Christmas shopping is done...mostly

Well, Zach's Christmas is done.  Since we didn't get him anything for graduation and because his Christmases have been extremely frugal for the past 10 years or so, we splurged a bit for him.  Not extravagantly by most standards but a lot for use.  Bless his heart he wanted to get me something I've wanted for a long time now:  the entire Babylon 5 series, but I told him this year is his.

I didn't get much done today aside from shopping and I'm thinking of going back because I didn't want to leave his presents in Shrek (our minivan) because 'tis the season for people to break into your car in parking lots so I'll go back and get the few things I didn't get when I was there.  This way I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow. I hope.

I had to stop by the library or I would have waited until tomorrow.  I really must wash a load of clothes so I'll do that tonight and hang them on racks tomorrow morning.  No point doing it tonight as there won't be any head coming out of the vents until morning.  I'll kick the heat up a bit to 60F so the clothes will dry.  We've been doing okay with the thermostat sitting on around 56F because we wear layers.  And Zach has a heater in his bedroom to take the chill off since his room stays cold no matter what the thermostat is sitting on.  If I'm busy, 56F is fine.  If I'm sitting on the couch knitting, I have the blanket across my lap anyway so I don't need it up any higher.  Unless it's raining out.  Then I turn it up because the cold just settles in the bones and stays there.

I started a pair of Glomitts, the kind I knit for everyone last winter.  I love them because they keep me warm enough to shovel snow but I can use my fingers when I need to.  I dug into my stash and found a couple of skeins of yellow and a couple of skeins of black Vanna's Choice yarn so I'm knitting them in black and yellow.  My coat is black so they will look good together.  And I have enough to knit up a hooded cowl to go with it for those days when I don't need my lumberjack hat.  I'm using Tom's this year since I lost mine on the night we got stranded and didn't get home until after midnight.  His is fur lined.

I'm still working on socks though.  I'm nearly done with one of Zach's socks and need to get busy on my mom's fingering weight socks.  I really need to stay home so I can do that.

The ottoman already has snags on it from the cat, which is why I didn't use good yarn.  Hannibal has claimed the ottoman as his own although he hasn't, as yet, sharpened his claws on it.  The damage has been from him launching off of it onto the couch.  Luckily between the flecks in the yarn and the mini-basketweave pattern, it doesn't show much.

I'm thinking chili for supper tonight because it's a one-pot meal and I'm feeling really tired.  Maybe too tired to go back to the store, darn it. Maybe a light nap before I do anything else.  Or maybe I'll just make up the couch and go to bed now and let everyone fend for themselves.  Nah...wouldn't be fair to Tom who works long hours.  And I mean long.

So, I'm off to fix supper, start a load of clothes and then maybe go to bed.  I'll go shopping some other time.

TTFN

The hunter returns...without

I pretty much know what we're getting Zach this year for Christmas.  I took him with me to Shopko today and listened to him talk about things he was interested in and came away with several ideas, which I narrowed down to three.

I also decided what I want, too, not that I will get it though.  This is Zach's year, not mine.

I finished up the ottoman cover and while it isn't perfect, it looks pretty good.  At least the cat loves it and insists on sleeping there much to Professor's dismay.  He uses the ottoman to get up on the couch, being a Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix and small.  So he barks at Hannibal, who just looks the other way.  Then I just pick him up and put him on the couch.  He gives Hannibal a smug look and settles down into his wool blanket.  Life goes on as usual.

I need to start some mittens with flaps.  It was cold today and I needed to buy gas for Shrek (the minivan) but I forgot my fingerless mitts so I was alternating hands in pockets.  But now that the temps are at freezing, I'll need mittens most of the time.  I've got plenty of yarn so it's not a worry.  I just have to decide which color I want to wear with my black coat.

I'm making progress on Zach's socks but not my mother's.  Hers involves actually paying attention to the pattern and my brain is in the off mode right now so I'm unable to do that.  Soon, I hope.  In the meantime, plain socks and the flip-top mittens will work.  Then I have to get back to sweaters.  I don't want to have them sit in the bag all winter.

Tom made it home last night without a deer.  He saw three but they were right behind him and he couldn't move fast enough to sight them before they took off.  His brother saw one but no one else in the hunting camp saw any.  This has been going on for several years.  Someone suggested that if they aren't seeing any deer, maybe they should hunt where the deer actually are.  I know there are deer there, but I suspect the herds haven't been managed well and they're not growing like they should.  Still, he has a good time with the guys.

I need to start supper.  I just got home from shopping and errands/bill-paying so I think it will be hot dogs and potatoes.  Tom brought home a huge pack of hot dogs that I need to use up.  I was going to make macaroni and cheese to go with it, but I'm feeling pretty dragged out today so I think not.

At least the kitchen is still clean so I can find the counters.

TTFN

Yes!!!!

Zach found my earring in the bathtub so I have a matched set again! 

Slept well when I could but I had to get up with Professor three times last night and Zach woke up throwing up this morning.

I'm off to the pharmacy to pick up my meds and maybe shop for his presents since he can't come with me.

TTFN

One Christmas present down

Both City Hall and Culligan were closed today so I wasn't able to pay those bills.  I'll go back with envelopes and put them in the slot.  The Culligan bill was due today but they'd better not charge me late fees if they're not open to accept my payment.

I also lost one of my good earrings on Wednesday night.  No idea where; I was so many places.  I hate it because I wear them all the time.  I also really hate the clasps on earrings because they don't stay closed.  I've lost so many good earrings because they just come undone.

We did some Christmas shopping today but only got one gift for Tom.  There were still a lot of good sales in electronics and the baby clothes section but as I'm not in the market for either, I skipped those deals.  Shopping for Tom is very difficult as he has only a few interests and they are extremely expensive.  Plus he already has most of what he needs.  It's just that his wants cost more than a new pair of glasses for me, which I do need.  Like, over $300 wants.  And yet I don't want to get him a gift just to get him a gift.  I want to get him something he will enjoy and appreciate.

This year is Zach's year though.  Every year he gets one gift and Tom gets several so this year I'm getting Tom one gift and Zach several.  I don't know why it always ends up that way but it does. But not this year.  I'm not sure what to get him, but it's going to be more than he usually gets.

Tomorrow will be set aside for cleaning.  I'm back to having the debilitating fatigue again but somehow it's got to get done.  Zach will work on cleaning the car and bathroom while I work on the kitchen and living and dining rooms.  I might have Zach mop the kitchen floor though.  My back is much better but not completely there yet.

I finished up the fourth square on the ottoman cover and started the final one.  I also made progress on Zach's sock but not my mother's.  It's pretty dark in my bedroom and it's a dark teal yarn so I need to reserve that for sunny days.  Which we haven't had for three days.  I'll figure out something.  Zach asked about his Bowser doll but I haven't gotten to it for a while.  It requires concentration and I'm not filled with that right now.  In fact, I'm so scatterbrained right now I worry.

Time to fix something for supper then to bed.  I'm so tired.  I really, really hate this but I don't know which is worse...the pain or the fatigue.

