly to my hands and wrists. So I changed the insert area to a leaf pattern I got from my Barbara Walker stitch dictionary...wefting leaves or something like that. I like it and the knitting is going much faster now. I might actually finish this before winter at this rate.
I still haven't decided what to do with the Tree of Life afghan. I'm looking again at the Yggdrasil again. But only the center section. I don't have enough yarn or long enough needles to do the next part. I've got to use up what yarn I've got and not buy anymore, even at sale prices, because we are in triple lockdown mode financially. Taxes are due at the end of this month.
I slept in this morning. Professor woke me up at 8:30 a.m. wanting out so I let him out and then went back to bed after he came back in. I have to drive up to Fond du Lac for a doctor's appointment today and didn't want to get sleepy on the way up there, especially in this heat...and front windows that don't roll down. And no air conditioning. The truck has a/c but other than that we haven't had a vehicle with a/c since we moved here. All the vehicles we buy used apparently were sold because the a/c went out.
Had a bit of a miracle over the weekend. I was working in my area behind the garage that we have designated the Faery Garden and went to put the solar lights back in the ground and found the keys Tom lost about a year ago. I'm giving credit to the faeries as we had just been talking about them taking and bringing back items such as keys but I'm sure Tom won't agree with me. That's okay. I know it was the faeries.
Zach and I are experimenting on a vegetarian diet again, trying this time to keep each other built up instead of enabling. He's planning on eating meat once a week but I'm doing this largely for ethical reasons so I'm going to try to stay on plan. I'm going to fix it so I make a veg meal and Tom can just cook his own meat because that's my downfall...cooking it. Zach can cook the weekly meat meals he plans on eating that way I'm not handling meat so much. It would be good for me physically as well. I desperately need to get this weight off before I shorten my life more than it's already been shortened.
I need to schedule my mammogram and surgeon's annual visit today while I'm up there. I should have done it already but I'm not terribly behind. Just a couple of weeks off. I hate all these visits because they all cost the co-pay and all that adds up. Another reason to get healthier so I can keep some of the costs down...like maybe get off some of the medication. I'll be taking the cancer meds until I die probably, unless they find something better or determine there is no value to it. They are so new that no one knows the long term effects yet.
Time to start getting ready for my hot and boring trip up there. At least this visit will be over with for another 6 months.
TTFN
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Is this a good thing?.
Another text I submitted said I wrote like Dan Brown. Not sure I trust these assessments.
I write like
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Stream of consciousness Friday
I mowed today because Zach has a very painful problem with his foot and can't walk on it for a day or so longer. The weeds/clover were nearly knee-high so it was past time. I can see the garden again. But I didn't get it all done. The faery garden still needs mowing and Zach has said he'll manage that tomorrow. Which is good because I don't think my knees and hips could handle more hills. We have several steep hills in our yard which is why I no longer mow the steepest one. It has become my prairie garden although nothing but weeds and daisies grow there so far. I did capture something purple this year and hope it propagates next summer.
I still haven't planted my herbs and flowers. I'm just such a wimp when it comes to heat. I'll be outdoors plugging away in sub-freezing temps but I just can't manage anything over 75 F. Another reason why I love Wisconsin so much. We might get some heat but our summers are shorter and our winters are longer. Of course, paying heating bills sucks big time though although if Tom doesn't get his pay back we might not have to worry about that because we won't be able to afford any heat. Just kidding. Maybe.
I'm hoping to get some cleaning done this weekend as it's too hot to work outdoors much and Tom is gone up north to be with his brother. Fishing, target practice...that kind of thing. I often wonder what it's like to have a vacation since all of mine involve me cleaning and cooking somewhere else. I've never actually had one where I didn't have to do anything but enjoy myself. Maybe someday.
StuffMart discontinued their Peaches & Cream cotton yarn. If I had known I would have beskittled myself to the store and bought a bunch, especially as it was on sale. Alas, it is all gone now. The cashier told me there is a new yarn store opened up in downtown Beaver Dam but the downtown area has crappy parking so I never go there, except to get a Harry Potter book at midnight one year. After that I went to StuffMart to get them because it was more fun. Everyone at the bookstore just sat around staring into space and not talking.
I think Hobby Lobby has some Sugar & Cream but West Bend is a good drive away from here and I doubt they have the cones, which is what I used to buy. I'll have to see if buying online is that much costlier because I plan on making things to sell and don't want to have to either raise the price beyond what people would buy or just break even, which kind of defeats the purpose of knitting stuff to sell.
Interestingly, there is a discussion on Ravelry about copyright laws and the consensus from the Copyright office is that finished objects don't fall under copyright nor do disclaimers from designers constitute a binding agreement thereby forbidding people from selling stuff they knit from other people's designs. So...you can sell stuff you knit from people's designs as long as you're not selling the pattern or claiming credit for the design. I suspected this all along because all that intellectual property spouting never made sense to me since I can bake cookies from a recipe and sell them and the precedent is exactly the same.
I can't begin to count the amount of money I lost by not knitting items for people who have asked me to. I feel a bit cheated and bullied to tell the truth. The notion that someone has authority to tell me what I can or can't do with my knitting to the degree that they are costing ME money really pisses me off.
Rant over.
I frogged the project I was working on because, while the gauge was right on, the finished result was too stiff and thick. I went up one needle size and really like the weight and feel of it and it won't be too big. It's not like I can't use the extra yardage anyway...although it would be nice to lose a few pounds before winter. I'm not sure if I'm going to finish the Tree of Life afghan because I'm just not crazy about it. But as I haven't exactly made up my mind, I'm not going to frog it. I'll wait and see how I feel later.
I have been looking at some cable pullovers because Ballykissangel has me wanting to knit something Celtic. All those lovely sweaters on each and every show makes me drool with yearning. I probably need either professional help or a bigger yarn budget. I can use some of the yarn I got on sale the past year to make at least 3 sweaters so I'm good to go this year.
Well, I think I need to go prop my feet up and knit a bit while watching Bally-K because I'm aching in a big way from the mowing. It wouldn't hurt to take a pain pill since I'm in for the night. That way I don't wait for it to blossom and I'm writhing on the bed trying to find a position that feels better.
Besides, the window fan is right next to the bed and it's still very, very hot.
TTFN
I still haven't planted my herbs and flowers. I'm just such a wimp when it comes to heat. I'll be outdoors plugging away in sub-freezing temps but I just can't manage anything over 75 F. Another reason why I love Wisconsin so much. We might get some heat but our summers are shorter and our winters are longer. Of course, paying heating bills sucks big time though although if Tom doesn't get his pay back we might not have to worry about that because we won't be able to afford any heat. Just kidding. Maybe.
I'm hoping to get some cleaning done this weekend as it's too hot to work outdoors much and Tom is gone up north to be with his brother. Fishing, target practice...that kind of thing. I often wonder what it's like to have a vacation since all of mine involve me cleaning and cooking somewhere else. I've never actually had one where I didn't have to do anything but enjoy myself. Maybe someday.
StuffMart discontinued their Peaches & Cream cotton yarn. If I had known I would have beskittled myself to the store and bought a bunch, especially as it was on sale. Alas, it is all gone now. The cashier told me there is a new yarn store opened up in downtown Beaver Dam but the downtown area has crappy parking so I never go there, except to get a Harry Potter book at midnight one year. After that I went to StuffMart to get them because it was more fun. Everyone at the bookstore just sat around staring into space and not talking.
I think Hobby Lobby has some Sugar & Cream but West Bend is a good drive away from here and I doubt they have the cones, which is what I used to buy. I'll have to see if buying online is that much costlier because I plan on making things to sell and don't want to have to either raise the price beyond what people would buy or just break even, which kind of defeats the purpose of knitting stuff to sell.
Interestingly, there is a discussion on Ravelry about copyright laws and the consensus from the Copyright office is that finished objects don't fall under copyright nor do disclaimers from designers constitute a binding agreement thereby forbidding people from selling stuff they knit from other people's designs. So...you can sell stuff you knit from people's designs as long as you're not selling the pattern or claiming credit for the design. I suspected this all along because all that intellectual property spouting never made sense to me since I can bake cookies from a recipe and sell them and the precedent is exactly the same.
I can't begin to count the amount of money I lost by not knitting items for people who have asked me to. I feel a bit cheated and bullied to tell the truth. The notion that someone has authority to tell me what I can or can't do with my knitting to the degree that they are costing ME money really pisses me off.
Rant over.
I frogged the project I was working on because, while the gauge was right on, the finished result was too stiff and thick. I went up one needle size and really like the weight and feel of it and it won't be too big. It's not like I can't use the extra yardage anyway...although it would be nice to lose a few pounds before winter. I'm not sure if I'm going to finish the Tree of Life afghan because I'm just not crazy about it. But as I haven't exactly made up my mind, I'm not going to frog it. I'll wait and see how I feel later.
I have been looking at some cable pullovers because Ballykissangel has me wanting to knit something Celtic. All those lovely sweaters on each and every show makes me drool with yearning. I probably need either professional help or a bigger yarn budget. I can use some of the yarn I got on sale the past year to make at least 3 sweaters so I'm good to go this year.
Well, I think I need to go prop my feet up and knit a bit while watching Bally-K because I'm aching in a big way from the mowing. It wouldn't hurt to take a pain pill since I'm in for the night. That way I don't wait for it to blossom and I'm writhing on the bed trying to find a position that feels better.
Besides, the window fan is right next to the bed and it's still very, very hot.
TTFN
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
hot, humid and another tornado watch
It's hot and muggy today so we didn't get the yard mowed. Probably won't tomorrow either as I have errands to run for Tom. He's heading up north to spend some time with his brother in his cabin in the north woods. He loves it up there and would love to live there when he retires but as you can imagine, it's mighty expensive up there.
Heat makes me even more lethargic. Completely drains my energy. We're under a tornado watch as well so I'm watching the clouds and the radar but it really looks like the whole front is going north of us which means I'll have to water the plants tomorrow. I had hoped to use the water barrel but it's leaking and I haven't gotten around to making other arrangements. I just keep forgetting until it rains.
The garden is looking good but it's so tiny, especially with most of it being tobacco. If we plant more next summer, we'll need a bigger area so we can have more veg. It would be nice if Tom could quit smoking but I'd like to be out of state for that endeavor. Cranky doesn't begin to describe how he would feel.
My breast prosthesis split again. Another duct tape and boob blowout. I have to make an appointment with the surgeon for my annual check up so I'll ask him for a new prescription. With our insurance I'd end up having to pay for it though. It just never ends. sigh In the meantime...duct tape.