TTFN

The sun sets on Thanksgiving Day

It was a very laid-back day mostly because I was in pain and didn't feel like doing anything.  Still am and still don't.  I did manage to bring the clothes in off the line which I thought would be dry because of all the lovely wind, but the heavy stuff was still very wet.  So I got the racks up from the basement, made room by the heating vents and set them up.  I guess I'm done hanging clothes outside this winter.  From now on one load of clothes at a time and use the racks.  I did it like that most of last winter so I know it can be done.  And in case of need, I'm across town from a laundromat.  I can wash the clothes here and take them there to dry.  Even easier now that I've got a mini-van.

I didn't sleep at all well last night and neither did Zach.  We were both up at 5 a.m.  Him from his incessant inability to fall asleep and me from the pain that woke me up.  I think I'm under-utilizing my pain pills now that I'm through the crisis of the sciatica.  Or maybe all that lugging clothes up the steep basement stairs did me in.  Either way I'll take two pain pills tonight to ensure I get some sleep.

Zach is going to cook supper tonight because he got to sleep in.  I've got a dog that needs to wee occasionally so I had to get up.  And once up, I tend to stay up.  We're having sauce-less spaghetti tonight.  Neither one of us like sauce on spaghetti but Tom does so we always fix it the way he likes it until he leaves.  Then we get it our way.

I didn't get the kitchen cleaned up but I will put a little bit of effort on it tonight after supper.  The dishwasher will be full so I can at least run that.  Tomorrow we have errands to run and to sign the Walker recall petition so I probably won't get a lot of work done.  But I will get something done because I need to cook supper tomorrow night.  I've been doing a lot of thinking as to how I can arrange the stuff on the counters so I have space to cook and I think I've got a plan.  But it involves moving Tom's lunchbox and thermos someplace else.  Still, I need the counter space worse than he needs to have his lunchbox taking up space there. 

I also need to do a small amount of ironing.  When you hang stuff up on racks, they tend to look pretty wrinkled and I never dry Zach's jeans in the dryer so I need to iron them a bit.  While I'm at it I might as well iron my jeans, too.  And no...no creases.

As I said, it's been a laid-back day but I've been knitting a lot while watching the Cooking Channel.  I have no idea why I'm watching it but I'm getting a lot of ideas on how to change our eating habits, although it does involve needing counter space, which is why I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out a solution.  I did buy a big cutting board that I can use on the dining table which will extend the kitchen for me, but it's not an ideal solution.  It's big enough I can put it over one of the sinks so that might be a better solution.  I'm thinking of starting a sour dough mixture so I can bake some bread.  I have a bread machine but it only makes one loaf at a time and it's more economical to back multiple loaves.  Plus it's huge and takes up a lot of room on the counter.  Or pantry space where it rests until I use it.

And speaking of pantry, I need to straighten that up, too.  I bought a clamp on desk lamp to use for the back hallway which is pitch dark most of the time, but being a gooseneck lamp, I can turn it into the pantry through a little opening at the back so I can use it there, too.  It's dark in the pantry.  Which actually is the cubby where the old refrigerator used to reside.  The present one is too big for it so I bought some racks that I can slide in and out and use it for the pantry.  I'm planning on putting a curtain over the front so it hides the disaster that it usually is.

All these plans and no energy.  Well, I simply must push through and get 'er done.

I finished up the Ocean socks and started another pair for Zach of plum and light blue.  I frogged my dad's socks because after talking to my mom again, she wants the thin socks and he wants the thick ones so I found a pattern in my stash that seems to have no name but is a simple pattern but pretty.  It's solid color so the texture will make the sock.  I'll make my dad some plain dark blue socks.  He just wears them with his slippers around the house because they're too big to wear with his shoes.  Me, I get my shoes big enough to accommodate them because I wear them all winter long.  And it doesn't seem to bother me during the summer when I wear cotton socks.

I also am nearly done with the fourth side of the ottoman cover.  I'd like to get that done soon.  I'm still using the lava lamp for a nightlight because I tripped over the black ottoman the other night and landed on the floor, which is good because I could have landed on the corner of the table.  I seem to fall every winter so maybe that will be it for me.  It's a whole lot easier falling on carpet than on icy pavement.  I've ruined one knee landing on the sidewalk a few winters ago.  I can't kneel on it anymore.  It also happens to be the knee with the worse arthritis.

I hate falling apart like this.

Well, my fingers are itching to knit some more so I'm off to watch a travelogue to Italy this time.  I'm pretty sure there will be food in the documentary though.

TTFN

We do pizza for Thanksgiving

I've accomplished more today than I have in the past week, it seems.  Three loads of clothes are out on the line, I've done up the dishes and knitting up to the toe decreases on the second Ocean sock.  I'm hurting now, but at least that much is done.  Tomorrow we'll clean out the car (although Zach's going to work on it a bit now) and maybe the rest of the house.  And bring the clothes in off the line. It's really a nice day today although foggy earlier.  It's in the 40s with sunshine and will be in the 50s tomorrow with more sunshine.  So I didn't have to use the indoor racks.  This time.  I'm pretty sure next time I will.

I'm not much for Thanksgiving Day celebrations.  Haven't done it for years and don't see any reason to start now.  It's just me and Zach and over the years we've come to just treating it like another day.  We tried going to other people's houses for T-day but it was awkward and not enjoyable at all.  So we do what we do and like it better.

I'm going to have to take the spinning dvd back as I haven't really got the time to finish it and since someone else is waiting on it, might as well get it to them as soon as possible so they can enjoy it.  I might try to get it again once things have gotten a bit more organized.

I read an article on craft fairs and flea markets and all the extra costs involved and to be honest, I don't think I've got it in me to do that.  So back to being extremely frugal and cost-cutting.  Maybe I'll figure out a way to bring in a dollar or two.  I hope so.

Zach and I are heading out in an hour for the library, Pizza Hut and shopping.  Nothing will be open tomorrow so we have to get it done today.  Although part of me wants to go out on Thursday to drive around and see everything closed.  I'm weird that way.  We'll get a large pizza and two salad bars and bring the rest of the pizza home for lunch tomorrow.  Maybe I can find a sugar-free pumpkin pie. I already have sugar free whipped topping.  The only thing about Thanksgiving meals I really miss as neither Zach nor I like turkey.

Well, I'm going to take a hot shower and a pain pill and get ready to go.

TTFN

Back to socks for a bit

I'm back to mostly taking pain pills at night.  The pain in my back, hip and leg has eased off so much that it only occasionally speaks up and ibuprofen seems to do the trick on its own.  Still...making up the bed puts a strain on my back so I have to take it easy.  And I'm not carrying heavy things around for a while.

But sleep was good although accompanied by some strange dreams, one being something about Zach finding a bird that he set beside the bird cage we already had a bird in (we don't own a bird!) and when I walked into the room, noticed the new bird didn't have any food, so I was going to feed it but when I returned to the room it was a baby.  So I decided to breastfeed it.  I'm so glad I woke up from that dream!

My interpretation of that dream is that I need to refill the bird feeders outside.  I'm not going to dissect it any further!

I should have washed and hung out some laundry today but the ordeal of dealing with all that pain has sapped my energy and I've been dragging today.  In fact, I might just go to bed as soon as I'm done with this.  I'm really tired.  Maybe tomorrow I'll do laundry although it will have to hang on racks since it's supposed to rain tomorrow.

Still working away on the ottoman covers.  I'm about a third of the way through the fourth one.  I probably won't get much done today as I want to go back to working on socks.  I need another pair so I won't have to wash socks out every other night.  I can do them every third night if I knit up another pair.  Besides, I hate knitting monogamy.

I need to knit up some new mittens with flaps since I can only find one pair from last year.  One of these times I will put things where I can find them and actually label them.  In the meantime, I do enjoy knitting them so it won't be a chore.  Zach is going to start knitting blankets for the animal shelter.  He feels like he should be doing something beneficial.  He knows how to knit but could use the experience and blankets are a good way to get that.  I've got plenty of Red Heart supersaver yarn.  Dogs and cats need a yarn that is durable and machine washable.  And the yarn has to be affordable, too.  RHSS fills that description nicely.

Now I just need him to pick a pattern so I can get him started.  Tomorrow maybe.  I'm going to bed very soon tonight.

I found my sleeping hat but I haven't needed it yet.  After last night, though, I might keep it under the pillow just in case.  I'm going to put another blanket on the bed tonight.  I got a bit chilly last night although when I got up the temp hadn't gotten as low as the thermostat was set.  Which is good for the utility bill. My new sweat pants felt great last night.  Much warmer than my threadbare sets which I've had for about 10 years.  I got them the winter of chemo so it's been that long.  I was due for some new ones.  I also picked up a new sweatshirt.  I do bundle up during the day so I can keep the furnace from working too hard.

Well, off to shut everything down, make up the bed, let Professor out for his wee while I do that.  Otherwise I compete with him on the bed.  Although he's really good at going where I point so I can put the sheets and covers on.  Then cozied up in bed with some hot cocoa I'll knit away on socks tonight while watching my dvr.  Tomorrow I've decided is a day for the spinning dvd.  It's due back on Friday.

TTFN

Attack on two fronts

I'm making slow progress on the dining room but since I didn't get much sleep last night and there is no deadline on it, I'm taking my time.  At least you can see the dining table now.  And I've got a space cleared in front of the heating vent to put the clothes racks so I can wash a load of clothes tomorrow.  I just need to clean the kitchen so I have room for a rack in there.

I don't know what happened last night but my fibromyalgia pain went through the roof.  I was extremely uncomfortable, alternating pacing the floor with curling up in a ball on the bed, and ended up taking three tramadol in the course of 6 hours.  Finally it ebbed off at around 5 a.m.  I had a little bit of sciatica pain but the fibromyalgia kind of overwhelmed that.  And today the sciatica is making its presence known although still under a 5 on the pain scale.

I'm nearly done with the third square on the ottoman cover.  I was too tired and in too much pain to do much on it and turned the lights off early and tried to get to sleep.  I dug Zach's lava lamp out of the basement and am using it as a nightlight so I don't have to wake up and turn the light on so Professor can see the ottoman anymore.  He did just fine last night without needing me to turn on the lamp.  Plus it's a bit hypnotizing.

I think I'm going to lie down as my fibromyalgia is rearing its head again right now.  Normally I can ignore the daytime pain, but not today for some reason.  I just took my pain cocktail (3 ibuprofen and one tramadol) so maybe lying down will help.

TTFN

Relief!

The pain woke me up this morning.  Or the dog did.  Not really sure which, but once out of bed there didn't seem to be any pain.  A huge relief that I've been cautiously enjoying.  I was able to make up the couch and get a little work done today with minimal pain.  I'd say it's down to about a 2, which is my normal pain standard anyway.  I do know the fibromyalgia pain was what bothered me last night.  Not the sciatica.   I did take my pain cocktail (3 ibuprofen and one tramadol) after I got done, but mostly as a precaution.  Once the pain is raging, no pain meds will calm it down.  I just hope this is on the downhill slope and I can catch a break.

It's nice to have one clean room in the house since I worked in the living room, de-cluttering and vacuuming/dusting.  By tomorrow I should have two.  And so on.  I'm not going to overdo it.  Although I did work in the kitchen to catch up on the dishes, which I managed to do.  But I am done for the day.  Only knitting for the rest of the night.

I've got two squares done on the cover for the ottoman and one-third done on the third one.  That must be like the seventh son of a seventh son thing.  At any rate, I'm going to work on socks tonight, too, since I need to get those done. Tomorrow I plan on carding my practice wool and trying to keep up with that.  I must get the singles dyed this week while Tom's gone.  With him gone I'll have more room to set up the racks so they can dry.  It's too cold and wet to hang them outside.

I got a dvd from the library on spinning with Maggie Clark and Eunny Jang.  It's a two-disk set and has all kinds of information.  It's one thing to read it and see the pictures.  It's quite another to see them actually spinning and carding and such.

Well, got to go get dressed as I'm out of milk and need to go to the store.

TTFN

The Deer Widow's vacation begins.

Tom is away!  I got home from the library and the store last night to find the truck in the driveway.  He walked across town to pick it up and they stayed open long enough for him to get there.  We have amazing mechanics.  Although we do pay dearly for them.

So he got away before noon.  I've been doing much of nothing today aside from rescuing the laundry from the garden.  We've had about 30 mph winds today and the sheets ended up in the garden.  I just shook the dirt off of them and folded them.  Most everything else stayed on the clothesline but I brought it in anyway.  Nice and dry and wrinkle free.

I'm  nearly done with the second square of the cover for the ottoman.  I worked a bit on my dad's sock last night as well, while trying to get sleepy enough to go to bed.  I'll probably work some more on it tonight, too.  I need to do more than work on one project at a time.  But I also need to stop starting new projects until I finish a couple more.  At this rate, I'll never finish anything.

I'm debating what to do about the living room.  I really like having a living room again, but my back is still hurting and leaving the couch made up as a bed is much easier on my back for now.  Tom suggested I just turn it back into a bedroom again, which would be nice because I could push the couch against a wall and be able to prop myself up instead of using a million pillows that keep falling off the bed and knocking stuff off the table.  But that would also involve moving a lot of furniture and my back isn't onboard for that either.

I got a call back from the dr's office telling me I need to schedule a 6 month follow up.  Which means my labs were awful and the dr needs to talk to me about it.  I can't get in until December so they're giving me a month's worth of meds in the meantime.  If she can come up with a way for me to stop craving foods that are bad for me and a way to cook healthy foods on a hamburger diet, I'll listen.   Well, I'll listen anyway, but this is someone who has never had a weight problem in her life so she doesn't get the whole just eat less and move more and you'll lose weight myth doesn't really work when you have an eating disorder.   I've actually had therapy for it but the therapist had never had an eating disorder before either and really didn't offer anything I hadn't already tried a million times before.  And who wants to pay an arm and a leg for something that you're already tried and failed at?

So...I was doing pretty well on my own, not focusing on food at all until the dr and my family started bugging me about losing weight again.  I had even lost 10 pounds.  Now?   I've gained about 30.  Only my rheumatologist gets this for some reason.

Well, I have to go pick up my meds and we're grabbing a bite out as the kitchen is a disaster and I'm not in the mood to clean it up today.

TTFN

History repeats itself and not in a good way

Yesterday was 27 different kinds of hectic, ending at around 3 a.m. when I finally fell into bed and awaited the pain pills to get the pain down to a dull roar so I could go to sleep in order to wake up and go to the dr for my labs.  I missed the phone call from the garage because they called about 5 minutes after I left the house to go run errands.  And by the time I got home, they were closed.