I'm not sure if I'll knit tonight as hot as it is but the storm (if it shows up) might cool things off. Anyway, it's Ballykissangel series 3 tonight. I haven't even started this year's True Blood yet. To be honest, it doesn't sound great so far. A lot of liberties with the book, which is normal, but it seems like a lot of (even more!) gratuitous sex and violence. I hate things that push the envelope just for the sake of pushing it. I'll give it a try anyway though. I stopped watching Big Love because it just seemed like they didn't know where to go. I just read the synopsis and that's enough for me.
Supper is ready: hamburgers and cheese and broccoli soup. Too hot to heat up the toaster oven. And since it's ready and I'm hungry...
TTFN
Heat makes me even more lethargic. Completely drains my energy. We're under a tornado watch as well so I'm watching the clouds and the radar but it really looks like the whole front is going north of us which means I'll have to water the plants tomorrow. I had hoped to use the water barrel but it's leaking and I haven't gotten around to making other arrangements. I just keep forgetting until it rains.
The garden is looking good but it's so tiny, especially with most of it being tobacco. If we plant more next summer, we'll need a bigger area so we can have more veg. It would be nice if Tom could quit smoking but I'd like to be out of state for that endeavor. Cranky doesn't begin to describe how he would feel.
My breast prosthesis split again. Another duct tape and boob blowout. I have to make an appointment with the surgeon for my annual check up so I'll ask him for a new prescription. With our insurance I'd end up having to pay for it though. It just never ends. sigh In the meantime...duct tape.
I'm not sure if I'll knit tonight as hot as it is but the storm (if it shows up) might cool things off. Anyway, it's Ballykissangel series 3 tonight. I haven't even started this year's True Blood yet. To be honest, it doesn't sound great so far. A lot of liberties with the book, which is normal, but it seems like a lot of (even more!) gratuitous sex and violence. I hate things that push the envelope just for the sake of pushing it. I'll give it a try anyway though. I stopped watching Big Love because it just seemed like they didn't know where to go. I just read the synopsis and that's enough for me.
Supper is ready: hamburgers and cheese and broccoli soup. Too hot to heat up the toaster oven. And since it's ready and I'm hungry...
TTFN
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tuesdays are for basements
I could have hung some clothes out on the line yesterday after all since it didn't rain. I did throw caution to the wind and put some clothes out today...3 loads worth. I have another load in the washer but I'm not sure I'm going to hang them out tonight since I'm really beat. And I still have to catch up in the kitchen and make supper.
It's Tuesday so it's our day to work in the basement. We got 3 bags of trash and a box of flattened cardboard to go out in a bit. Plus I'm going to wash up some clothes that have absorbed that dank basement odor. And then store them upstairs. I threw out things that I normally would take to the thrift store but they're in bad shape from being in the basement for a while; I don't use the thrift store for a trash bin so they got tossed.
I went to the library to pick up some dvds and a book I had on order. Professor has been wanting to get in the car for a few days now so I took him with me. Every now and then he just likes a car ride. I mean, who doesn't?
I started knitting on this last night. I'm using Vanna's Choice which seems to be a bit heavier than Fisherman's Wool so I'm using a smaller needle. I prefer it anyway because the weight of this will droop in time so a tighter knit will delay that. It's a dusty blue which isn't my first choice but it was the only color that they had enough yarn. At least I hope it's enough yarn.
Worked a bit on the Tree of Life afghan as well and found numerous mistakes but I just added or subtracted stitches instead of tinking back an inch or so. It still looks okay.
I'm going to eat my supper and then hop into bed. I'd like to get some sleep but it's unlikely that will happen. Yesterday morning Professor woke me up to tell me about his friend the chipmunk next door and this morning it was a telemarketer. A recording at that.
TTFN
It's Tuesday so it's our day to work in the basement. We got 3 bags of trash and a box of flattened cardboard to go out in a bit. Plus I'm going to wash up some clothes that have absorbed that dank basement odor. And then store them upstairs. I threw out things that I normally would take to the thrift store but they're in bad shape from being in the basement for a while; I don't use the thrift store for a trash bin so they got tossed.
I went to the library to pick up some dvds and a book I had on order. Professor has been wanting to get in the car for a few days now so I took him with me. Every now and then he just likes a car ride. I mean, who doesn't?
I started knitting on this last night. I'm using Vanna's Choice which seems to be a bit heavier than Fisherman's Wool so I'm using a smaller needle. I prefer it anyway because the weight of this will droop in time so a tighter knit will delay that. It's a dusty blue which isn't my first choice but it was the only color that they had enough yarn. At least I hope it's enough yarn.
Worked a bit on the Tree of Life afghan as well and found numerous mistakes but I just added or subtracted stitches instead of tinking back an inch or so. It still looks okay.
I'm going to eat my supper and then hop into bed. I'd like to get some sleep but it's unlikely that will happen. Yesterday morning Professor woke me up to tell me about his friend the chipmunk next door and this morning it was a telemarketer. A recording at that.
TTFN
Monday, July 12, 2010
Another week begins
When I don't need to do laundry, it's sunny. So you guessed it...it's been rainy off and on the past 3 days and today has a promise of rain as well. I really don't want to use the dryer but I'm running out of clothes so I'll give it another day or so and then wash anyway.
Good for the garden though. I've got around 7 green tomatoes on the vine. I haven't tied them up yet but they are staked and leaning on the post so they're off the ground at least. The tobacco is growing really well. I pinched off the flowers on one plant so far and will look to catch the others as they flower. Zucchini, of course, is flourishing although no flowers on it yet and the peas and beans are growing, too. I ripped out the faux pepper plant as it was nearly 3 feet tall and I'm pretty sure they don't grow that big. It's a weed apparently.
And I still haven't gotten the herbs planted. I was just so tired all weekend after cleaning Saturday. I am going to try to at least get the pots ready today. I'd like to plant some sage, lavender, basil and parsley for now. And get the echinacea in the ground somewhere. I think they'll grow best out back because my front garden doesn't seem to grow stuff very well. It's cooler today, at least it's cooler now. It might get hotter later along with some humidity when the rain comes in again.
Today will be a day of errands. I did manage to stay home all weekend. It's been 3 days since I've gone to the store but I must go today as I have another prescription in. The bane of my shopping existence since they don't come in on the days I need them to. But I plan on sticking to the list this time.
Ah, the sun just came out. Dare I risk a load of clothes on the line? Probably not yet anyway as Tom will be taking his shower soon and you can't wash clothes and take showers at the same time in this house. Ah, well. I still have enough for another day or so.
I finished up the first season of The Mentalist last night. I really liked it but I do much better watching a season all at once instead of watching it weekly. So many things go wrong: I miss an episode and lose the momentum of the storyline, I get interrupted by a phone call or a dog that needs to go out RIGHT NOW, or the network decides to change times on it without notice because something else is on. That's why I love the dvds.
Now I'm going to try Lie to Me and hope I like it as well.
I got some knitting and spinning done over the weekend. The Tree of Life afghan is coming along nicely. The pattern isn't too hard and my knitting doesn't look too bad. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a fast knitter and don't want to be. I watched a show on PBS the other night and the woman was knitting so fast that you could barely see her needles. I guess the reason I don't want to be that fast is because I'm a process rather than project knitter. I love knitting and the end result is just bonus. Which is good since I've been doing a lot of frogging lately.
I definitely need to get out and walk today. Professor is so chubby that he's having trouble getting over the threshold in the front door. It is a bit taller than the steps but he used to hop up onto the bed and now can barely make it over the threshold. Granted, he's had some leg problems and that might be part of it. Still, it would only strengthen his legs to walk more. And do me a world of good as well.
Well, I need to go blow dry my hair and get some other stuff done.
TTFN
Good for the garden though. I've got around 7 green tomatoes on the vine. I haven't tied them up yet but they are staked and leaning on the post so they're off the ground at least. The tobacco is growing really well. I pinched off the flowers on one plant so far and will look to catch the others as they flower. Zucchini, of course, is flourishing although no flowers on it yet and the peas and beans are growing, too. I ripped out the faux pepper plant as it was nearly 3 feet tall and I'm pretty sure they don't grow that big. It's a weed apparently.
And I still haven't gotten the herbs planted. I was just so tired all weekend after cleaning Saturday. I am going to try to at least get the pots ready today. I'd like to plant some sage, lavender, basil and parsley for now. And get the echinacea in the ground somewhere. I think they'll grow best out back because my front garden doesn't seem to grow stuff very well. It's cooler today, at least it's cooler now. It might get hotter later along with some humidity when the rain comes in again.
Today will be a day of errands. I did manage to stay home all weekend. It's been 3 days since I've gone to the store but I must go today as I have another prescription in. The bane of my shopping existence since they don't come in on the days I need them to. But I plan on sticking to the list this time.
Ah, the sun just came out. Dare I risk a load of clothes on the line? Probably not yet anyway as Tom will be taking his shower soon and you can't wash clothes and take showers at the same time in this house. Ah, well. I still have enough for another day or so.
I finished up the first season of The Mentalist last night. I really liked it but I do much better watching a season all at once instead of watching it weekly. So many things go wrong: I miss an episode and lose the momentum of the storyline, I get interrupted by a phone call or a dog that needs to go out RIGHT NOW, or the network decides to change times on it without notice because something else is on. That's why I love the dvds.
Now I'm going to try Lie to Me and hope I like it as well.
I got some knitting and spinning done over the weekend. The Tree of Life afghan is coming along nicely. The pattern isn't too hard and my knitting doesn't look too bad. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a fast knitter and don't want to be. I watched a show on PBS the other night and the woman was knitting so fast that you could barely see her needles. I guess the reason I don't want to be that fast is because I'm a process rather than project knitter. I love knitting and the end result is just bonus. Which is good since I've been doing a lot of frogging lately.
I definitely need to get out and walk today. Professor is so chubby that he's having trouble getting over the threshold in the front door. It is a bit taller than the steps but he used to hop up onto the bed and now can barely make it over the threshold. Granted, he's had some leg problems and that might be part of it. Still, it would only strengthen his legs to walk more. And do me a world of good as well.
Well, I need to go blow dry my hair and get some other stuff done.
TTFN
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Not a bad day
I got sleep last night although waking up was hard. Once up though I started in doing things instead of reading online first. I got the kitchen squared away, Professor out for his morning wee, started cleaning my bedroom and then, when my coffee was ready, sat down to read and drink my coffee.
I figured out how to download podcasts to Tom's mp3 player and listened to 4 of them while I was cleaning. I got the house pretty well cleaned, pulled weeds in the garden, washed out some bandages (lymphedema bandages) and hung them on the line. And made sure to water the garden just moments before it started raining. If I hadn't, it wouldn't have rained.
Tom got home just a few minutes ago, age supper and then went to bed. This Friday night/Saturday morning turnaround every week is hard on him. Next week he's taking vacation days so he and his brother can go up north to his brother's cabin. His brother is coming by and Tom will drive them both up so that will save us some money. He's taking a four day weekend and deserves it.