So I called first thing this morning.  Not good news at all.  The fuel pump needs to be replaced.  Which is what happened last year during deer hunting up north.  A fuel pump is supposed to last longer than a year so I suspect the mechanics up there put in a used one and charged Tom for a new one.  It's what happens when you're away from home and they don't need your return business.  Not saying that's what happened, but fuel pumps last longer than one year.

So they are going to try to get it done before the weekend so Tom can go up north, but if not, he'll go up next week.  Bless them for trying though.

Unfortunately it's going to cost $700 to fix it.  Pretty much what it cost last year except this year's includes the tow.  On the plus side, at least it happened here, where our trusted mechanics are.

Before leaving for my appointment this morning, I loaded up the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen a bit.  When I got back, I took the clothes off the line (it was too dark when we got home yesterday) and hung out another load.  Then I took my pain cocktail of two ibuprofen and one tramadol and crawled back into bed and knitted for a couple of hours.  And unknitted.  I just can't watch knitting shows while I'm knitting.  I tend to knit whatever they're knitting and then I end up having to do it all over again.  Only this time two of the shows were crocheting shows.  Still had the same problem.

I'm not making as much progress on the ottoman cover because of all the distractions, but after I get back from the library, I'm going to go to bed and stay there.  Maybe for the rest of the night.  I'll get frozen pizzas so someone else can cook.

I just let Professor in after a wee and he's limping on one of his back legs.  He has trouble with his back legs for some reason.  I trimmed the toe nails on the foot to see if that was the problem but he crawled under the covers to hide from me so until he walks again I won't know. 

Well, off to take a shower and head to the library.  I'm not going to try to clean house until Tom leaves since he's already collecting his gear in the dining room.  No problem; just an exercise in futility to try to accomplish it now.

TTFN

Sometimes it really sucks to be us

Having dealt with the problems of an unreliable car that stranded Zach and me multiple times, I thought we were out of the woods by purchasing a newer, more reliable car.  Tom is supposed to leave Thursday for his annual deer hunting vacation so it's extremely important that we have two vehicles up and running.  So he just called me from work.  The truck is on the side of the road in the town he works in.  Dead. 

I gave him the number for the tow truck and the garage will certainly look at it, but I just wonder when we're going to catch a break.  We never have two vehicles up and running for long.  This is getting really frelling old!  Whether he'll be able to go up there on time is up in the air right now, depending on when and how much it will take to fix the truck.

And I have an appointment tomorrow for labs that I will have to get up early and cancel because I can't be in two places at once.  I need the car tomorrow as we have errands that have to be run then but Tom needs to be at work so I'll have to take him.  I'll have to reschedule my labs, which is no big thing except I'll run out of meds before they get back to me.  Yes, I leave things to the last minute.  Just a day or so, but if it goes longer I'll be without them over the weekend.  Not really urgent as I have a substitute prescription I can take for my bp.  And my allergy meds I can get over the counter.  I have enough of my metformin to take me to Sunday so they'd better get back to me by Monday at the latest.

And my back/hip/leg is still hurting...enough that I'm worn out from the pain.  And my eldest just posted about how people who are not experiencing the American Dream are at fault because they just buy too much stuff.  Or maybe it's because they don't get a paycheck that enables them to keep up with the wear and tear on their homes and cars.  Or because they have medical bills that prevent them from enjoying the American Dream.  I chose to ignore him because I don't have the energy to argue with someone who has had relatives bail him out all his adult life.  He really does think he did it all himself.  sigh

I hung out two loads of clothes today with Zach helping by handing me the clothes and the clothes pins and carrying the wet baskets of clothes for me.  I only had room for two loads so I need to get the last load out tomorrow.  We also lugged the futon mattress out to the garage.  No way could Zach carry that himself so I had to help.  Didn't do any favors to my back, I'll tell you, but I did take my pain cocktail of three ibuprofen and one tramadol right afterwards.  But I didn't make up the couch this morning.  Until I'm healed, the couch stays a bed.  I did straighten up the covers though.  I can close off the room should we get any company but that's probably not going to happen.  The only people who show up here are salesmen.

But, to get my mind off of this, at least until 12:30 a.m when I have to go pick up Tom at work, I will be knitting on my ottoman cover.  I decided the pattern wasn't working out for me because I really hate working with thick needles and thick yarn, especially trying to cable without a big enough cable needle.  But also because I was afraid the loose knit of the cover would catch on Professor's toenails (which really need to be trimmed) and he would hurt himself.  So, I went with a size 8 needle and a basketweave pattern, which is really looking good with the flecked yarn.  And I'm making good progress so I should finish it by the weekend.  I hope.  Unless I get stuck with another major problem to deal with.

And I was hoping for an early night tonight.

TTFN

I shouldn't shop when I'm not strong enough to stay away from the yarn aisle

I was weak.  Vulnerable.  Susceptible to the call of the needles.  I bought yarn today.  I know I need to do penance but I won't.  I'll just knit it up into the cover for my ottoman cube so it looks a bit more presentable.  Plus the original is black and Professor can't see it at night when he wants back in bed so I have to wake up and turn the light on for him.  See?  I bought the yarn so I could get more sleep.

I hurt my back again making up the bed, but the mattress was soooooo comfortable and in spite of the pain, I slept well.  But I think for a while I'm going to keep it as a bed until my back is fully healed.  Or maybe even all winter long until someone comes to visit.  I can surely focus the energy spent on making up that bed/couch for other useful works.  Like knitting.

I didn't wash clothes today because it was all overcast and threatening rain until late afternoon when the sun came out.  I might get some done tomorrow but if not, I'll use the racks to dry the clothes in the house this weekend.  Tom leaves on Thursday for deer hunting and will be gone about 11 days.  I plan on cleaning the house and the car out so we can sell it when Tom comes home. 

I haven't heard anything from anyone on freecycle.  They changed the format from an email group to a website and it's getting little use from the looks of things.  Much more effort to go to a website than to check your mail, I guess.  If I don't hear anything soon, I'll stick it in the garage...off the floor, of course...and keep trying to find it a good home.  It's perfect for a hunting cabin.

I'm worn out from the pain...still ever-present although mostly at a level of 4 or 5 most of the time.  At the store today I reached an 8 again while standing in line.  Standing hurts worse than anything else I do.  And I've still got a couple of weeks to go before this resolves itself, apparently.  I have to go to the dr for labs this week but I'm not going to make an appointment for this because I know she'd just send me to the rheumatologist and I already have an appointment with her in January.  I couldn't get one before that anyway so I'll just mention it to the rheumie when I see her.

I think I'm going to make up the bed and crawl into it now instead of waiting for after supper.  It's just breaded fish fillets and french fries and Zach can fix that easily.  I took some more ibuprofen and tramadol when I got home from the store but it's not taken effect yet.  Maybe a hot water bottle and my feet up.  Tom's leg is a lot better today.  Heat and rest fixed him right up.  Me, not so much.