I also did some spinning while listening to the podcast. Tonight, though, I'll be knitting while watching more of The Mentalist. I ended up frogging the brown shawl because I just don't need two earth-toned shawls. I think I'm going back to the Tree of Life afghan. I think it will look great on my bed for me to curl up under this winter when I don't have to drive up to Fond du Lac for Zach's school anymore and can stay home and knit while the weather is cold and snowy. I plan on loving that.
I'm also thinking of getting out my cotton yarn and knitting up some dishcloths. I don't know that I would use them but I might hang them up in the kitchen as decoration. At any rate, it's a fun knit.
Off to knit for a while before doing up dishes and then crawling into bed to watch tv and knit some more.
TTFN
I figured out how to download podcasts to Tom's mp3 player and listened to 4 of them while I was cleaning. I got the house pretty well cleaned, pulled weeds in the garden, washed out some bandages (lymphedema bandages) and hung them on the line. And made sure to water the garden just moments before it started raining. If I hadn't, it wouldn't have rained.
Tom got home just a few minutes ago, age supper and then went to bed. This Friday night/Saturday morning turnaround every week is hard on him. Next week he's taking vacation days so he and his brother can go up north to his brother's cabin. His brother is coming by and Tom will drive them both up so that will save us some money. He's taking a four day weekend and deserves it.
I also did some spinning while listening to the podcast. Tonight, though, I'll be knitting while watching more of The Mentalist. I ended up frogging the brown shawl because I just don't need two earth-toned shawls. I think I'm going back to the Tree of Life afghan. I think it will look great on my bed for me to curl up under this winter when I don't have to drive up to Fond du Lac for Zach's school anymore and can stay home and knit while the weather is cold and snowy. I plan on loving that.
I'm also thinking of getting out my cotton yarn and knitting up some dishcloths. I don't know that I would use them but I might hang them up in the kitchen as decoration. At any rate, it's a fun knit.
Off to knit for a while before doing up dishes and then crawling into bed to watch tv and knit some more.
TTFN
Friday, July 9, 2010
Aren't you tired of me being tired?
It wasn't cooler today at all. Less humid, yes. But not cooler.
And I'm really tired of being tired. I know I've said this many times and you're probably sick of hearing it but I have things I want to do and I can't get the energy to do them. I keep thinking that I just need to push myself to get started and once started, I'll be able to do things. But it doesn't work out that way. I push myself and I still can only work for a few minutes before I'm completely out of energy.
Shopping is exhausting these days and I'm beginning to hate it. I'm trying to limit myself to one trip a week, for frugal reasons as well as time and energy. But something always comes up and I end up making 3 or 4 trips a week. To the library, the store, to get prescriptions, etc.
I've got some doctor appointments coming up in addition to my mammogram. Seriously I want to just go to bed and stay there. All my appointments are in Fond du Lac, a 50 minute trip or so. Each way. In a car that's not air conditioned with windows that don't roll down. In the middle of the day.
I have to get laundry done tomorrow and the weeding is way overdue. The garden needs attention, too. If I don't get out there soon the tomato plants will be lying on the ground and the soon-to-be tomatoes will rot. I'm going to have to water tomorrow since it didn't rain yesterday as predicted.
I barely knitted anything last night because I was so tired. I know there are things I could do that would help. I just need to start doing them. That would involve all the energy I now possess though so little else would get done initially.
Tom has a turnaround tonight from work. He has to go in tomorrow morning after working late tonight so I'm trying to fix a supper that he can just eat all at once. I'm cooking baby lima beans with a ham bone I had in the freezer. I'll fix some corn bread to go with it and a veg so that should balance him out. I made enough for lunch tomorrow, too.
Well, enough whining. I'm going to lie down while the beans cook.
TTFN
And I'm really tired of being tired. I know I've said this many times and you're probably sick of hearing it but I have things I want to do and I can't get the energy to do them. I keep thinking that I just need to push myself to get started and once started, I'll be able to do things. But it doesn't work out that way. I push myself and I still can only work for a few minutes before I'm completely out of energy.
Shopping is exhausting these days and I'm beginning to hate it. I'm trying to limit myself to one trip a week, for frugal reasons as well as time and energy. But something always comes up and I end up making 3 or 4 trips a week. To the library, the store, to get prescriptions, etc.
I've got some doctor appointments coming up in addition to my mammogram. Seriously I want to just go to bed and stay there. All my appointments are in Fond du Lac, a 50 minute trip or so. Each way. In a car that's not air conditioned with windows that don't roll down. In the middle of the day.
I have to get laundry done tomorrow and the weeding is way overdue. The garden needs attention, too. If I don't get out there soon the tomato plants will be lying on the ground and the soon-to-be tomatoes will rot. I'm going to have to water tomorrow since it didn't rain yesterday as predicted.
I barely knitted anything last night because I was so tired. I know there are things I could do that would help. I just need to start doing them. That would involve all the energy I now possess though so little else would get done initially.
Tom has a turnaround tonight from work. He has to go in tomorrow morning after working late tonight so I'm trying to fix a supper that he can just eat all at once. I'm cooking baby lima beans with a ham bone I had in the freezer. I'll fix some corn bread to go with it and a veg so that should balance him out. I made enough for lunch tomorrow, too.
Well, enough whining. I'm going to lie down while the beans cook.
TTFN
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Still not catching a break
Yesterday was one of those days that, while not the worst day, was still a day I wish I hadn't had to get up. Lack of sleep being one of the reasons, of course.
My morning routine consists of letting Professor out first thing, making my bed, putting my little four-cup coffee pot to work cranking out decaf, and doing my online stuff. And one of my online rituals is checking the library status on what is due and if any of my holds has come in. Apparently I didn't check very well Monday morning because I discovered two dvds that were overdue by one day. At two dollars a pop for being late. Yes, that's four dollars.
Crap! I'm trying to be more frugal and stuff like this happens. My fault totally but still.
And then last night as I was eating a donut hole (don't nag...I know I shouldn't have) my dental crown came off. It's intact and just needs to be glued on but another expense.
In addition to all the medical co-pays that have been coming up the past month. And two more that will be coming up the end of this month.
And we're still dealing with more than a 22% pay cut now as Tom has now missed another pay raise. I don't know how they expect us to make it. Especially in light of all the added hours Tom is working for no extra pay as he is salary. He's putting in 10-12 hour days plus having to work on Saturdays (mandatory overtime for everyone but no mandatory overtime pay for the salaried employees.)
The only flexible spending is the food budget so I guess I'll have to work even harder on that one. I know I've been lax of late, spending more than I should have. The money spent on the trip down to Indiana is really hurting us now, too. And the second installment on property taxes is due the end of this month.
We just can't catch a break.
The siren for the tornado warning went off last night as I was shutting down the computer to go work on my knitting and watch the first season of The Mentalist (hadn't seen it before.) I checked the local stations because outside the sun was shining. The nasty weather was moving northeast but was already north of Beaver Dam so we didn't have to worry about it but once a tornado has been sighted in the county, everyone gets the alarm. And we are a huge county in terms of square mileage. Not so much with people, being a rural county and all.
I really liked what I saw of The Mentalist so far. I love the dry humor and the premise that someone can be that uber-observant. It's one of the reasons I like House so much. Unfortunately some days I'm so tired I'm barely aware of my existence, let alone what's going on around me.
I must get a call into the dentist to see about getting that crown put back on and then get busy.
ETA: The dentist on on vacation for a week so I'll have to wait until next Monday. Good thing the tooth doesn't hurt or anything. I guess I'll see about getting some dental cement from the drug store for the duration.
TTFN
My morning routine consists of letting Professor out first thing, making my bed, putting my little four-cup coffee pot to work cranking out decaf, and doing my online stuff. And one of my online rituals is checking the library status on what is due and if any of my holds has come in. Apparently I didn't check very well Monday morning because I discovered two dvds that were overdue by one day. At two dollars a pop for being late. Yes, that's four dollars.
Crap! I'm trying to be more frugal and stuff like this happens. My fault totally but still.
And then last night as I was eating a donut hole (don't nag...I know I shouldn't have) my dental crown came off. It's intact and just needs to be glued on but another expense.
In addition to all the medical co-pays that have been coming up the past month. And two more that will be coming up the end of this month.
And we're still dealing with more than a 22% pay cut now as Tom has now missed another pay raise. I don't know how they expect us to make it. Especially in light of all the added hours Tom is working for no extra pay as he is salary. He's putting in 10-12 hour days plus having to work on Saturdays (mandatory overtime for everyone but no mandatory overtime pay for the salaried employees.)
The only flexible spending is the food budget so I guess I'll have to work even harder on that one. I know I've been lax of late, spending more than I should have. The money spent on the trip down to Indiana is really hurting us now, too. And the second installment on property taxes is due the end of this month.
We just can't catch a break.
The siren for the tornado warning went off last night as I was shutting down the computer to go work on my knitting and watch the first season of The Mentalist (hadn't seen it before.) I checked the local stations because outside the sun was shining. The nasty weather was moving northeast but was already north of Beaver Dam so we didn't have to worry about it but once a tornado has been sighted in the county, everyone gets the alarm. And we are a huge county in terms of square mileage. Not so much with people, being a rural county and all.
I really liked what I saw of The Mentalist so far. I love the dry humor and the premise that someone can be that uber-observant. It's one of the reasons I like House so much. Unfortunately some days I'm so tired I'm barely aware of my existence, let alone what's going on around me.
I must get a call into the dentist to see about getting that crown put back on and then get busy.
ETA: The dentist on on vacation for a week so I'll have to wait until next Monday. Good thing the tooth doesn't hurt or anything. I guess I'll see about getting some dental cement from the drug store for the duration.
TTFN
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Working the basement
We worked in the basement today for about an hour, scrubbing the floor where the water heater leaks a bit. It's gotten a bit ripe there with critters growing so it was a bit slimey. You can see the floor now. Tom is going to replace the water heater as soon as we're done with the basement. At this rate we should be done by 2033.
We got 2 big huge bags of trash out and a smaller bag. I still have room for a bit so I'm throwing away some fans that no longer work. We tend to hang on to everything. I don't know that you can really see a difference but at least I know we made a difference.
And we also lost a lot of water weight because we were sweating buckets. The lenses on my glasses were completely covered in water, my hair was wet and my shirt was soaked. In the basement where it's supposed to be cooler.
So next Tuesday we'll tackle it again and get rid of some more stuff since that's trash day.
I'm fixing a salad tonight based on one Zach had at Wendy's. The Apple Pecan Chicken Salad. We didn't find Pomegranite Vinaigrette but I got some Raspberry & Walnut Vinaigrette. I hope it's at least similar. We've been eating a lot of salads lately.