TTFN

We even limp together

I didn't go online at all yesterday.  Didn't even sit in the computer chair or make physical contact with the desk at all.  I stayed in bed aside from a trip to the library and feel a bit better for it.    It does come and go, at times pretty painful, but I'm seeing improvement.  Enough that I'm not going to make an appointment just yet.  All the websites I looked at, including the Mayo Clinic website, said it takes about 3 weeks for it to run its course.  So I'm not panicking yet. The pain is manageable right now although standing for any length of time hurts, and I'm hoping to sleep very well tonight.

Because...we bought a new futon mattress today.  No springs in this one.  And if it only lasts 5 years, like the last one did, it's money well-spent.  I chose blue to go with my area rug.  Plus I'm tired of the brown that seems to be our whole house.  It was on sale at half-price at Shopko so an even better deal.  Now I need to give away the old futon.  It's fine for sitting and if you're not terribly sensitive, sleeping is okay, too.  But if you have aches and pains, then it will be a bother.

Tom had bruised his upper thigh pretty badly at work on Friday so it was good that he didn't work Saturday.  He stayed in bed, moving occasionally to keep the blood circulating, but got up today and went shopping with me to look for an alternative to the futon we have for a couch.  I saw some sofa sleepers but they looked like they would be more of a bother than what we already had so we opted for just a new mattress for it.  But shopping we looked like a pair as both of us were limping on the left side.  And both of us were groaning as we both got in and out of the truck.  We looked at a cane for me, but they were over $20 and I'm not spending that much money for one.  I'll look at the thrift store first.

I fixed supper when we got home and after Tom and Zach brought the mattress in and replaced the old on on the futon. Then I sent Tom upstairs to bed with a hot water bottle and some magnesium and ibuprofen.  Not my bottle, of course.  I hope he feels better tomorrow or work will be an ordeal.

Tomorrow will be a very busy day for Zach and me.  I'm not ready to jump in with guns blazing, but between the two of us, we can get the house into some kind of order.  Especially the kitchen.  I've been keeping up with it all weekend even if I can't keep up with any other room in the house.  But the kitchen floor needs mopping most definitely. And laundry must be done tomorrow in order to take advantage of good weather to hang them out on the line.  And the kitchen must be in order for the days when I must use the racks indoors.

I finished up both pairs of fingerless mitts and will work on socks tonight.  I hope to get back to the sweaters this week.  I'll take a break from socks as soon as I finish these two pairs.  Then I need to organize all my stash and patterns so I can figure out something for future products that I will sell.  I bought the second volume of the Barbara Walker knitting stitch dictionaries, which should get here this week sometime.  Then I can get down to some designing or tweaking stuff I've already designed.  Not that I'm a designer by any stretch of the imagination, but I can do socks and gloves/mittens without a specific pattern.  I just need to fine-tune them to make them more interesting.

Also, this week I plan on dyeing my Welsh top singles and scouring my Shetland fleece.  Plus carding the free fleece I've got left to practice on.  It should be a very busy week!  I have the energy but not the capability to do a lot right now.  It sucks how that works out.

Well, off to make up the new futon mattress and crawl into bed and knit away.

TTFN

Delegating...not my strong point

The pain was a bit worse today with it moving further down the sciatic nerve.  Bed rest isn't recommended so I've been alternating sitting and moving around.  Sitting, at this stage, hurts a lot.  Putting my feet up helps but moving around for brief periods does seem to help temporarily.  More and more this is being confirmed as sciatica.  Every article I read said it takes about 3 weeks or so for this to resolve itself.  I've got another two weeks to go apparently.

Zach has been my dray horse today, carrying stuff for me and doing the heavy duty work.  I've washed up the dishes but he will cook supper.  He washed a load of clothes under my direction, carried them up the narrow, steep basement stairs for me and handed them to me while I hung them on the line.  Next time (Monday) he'll hang them up while I watch and advise.  We still have to transfer the curtains over the front door to curtain rings so they'll slide easier, and he'll do that under my direction as well.  I'll be honest, though.  I'd rather just do everything myself.  I'm crap at delegating.

Tomorrow Tom will be home but I need to go to the library so I'll ask him to do some more winterizing...like putting weather stripping on the bottom of the back door and the door leading upstairs.  Not so much to keep the cold from coming downstairs, but to keep his cigarette smoke from creeping downstairs.  Last winter it wasn't this bad but lately the smell has been very noticeable.  I bought some scented candles but I really hate the smell so I hope the weather stripping works.  I don't mind him smoking up there.  I just don't want to smell it myself.

I finished up the fingerless mitts last night and Zach asked for a new pair, too.  So I dug out my purple Vanna's Choice and am knitting him a pair as well.  Mine are a gold color Vanna's Choice that I got on sale last summer (half-price) when they were discontinuing that brand at StuffMart.  When I get a bit caught up on things we need, I'm going to start working on things to sell.  Another reason I want no smokey smells down here.  Many people won't buy stuff from a home that has a smoker even if they can't smell it on the product. 

I plan on keeping to small items because large items get too costly to sell.  People want the best price, not necessarily the best quality right now.  I'm using up a lot of my acrylic but once that stash is under control, I plan on investing in a good wool yarn.  Plus using my handspun for various things.  I'm not sure about selling wool that is only hand washable.  I know I probably wouldn't buy much along those lines so I can imagine that busy people want something they can throw in the washer.  But a unique item or a special item might be different.  Something they would take pains with.

This is all so new and frightening to me.  I can't stop imagining how risky it is to invest in something not knowing where or how I'll sell my products.  I won't do online stores for a variety of reasons.  Biggest being, I think I can sell better if I deal face-to-face with a customer.  Especially if they can see and touch the item themselves.  Then there are no misunderstandings about color or texture.  Or size.

In the meantime, I'm studying up on spinning because I want to make that a bigger part of my crafting process.  Both for the cost effectiveness and the skills I'm learning.  Next week I plan on dyeing my Welsh top singles and scouring my Shetland fleece.  I'm going to practice carding my crap fleece first.  This is the fleece I got free from a guy my husband used to work with.  It's really not bad, but not quality or anything.  I wish I hadn't thrown out the rest of it, but it was about 20 fleeces and I would never be able to clean and card that manually.  At least I thought so at the time.  Regrets, now.

When I went outside today to refill the bird feeders I nearly stepped in a humongous pile of some kind of shit.  It looked way too big for the Rottweilers in the neighborhood.  My first thought was bear, but that's highly unlikely.  Zach and I cleaned it up because Tom runs Professor around the yard in the dark when he gets home and the pile was big enough he would have skidded in it and fallen down.  When I say huge, I mean huge.  Not exaggerating a bit.  Zach, bless his heart, did the best he could but with his OCD he had to turn away a lot while I used the shovel to get most of it.  He had to scoop some of it into the shovel without vomiting.  He did fine but underwent a huge handscrubbing episode when he came in.  In spite of not touching it.  He used a stick to scoop it up.

If it was a dog, then I'm pissed that someone is letting their pets run loose and shit in other people's yards.  If it was a wild creature, then my pets will be closely watched when they go outside from now on.

Well, time to get Zach and start supper and get that curtain done.  Then I'm going to put my feet up and knit while watching my dvr programs.  I've gone through so much this week that I'm nearly under 50% on my inventory.  Lots of knitting while watching!  One other reason I love winter.

Finally...