I did some spinning last night. I had finished up the roving I had separated out and pre-drafted. I washed and hung it (weighted) and now I just need to put it with the other yarn that I've spun. I'm spinning Welsh Top which is a sturdier yarn but I wanted to learn how to dye and needed something substantial. It's spun out very thin, not lace weight but smaller than fingering. Of course this is the first spun. I haven't plied anything yet. It will most likely ply out to fingering weight.
Not sure what to do with 16 ounces of fingering weight yarn but I'll figure it out.
I have some more to spin after this bit of roving. I just need to keep at it daily because I've gotten pretty good at it. It's just slower using a kick spindle rather than a spinning wheel. If I kept up with it, I could actually accomplish something. And I do enjoy it. I ended up spinning for over an hour last night until I got tired and needed some sleepy.
I did some knitting on both shawls and finished up Ballykissangel, series 2. After that I was too tired to start anything else and fell asleep immediately. I don't remember what show I was watching when I went to bed but I don't remember any of it. I slept so good last night.
Until 3 a.m. when the idiots down the road started up with the firecrackers again. Tom said he looked out and they were in their car so it might not be the people who live there, but the car was parked there so who knows? Of course Professor had to have his say about it. Hannibal was so skittish and frightened that I felt sorry for him.
I'm not a fan of fireworks in the neighborhoods. At all.
I've got a load of clothes in the dryer...my lighter colored clothes and my bandages for wrapping my arm (lymphedema) so I need to get them and finish up the trash bin and then start the salad. It's not been a bad day, although it's been muggy. Not as bad as the east coast has had though. I do feel for them. I would be totally miserable if I were there right now.
TTFN
We got 2 big huge bags of trash out and a smaller bag. I still have room for a bit so I'm throwing away some fans that no longer work. We tend to hang on to everything. I don't know that you can really see a difference but at least I know we made a difference.
And we also lost a lot of water weight because we were sweating buckets. The lenses on my glasses were completely covered in water, my hair was wet and my shirt was soaked. In the basement where it's supposed to be cooler.
So next Tuesday we'll tackle it again and get rid of some more stuff since that's trash day.
I'm fixing a salad tonight based on one Zach had at Wendy's. The Apple Pecan Chicken Salad. We didn't find Pomegranite Vinaigrette but I got some Raspberry & Walnut Vinaigrette. I hope it's at least similar. We've been eating a lot of salads lately.
I did some spinning last night. I had finished up the roving I had separated out and pre-drafted. I washed and hung it (weighted) and now I just need to put it with the other yarn that I've spun. I'm spinning Welsh Top which is a sturdier yarn but I wanted to learn how to dye and needed something substantial. It's spun out very thin, not lace weight but smaller than fingering. Of course this is the first spun. I haven't plied anything yet. It will most likely ply out to fingering weight.
Not sure what to do with 16 ounces of fingering weight yarn but I'll figure it out.
I have some more to spin after this bit of roving. I just need to keep at it daily because I've gotten pretty good at it. It's just slower using a kick spindle rather than a spinning wheel. If I kept up with it, I could actually accomplish something. And I do enjoy it. I ended up spinning for over an hour last night until I got tired and needed some sleepy.
I did some knitting on both shawls and finished up Ballykissangel, series 2. After that I was too tired to start anything else and fell asleep immediately. I don't remember what show I was watching when I went to bed but I don't remember any of it. I slept so good last night.
Until 3 a.m. when the idiots down the road started up with the firecrackers again. Tom said he looked out and they were in their car so it might not be the people who live there, but the car was parked there so who knows? Of course Professor had to have his say about it. Hannibal was so skittish and frightened that I felt sorry for him.
I'm not a fan of fireworks in the neighborhoods. At all.
I've got a load of clothes in the dryer...my lighter colored clothes and my bandages for wrapping my arm (lymphedema) so I need to get them and finish up the trash bin and then start the salad. It's not been a bad day, although it's been muggy. Not as bad as the east coast has had though. I do feel for them. I would be totally miserable if I were there right now.
TTFN
Monday, July 5, 2010
Fifth of July is not Independence Day
I'm not happy about all the firecrackers going off two doors down. It's driving Professor nuts and he's going into barksteria every time they happen.
I got nothing done today except a brief nap and some un-knitting. I'm not sure what I did last night but I'm having to undo it. I shouldn't knit when I'm that tired, I guess.
I woke up at 6 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and enjoyed the morning silence. But by 10 a.m. I was unable to keep my eyes open. Just got a few winks, however. Damned insomnia.
We had some rain and that cooled off the air a bit. It was getting mighty hot and humid and Professor was panting so heavily I thought he was going to explode. Now he's sitting immediately in front of the window fan panting into it. He sleeps right next to it every night. And I mean right next to it.
Not much going on. I'm finishing up Ballykissangel season 2 and trying to knit more on the brown shawl. I'll move to the Helm's Deep shawl before the night is out so I can keep up with it. I'm needing another project to work on so I might work on designing an amulet necklace. I keep thinking about it but I don't do anything beyond that.
Off to Ireland and knitting.
TTFN
I got nothing done today except a brief nap and some un-knitting. I'm not sure what I did last night but I'm having to undo it. I shouldn't knit when I'm that tired, I guess.
I woke up at 6 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and enjoyed the morning silence. But by 10 a.m. I was unable to keep my eyes open. Just got a few winks, however. Damned insomnia.
We had some rain and that cooled off the air a bit. It was getting mighty hot and humid and Professor was panting so heavily I thought he was going to explode. Now he's sitting immediately in front of the window fan panting into it. He sleeps right next to it every night. And I mean right next to it.
Not much going on. I'm finishing up Ballykissangel season 2 and trying to knit more on the brown shawl. I'll move to the Helm's Deep shawl before the night is out so I can keep up with it. I'm needing another project to work on so I might work on designing an amulet necklace. I keep thinking about it but I don't do anything beyond that.
Off to Ireland and knitting.
TTFN
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Lazing in the summer heat
It's not excessively hot but I am excessively lazy today. I didn't sleep a lot this weekend (and what else is new) but since there is no place to go I've been taking naps, lying back on the bed knitting while watching Hamish Macbeth amongst other things. And just plain resting. This is as close to a vacation as I'll ever get.
I am still doing laundry, dishes, cooking and straightening up, of course. I never get away from all that.
It's the fourth of July everywhere, but here in the old USA we're celebrating our independence from England. Being a huge Anglophile, I question whether that was a good idea but not wanting to be tarred and feathered by the rest of my countrymen, I'll agree that at the time, it was the best thing to do.
There is no perfect country out there and while I do drool over greener pastures I still love my country very much...warts and all. What I don't do, however, is make a huge show of patriotism. We have the flag flying but I don't do red, white and blue paper plates and napkins. I won't wear red, white and blue clothing, except by accident and I don't like fireworks in the neighborhood. I think the public displays are great but my pets don't appreciate firecrackers and other incendiary (and explosive) devices going off for days prior to and after the big event.
Another reason I get little sleep this time of year.
I also hate the more-patriotic-than-thou attitudes amongst certain politically minded people out there who are intent on proving that their political persuasion is the only patriotic choice out there. Particularly when most of them haven't served in the military and I have. And how criticizing the President was traitorous in the last administration and yet agreeing with the President has become traitorous in this one.
But I personally choose to celebrate this great day in our history by doing very little labor and knitting a great deal. So I am off to do my patriotic duties.
TTFN
I am still doing laundry, dishes, cooking and straightening up, of course. I never get away from all that.
It's the fourth of July everywhere, but here in the old USA we're celebrating our independence from England. Being a huge Anglophile, I question whether that was a good idea but not wanting to be tarred and feathered by the rest of my countrymen, I'll agree that at the time, it was the best thing to do.
There is no perfect country out there and while I do drool over greener pastures I still love my country very much...warts and all. What I don't do, however, is make a huge show of patriotism. We have the flag flying but I don't do red, white and blue paper plates and napkins. I won't wear red, white and blue clothing, except by accident and I don't like fireworks in the neighborhood. I think the public displays are great but my pets don't appreciate firecrackers and other incendiary (and explosive) devices going off for days prior to and after the big event.
Another reason I get little sleep this time of year.
I also hate the more-patriotic-than-thou attitudes amongst certain politically minded people out there who are intent on proving that their political persuasion is the only patriotic choice out there. Particularly when most of them haven't served in the military and I have. And how criticizing the President was traitorous in the last administration and yet agreeing with the President has become traitorous in this one.
But I personally choose to celebrate this great day in our history by doing very little labor and knitting a great deal. So I am off to do my patriotic duties.
TTFN
Friday, July 2, 2010
Finished project...and a picture
This is the shopping/library bag I knitted which today got it's first use and it worked very well. I made it shallower with longer handles so I could sling it over my shoulder and not take the weight of the books on my wrists. The second picture isn't great but it shows the dimensions better.
I worked out in the yard today donating a lot of blood toward the mosquitoes benevolent fund. Backbreaking work that hoeing and watering. Trying to determine which was plant and which was weed wasn't easy in some cases but I hope I made the right decision. Maybe pictures of the garden tomorrow now that there are green things above ground. One plant I'm pretty sure is a weed but initially I thought it was a pepper plant. It's huge. The best growing thing in the garden. I'll cut it down once I know for sure what it is.
I need to go out and hang out another load of clothes and bring in the dry load but I need to regroup a bit and try to grow some more blood cells before venturing out there. I'm going to do a bit of ironing this load as I don't like my good t-shirts to look so wrinkled...and stiff. Otherwise I wear things as they come off the line.
Tomorrow we take the cans to the recycling man. We got behind and now have a basement nearly full (yeah, I exaggerate) of bags of cans. From now on we do this monthly so I don't take up so much room. I don't know if Tom is working but we'll need the truck for that. He can take the car for once.
I don't know what was going on last night but someone kept shooting off fireworks. That or a gun. Nearby. There was a children's party across the street and our new neighbor had some friends over in the backyard so it was one of them doing it. Professor was going ape-uh...nuts...over it barking hysterically every time they did it. I'm not a fan of fireworks around neighborhoods.
Sunday I plan on shutting the windows except for the ones with fans in them and running background noises as much as I can. And the pets stay indoors. A few years ago Hannibal was out in the backyard on his lead and someone walking on the sidewalk by the highway (which is up the hill from our house) threw firecrackers into the yard where he was. I saw a police car in the neighborhood a while after that so I'm guessing they did that to other people as well. Since we didn't phone the police over it.
I had labs today and they had trouble finding a vein so I got poked and prodded but no bruising this time. I hate having blood taken. The girl who knows my veins best was on vacation but will be back before I need labs again...in two weeks. At $25 a visit. That's $100 total for office visit and labs in a four week period. One hundred dollars I don't have to spare.
Off to fix supper and then to bed because I've worn myself out today. And knitting on both shawls tonight.
TTFN
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