Today is definitely a better day.  Last night was pretty bad, however, as the pain radiated down my left hip and my left thigh, which led Tom to comment that it sounded like sciatica, which one of his guys at work has.  After looking it up online (at reputable sites, not wikipedia) I'm convinced that's exactly what this is.  So Tom has insisted that I do little, rest often and give it a chance to heal.  I've done as much of that as I can, although I had to do shopping today, but the end result has been a definite easing up of the pain.  In fact, I've only taken on tramadol today and that was this morning.  I still hurt and when I start doing too much, the pain increases, but as the corrective solution is rest and anti-inflammatories, I don't plan on going to the doctor unless the pain is back to the levels I had earlier this week.

The big issue, of course, is that sciatica is a symptom, not a condition of its own so there is something that is causing the problem, most likely being the amount of belly fat I carry, which is causing a constant pull on my lower back and spine.  I've been scared enough to get more serious about losing weight, although not to to the degree that I plan on going on some drastic diet.  I'm modifying how and when I eat and have seen an improvement in that area, although not so much in weight loss just yet.  Zach on the other hand has had to tie the belt on his sweats because they're falling off of him.  'Tain't fair!

I'm also convinced that the back pain I had a few months ago was sciatica, too.  This attack being much more painful and lengthy.  For the next few weeks Tom and Zach will be carrying anything that weighs over 10 pounds for me, making up my bed, and generally doing anything that requires me to use my lower back.  I will be resting and doing light work until the pain is gone, then I'll start mild exercising, focusing on strengthening my lower back.

But if I have a recurrence or this flares up again, I will be seeing the dr.  Although I'd like to wait until I see my rheumatologist in January as that's where my GP will send me anyway.

I've been knitting merrily, though, enjoying time on the couch (although I didn't even make up the bed today) and making progress.  I haven't started my inventory yet, as I've got some winter things to finish up for us first.  I started knitting some generic fingerless mitts for myself since I can't find the ones I had last winter.  They're probably in a bag somewhere with the summer stuff.  Don't ask.

But I got a knitting magazine today that had some nice things in it.  I won't buy a magazine unless it has at least 3 patterns I plan on using.  Just a quirky thing since in the past I've bought them for only one pattern only to get home with it to find I couldn't knit that pattern because I didn't have the required wool or some other reason. 

Tonight Zach and I are going to watch Shrek 4 which I've got on dvr while I knit on the mitts.  I'll probably need to knit him a pair, too, since I can't find any of them.  Tomorrow he's going to attack the closet to see what he can find in the way of mittens with flaps.  And hats.  My scarves are on the coat rack where they've been all summer.  I use them for decoration.

Off to lie down while Zach creates a magnificent supper.

TTFN

Winter is here already

Woke up to SNOW!!! Lots of it, although the accumulation hasn't been what was predicted.  Or at least on the lower end of what was predicted.  But it's been snowing furiously all day.  And since it was so cold, I turned the furnace on this afternoon after the temp in the house dropped to 55F.  Even I can't stand it that low during the day.  Plus I can't find my fingerless mitts.

So I've been looking online for some fingerless mitts patterns and found several.  And thinking ahead to making an inventory of things to sell in the future, have been printing out patterns.  And bookmarking pages of patterns I want to give some thought to.

My back is still in the 5 range, down to about 3 with the back support thingy but the fibromyalgia is trying to outscream the back pain.  It's a battle I wish I wasn't participating in.  I have 20 minutes before I can take my next tramadol dose.  I ordered more from the pharmacy since I'm going through my monthly allotment pretty much in total this month.  Normally it takes me 6 weeks to use up my monthly allotment, but this month has been a kicker.  Still, I think it's easing off.  If I'm not better by Monday I'm going in to see the doctor.  I won't mess around with this in case it's more serious than it seems.

In the meantime I'm taking it easy, not doing a lot.  Some cleaning in the kitchen and fixing meals but aside from that, I'm keeping to the bed and limiting my endeavors to knitting on small things that don't require feeling the weight on my hands and shoulders.

I had a really difficult time sleeping last night.  Not so much the pain, just the insomnia rearing it's head, demanding attention as well.  I'm so popular with all my ailments.  And I had planned on going to town today to the library and the store, but didn't want to travel in the first snow of the year.  Considering some people forget how to drive in snow over the winter, I didn't want to be out there for their refresher course.  Staying home seemed the wisest thing to do.

I need to get the kitchen cleaned up a bit because I have to do laundry and need space for the racks so they'll dry near a heating vent.  I have one in the dining room and one in the kitchen that are easy to get to.  But I'm not up for mopping floors tonight so that will have to wait, too.

Right now I'm off to cook spaghetti or something like it and crawl into bed.  Zach will have to make up the bed for me because I think all the work I've been doing has prevented my back from healing more quickly.  Or at least I hope that's it.

TTFN

Getting better

I slept well last night, if not long enough.  Still, it was around 7 hours of nearly uninterrupted and nearly pain-free sleep.  I apparently slept in one position most of the night though.  Sleeping at the other end of the couch seems to help a lot as it takes the weight off my left side.  Plus I'm further away from the dining room and the television in there.  I put my tv on timer and fell immediately asleep, waking up around 5 for a potty trip and some ibuprofen as it was too soon to take a tramadol.  Then I ended up sleeping until 9:15 when Professor woke me up needing to go out.

The pain was down to a 6 (with 10 being the worst pain you can ever endure) so I took a tramadol and put the back support thingy on, which dropped the pain down to a five immediately.  The tramadol is helping finally so the pain is down to about 3 now.  Very endurable.  I had to watch myself because I felt so well that I started doing some cleaning and stuff.  Zach put the plastic on the last window while I just stood there and handed him the scissors.  Didn't need to advise him on it as he had watched me very closely the other day when I did it.  This is a huge help as he can do half of it next winter.

I took a nap around 11 a.m. and slept until Tom left for work at 1:20 and I'm still sleepy.  I know your body does it's healing during delta sleep so I'm assuming that's what's going on, but I want to sleep tonight so I'm holding off on more than one nap a day.

I've been talking to Tom about maybe knitting up an inventory of things to sell at a flea market or craft sale or something, plus working on becoming more proficient at spinning so I can either enjoy knitting with better yarn at a cheaper price or sell the yarn I dye and spin.  Either way I decide to go, I've got to treat it as a job and set aside the time for it rather than doing it after my day is over.  My biggest problem isn't setting aside time to do this; it's having any confidence that anyone would want to buy my products.  I have this fear that my stuff won't hold up or people will buy it and it won't meet their expectations and they'll want their money back and will give me horrible reviews and such.  It's not something I grabbed from thin air; I've seen people do that to online store owners, sometimes on a whim.  Which is one reason I'm not doing the online thing.  The other one is I'm not keen on dealing with the mail service.  I'd rather sell person to person.

So as soon as my back is better, I'm tackling the house to get it under some semblance of control, then setting up some structured time for both my crafts and the tightwadding I need to do in order to make this work out.  It helps that Tom is supportive and understanding.  For a long time I don't think he understood my limitations because invisible disabilities aren't...well...visible or apparent to anyone.  But after all these years he knows that it's very real (he's gotten up in the middle of the night to find me curled up in a ball on the bed or walking the floors because the pain is too bad to sleep) and tries very hard to be there for me.  But he is a human being and I know that at times it gets to him, too.  Fortunately he doesn't take it out on me.  Anymore, that is.  Before he really understood, he would get fed up with me and feel resentful.  Now things are better.

I need to learn to be disciplined about this, which isn't my strong suit.  I need to feel productive in whatever way I can.

But today and maybe tomorrow I'm going to focus on healing my back getting my selective shit back together again.  Another early night for me!

TTFN

Occupying my couch

We have one window to put plastic on and while Zach is going to do it under my observation, I'm too tired and hurting to do it tonight.  Today was spent on errands so I wasn't home much and what little I've done is going to have to be it.  Still having pain in my back but the pain is down to a 7 from an 8.  And I'm taking tramadol regularly instead of waiting on the pain.  That seems to help a bit.  Except I'm taking it every 6 hours instead of 8 so I can get an extra dose in because of the pain.  I'm allowed to do that once in a while but I'm sure if the pain ever gets that bad regularly, my dr will increase my dose accordingly.  I'm on the lowest dose, after all.

Tom flipped my futon for me yesterday but that created more problems than it solved or we should have flipped it the other way or something.  I ended up with a spring right under my left back, where the pain is.  I was sitting on the side of the bed fighting tears at 3 a.m., when Tom came down and noticed.  He offered to flip the mattress over but at that stage I was too tired and in too much pain so I just slept on the other end.  Actually that ended up being the best solution all around as it put me on my right side and gave my left side a chance to heal a bit.  Although I was up at 5 a.m. taking more pain meds and could barely crawl out of bed at 11:30 a.m.  Still, while I'm still in a lot of pain, I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

And I bought a back support thingy today and some heating pads for the back.  Actually they are ice pads as well, depending on where you store them.  I think this will help immensely.

But tonight I'm heading for bed and leaving the kitchen for Zach to clean.  Tomorrow after the plastic is on the window I'm Occupying My Couch until I feel better.  Knitting and video games await me. And I dare anyone to tell me to get up and do anything!

At least until I feel better.  I have tons of stuff to do, some of it fun, but I can't enjoy any of that until I get ahead of this pain.  And if this isn't incentive to get rid of the belly fat that is pulling on those back muscles, I don't know what is!

TTFN

Good thing we had warm temps today.

Since I'm still not done with the winterizing.

I will be so glad of the extra hour or sleep tonight.  Not that I'll get to use it, but glad it's there nonetheless.  I didn't sleep until noon today.  In fact, I was up before 10 because of the pain.  I've discovered it's not my dodgy hip after all.  It's my left lower back.  I've messed it up again, most likely hauling that laundry up those steep basement stairs.  Plus climbing up and down the step ladder hanging curtains.  And today putting the plastic on the two windows in the kitchen.

I ended up buying four more panels for the kitchen as I cut the one curtain too short and besides, one panel wasn't enough for that window anyway.  It's wider than a normal window.  I thought I could just pick up three more since I already had one, but I couldn't find any in that color.  So I went with blue.  Nothing in my house has any semblance of a color design, having decorated with early garage sale, but at least my curtains normally match within one room. 

I'm leftover with one long and one short curtain.  Not the one I cut off.  I put that on the back door and I'm not going to put plastic on it this year because of the insulated curtain on it.  I don't have to open it at all so there's no sense in wasting the plastic.  Plus it doesn't do any good anyway.  Same with the front door.  I get so much condensation on the plastic on the front door that the curtain gets wet.  At least this way, I can just wipe it off.  Plus I have an insulated curtain I can cover it completely with at night or on windy days.

Two more windows and I'm done.  The two most difficult are the one over the sink and the one in the bathroom so I'm halfway there. I just hope my back holds out long enough to do it.  I took some ibuprofen this morning but it did nothing much for the pain.  I'm holding out for the tramadol to get me through the night.  I might take a double dose tonight as I'm allowed to do that now and then.

I've turned the heel on the sock I'm knitting my dad but I decided not to continue the pattern past the heel.  I hate it when a pattern has a purl on the first stitch of a double pointed needle pattern.  I never get it tight enough. Plus, he's not going to care anyway.  I still have to get some sock yarn for my mom's socks but no hurry on that.  I haven't been to the yarn store in ages because I hate the parking where they moved.  There's one in another town nearby, too, but again, parking is a pain.  I might just do online shopping.

I'm ready to start the pattern on my Ocean socks that I decided to keep for myself.  I'll make my mom's out of the plum yarn I've got instead of the green.  She likes that color a lot.

And once I'm done with all the winterizing, I'm going back to sweaters and Bowser in addition to the socks.  In a perfect world I would have a pair of socks on the dpns all year round.  And then after I've gotten caught up on the cleaning, I'll get busy with the spinning and dyeing and washing of the fleece.  Washing of the Fleece sounds like a festival, doesn't it?

I saw a really cute Santa suit for dogs today but as I have red yarn and white yarn, I might just adjust a pet coat pattern I have and make one for Professor.  He'll hate it for sure but it will make for a cute picture or two. 

I'm late with supper but Tom is late getting home so that worked out pretty well.  It should be done in about 15 minutes...baked ziti and brussels sprouts.  Nothing fancy but something I could cook while putting plastic on the windows and the curtains up.

Off to get the plates and such out and clear off a space on the dining table so he can eat supper.

TTFN

Really glad it's Friday

I got the last load of clothes out on the line this afternoon, by which time only one of the loads from yesterday was done.  As I got up at 7 a.m. (due to pain) I got to watch the sun hit the frosted clothes and let off steam.  It kept me entertained for at least 15 minutes.   Tomorrow morning I don't intend to get up that early.  And by early I mean before noon.

I wasn't able to take the paperwork back to the credit union today because Tom missed several places he was supposed to initial.  The cover letter made it sound like there were only a couple of places but in reality there were about 8.  I probably won't make it tomorrow either because they close at noon and I plan on sleeping until then.

I did make a run to the store as we were nearly out of milk.  My excursions are costing almost half what they used to.  I'm trying very hard to stick to the list and not just grab things off the shelf.  I should have enough for a week unless the guys go through the milk as fast as they did this last gallon.  Although the clip on sunglasses I got don't fit so I'll need to take those back.  I can't drive without sunglasses with my astigmatism.

I finished up one Ocean sock and started the heel flap on the sock for my dad.  I went over my mother's phone call yesterday and realized the "thick" socks she was talking about wanting was the fingering weight sock yarn so I need to get more sock yarn for her pair.  I'll probably throw in a pair of bulky socks as well though. 

I'd like to start working on the sweaters again, too, and get back to work on Bowser.  At this rate, Bowser won't be done before spring.  But I still don't have the curtains up.  I must do that today and get the plastic on over the weekend.  It was 55F in the house this morning (and frost on the ground and clothes).  I don't think it got up to 60 in the house but it's still been pretty comfortable so I'm not going to turn on the furnace yet.

Tom is already planning his trip up north for deer hunting.  I was a bit astonished to see on the calendar that it's nearly upon us.  At least I have a reliable car this year.  Not that I plan on going anywhere.  But I could if I wanted to.

Well, off to fold the clothes before they wrinkle and then pop a pizza in the oven.  I can't cook and get the curtains up so I'm cheating again this week.  Hopefully once the winterizing is done, I'll have more time to do the frugal stuff.  And more time to work on my knitting, dyeing and spinning.  I'm getting antsy to scour my Shetland fleece, not to mention dyeing and plying my Welsh top singles.  I've decided I want another kick spindle for Christmas so I can spin more than one type of yarn at a time.  It will speed up the process a bit and I'll have more yarn to knit with.  My goal is to get to the point where I only knit with what I've processed and spun.  That way I can use better yarn instead of the acrylic I can afford.  Although I probably won't give up on acrylic altogether.  It has served me well!

TTFN

We're never going to win this race

The universe reminded me today that we are still in the can't-catch-a-break category.  The dryer quit.  Fortunately it was sunny today and will be sunny tomorrow provided the weather-guessers can be trusted so I have two loads out drying overnight and will put another load out tomorrow.  I think it's just a belt, which will be easy to replace if we can get the correct belt.  It was a cheap, cheap dryer we bought about 14 years ago but I just can't afford to replace it right now.

As a result of hauling heavy, wet clothes up the steep basement stairs, my dodgy hip is screaming at me to stop and go to bed.  Not going to happen yet but I will postpone the curtains until tomorrow.  And the plastic.  Climbing up and down the step stool won't help my hip much.  I know I should mention it to the dr, but I've already been diagnosed with arthritis in that hip and can't afford a bone scan because it comes off the deductible first and I don't have $600+ that it would cost.  I hope to lose some weight, which I think will help.  It can't be good for that hip to be carrying all this weight on it.

Beans and cornbread for supper tonight and I'm trying to catch up on the kitchen.  I have stuff that must be washed by hand and that's what's slowing me down, but mostly I'm making progress.  The dishwasher just finished and Zach will empty it when the dishes have dried a bit.  Then after I finish the cornbread, I'll eat a bite and make up the couch.  I've had trouble sleeping because of the pain lately so going to bed early makes a lot of sense to me.

My mom's birthday is today so I called and wished her happy, happy.  She would like some thick socks and I'm making Daddy some thin socks so that will make up the bulk of their care package this year.  It's going to be a bit light this year due to getting back into tightwad mode.  Well, triple tightwad mode.  I will admit I feel better when I do this.  Makes me feel like I'm doing my job.

Tonight I'll work on the socks for Mom and Daddy.  I'll give Mom the Ocean socks since I'm okay for now with what I have as long as I wash them out every other night. And really it would be better to do that than to machine wash them.  Plus I'll have to start washing my wrappings (lymphedema) every other night, too, if I end up having to use the clothes line and racks this winter.  I've done it before it's just finding room for the racks that is the problem but since I moved the living room out of the dining room, there is a space in front of the heating vent that is usable plus there is a space in the kitchen right under the heating vent that will work.  I'll just have to move the pet food to a different location.

So, off to make cornbread and go to bed.

TTFN

The after stress nosedive

I wasn't going to go anywhere today but after a day of doing absolutely nothing except getting the clothes from the dryer and putting a new load in, I thought I would go ahead and get Tom's bread so I don't have to go out again.  Imagine our surprise when we walked out of StuffMart to snow!  Thick, wet, heavy snow!  It wasn't sticking so that was a bonus and by the time we got to our town,  the snow was gone...or not arrived yet, being east of the town we just left.

And I still don't have all the curtains up.  Which I absolutely have to do tomorrow in addition to putting plastic on the windows.

I think I just caved in to the stress of the past two weeks.  I do fall apart after the crisis.  Never during, which is good, I suppose.  But after I toss the pizza in the toaster oven on timer, I'm making up the bed and crashing for the night.  Some sock knitting to soothe me but an early night, I hope.  I did get to sleep early last night but woke up several times due to the pain.  In fact, woke up this morning in pain.  I didn't take a tramadol though.  I do tend to hoard those for night when I can't distract myself from the pain.  Today I just endured instead of tramadol.  Some days I can; some days I can't.  Tonight I'm just going to go ahead and take one as I crawl into bed so I've got enough time for another one before I go to sleep later.

When I got home I checked the mail and there was a letter from the loan officer with some paperwork he forgot to have us initial but I'm not going back to town tomorrow.  He can wait until Friday.  I've got work to do tomorrow.

But for now, I'm winding down and don't have a lot to talk about so....

TTFN

I'm a happy girl

Yesterday was packed with errands, cleaning and laundry and I was too tired to blog about it so I had an early night and slept until 11:30 this morning.  I did get some knitting done though so I feel pretty good about yesterday.

The Town and Country is sitting in the driveway after an effortless morning in settling all we needed settled.  First thing Tom called the insurance agent and got insurance set up on the new car.  Then we headed to the credit union where the fairly new loan officer had nothing done at all and didn't even remember talking to us until he found our paperwork, but the process, while long, was uneventful.  But I will be calling on the first of December to make sure our automatic payment got made and from the correct account.  Not saying I don't trust the guy, but it's my credit rating on the line.

Then we headed to Vic's, the mechanic, where the car was sitting, ready to drive.  It cost so much less than we anticipated:  $225, including the tow.  I swear they are the best mechanics around.  So we were able to drive the car home, take the plates off and head back across town to the dealer to sign the papers and hand over the check.  By 11 a.m., I was driving my new car and loving every minute of it.  Now we plan on cleaning up the car, fixing a few minor things and selling it.

I had planned on taking today off since I had shopping to do yesterday (meds in at the pharmacy and nearly out of toilet paper) but the library called and I had a book in.  I don't like to delay picking my holds up because generally there is a waiting list for the books.  I like to get them, read them and return them so the next person doesn't have to wait.  But we didn't go shopping or anything, Zach and I just stopped for a coke and talked about future possibilities and plans for getting our heads out of our asses and getting our lives back together again. 

Then we got home where I have been working on clearing out my closet (where the cold air return is) more laundry (I'm waiting until I have water from the faucet during showers in order to save on the water bill) and then I've got curtains to put up.  I can't find my other set of kitchen curtains but it's not a problem as I have to shorten the set I had last year anyway so I might as well just cut off the curtains I was going to use in the living room but changed out for shorter ones.  I have pinking shears so that will be okay for this year.  Next year I'll hem them.

I have to get supper started and straighten up the kitchen a bit but aside from that I'm not doing anything more tonight.  I'm tired.  And I would like to get more knitting done.

I ended up going with the Ocean sock pattern for the worsted weight yarn.  I've got a pair from last winter and love them.  They fit well and have a nice enough design.  I went back to the pattern I had been using on the fingering sock yarn.  It's an adaptation of the Yarn Harlots sock pattern.  I just do the twin "cables" down the sides instead of her intricate cable design with longer ribbing.  It's a great design that I used last year but with a gray yarn instead of teal.  I wish I had gray again because I think it looks better with a lighter color yarn, but I have the teal so...

I also would like to work on some fingerless mitts as I can't find mine and my fingers are getting cold while knitting and typing.  I know they're here somewhere.  I'm sure once I knit up a new pair, they'll show up.  But you can never have too many pairs of mitts.

In the meantime, I'm planning on doing some reading as I got a new knitting book from the library today and I can't wait to sit down with it.  So I'm off to get my work done.

TTFN