I really don't want to be a grouchy neighbor

I'm totally exhausted...again.  Not getting much sleep is definitely a factor.  I did try to get to sleep early but the neighbor's friend stayed over last night and his huge truck doesn't sound like it has a muffler because it woke me up...twice.  I was still awake when Tom got home because of it and when I finally got back to sleep about 2:30 a.m. the guy left and came back within a half hour.  It woke Tom up, too.  Plus the idiot parks in front of the fire hydrant on a regular basis.  Sure hope no one has a house fire when he's visiting.  I mean, this is one of those huge pickup trucks.  The kind you need a step to get into.  I can't imagine how anyone can afford the gas to drive those monsters.

These guys are pretty young, probably in their 20s so their money goes into stuff like huge pickup trucks, four-wheelers, fishing boats and such.  Mostly the neighbor himself is quiet and doesn't bother us at all, but his friends are not so courteous.

So I'm a bit irritated today, especially with said neighbor.  I do try to keep Professor quiet at night but occasionally he does bark at something outside or when he's out for a 3 a.m. wee.  But I shush him immediately and get him inside as fast as I can.  So I'm pissed at being woke up twice on a night I had to get up early, but obviously aware that my dog might do that to others as well.

But there should be a law about trucks that loud.  And I know there is one about parking in front of fire hydrants.  I looked it up today.  Regardless of the color of the curb (yellow) it is illegal to park within 10 feet of a fire hydrant.  This guy parks within 2 feet of one.  If not less.

I also had to go to the library today after my mammogram but I opted for coming home first because while Tom kept telling me it was okay if I wasn't home by the time he left for work, his magnanimity was vaguely masking his real desire to drive the truck because he can smoke in it and not in the car.  Plus the truck has a/c and the car's front windows don't roll down so it's incredibly hot driving the car.  So I came straight home and took the car instead.  I had to pick up some flea collars and since I was so frelling tired, I picked up snacks that are not good for me.  I never manage to stay on the diet wagon when I'm this tired.

Zach is fixing supper tonight.  I had some leftover chicken so he's making some Chicken Helper Fried Rice.  I'm thinking of making up the bed already and falling into it.  I deliberately didn't knit last night so I would fall asleep when I could instead of forcing myself to stay awake in order to finish up a row.  And then waking myself up by putting the knitting up.  If not for the loud truck, I would have made it.  But tonight I don't have that problem so if I manage to stay awake, I'm going to try to finish up Zach's sweater back.

And maybe tomorrow I'll finish up the laundry I started a few days ago.  Not to mention the garden that needs hoeing badly.  I have gone out there a few times and done some bits of it, but it's still badly overgrown.  Plus the tobacco, which isn't the kind that grows on stalks, needs to be cut or the leaves will rot on the ground.  I will not plant this kind next year, for sure.

Well, time to crash for the night even though the sun is still high in the air. 

TTFN

Not my best day

I totally screwed up my property tax payment this year.  I always pay it online but they completely changed the way they do things and not having a debit card, I didn't think I could pay from my bank account.  So I looked up credit cards and did the whole thing only to find out I had sent the payment to the city clerk instead of the county clerk.  So I called the county clerk who was used to people like me messing things up.  Apparently the debit card option can be used for your electronic check.  Who knew?  So I called the city clerk a couple of hours ago to tell her what an idiot I was and ask her to write a check to the county when they get my payment.  I got her voice mail and since the office closes in 15 minutes, I doubt I will hear back from her today and I'll be gone tomorrow.  Sigh 

Tom will never hear the phone tomorrow because he spends his time upstairs.  I'll just call back tomorrow afternoon when I get home. The good news is, my payment won't be considered late. 

It rained again today...just a tiny bit but the weather is still fairly nice.  Yesterday was so cool I wore jeans to town but apparently it warmed up during the night because my window fan came on (thermostat controlled) and it was a bit muggy when I woke up.

I'm nearly done with Zach's sweater back although it looked so long that I took it into his room to measure it against him and it does come below his hips but he's fine with that. Prefers it that long, in fact.  As long as I have enough yarn, and I do, it doesn't matter.

I looked at purse patterns yesterday, not really finding one I loved.  The ones I was drawn to were knitted so I might go with that option instead of crocheting.  I was thinking of something long but not deep as finding my keys is such a problem.  Finding anything at the bottom of my purse is a problem.  I'll continue to look around a bit first before I decide.  There are other places to look at patterns besides Ravelry.  I keep forgetting that.

I have to get up early tomorrow and head for Fond du Lac for my mammogram.  I do get nervous about them.  Not the pain, but the results.  In fact, I am finding myself getting more and more anxious as the 10th year anniversary arrives.  You'd think I'd be more confident as time goes on instead of more fearful.

Then I need to make an appointment with the surgeon and I am done with medical appointments, aside from labs and such, for another 6 months.

Well, I'm going to go knit some more and get away from the computer for a while since it doesn't look like the clerk is going to call me back.  Maybe she wasn't in today.

TTFN

What choice do I have?

I woke to wonderfully cool weather and a gentle rain...that ended up in the car since I forgot to roll the windows up.  After we dried the car out, Zach and I headed to town for healthy foods to cook from now on.  Healthy foods are not inexpensive!  I stopped buying the tubes of hamburger because it's mostly just grease anyway but the price on packaged ground meat, even the 85% stuff is outrageous.  Not to mention some pork rounds and a roast.  The only thing cheap was the two chickens.

The impetus behind this drive to eat healthy was my blood sugar reading this morning.  Terribly high for a fasting test.  It doesn't help that affordable pastas are made from white flour and potatoes are a cheap side dish.  And no more sugar for me for a long while.  So I bought some whole wheat pastas.  I've had them before and didn't like the taste but I'm going to have to go with it because I've got to get those readings down.  I can't afford to cook just with the w/w pastas so the boys will get the white pastas instead.  It's disgusting that eating healthy has to cost so much money.

I cut up the roast into three pieces as it will be mostly flavoring instead of a meat-and-potatoes meal.  Same with the ground beef.  I can get two meals out of each chicken so that rounds out the week.  Except I can't afford to pay those kinds of prices every week so I'm going to have to figure out some meatless meals in there, too, that aren't high in fat and sugar...white pastas and cheese are my standby.  My old standby.  I've got a diabetic cookbook but every recipe in it calls for expensive cuts of meat and the meatless ones call for expensive ingredients I don't have.  But what choice do I have?

It doesn't help that I'm an emotional eater or that most people with sleeping disorders tend toward obesity because of the stress hormone, cortisol, that creates that need to feed.  It's going to be an uphill climb for me.  But again, what choice do I have?

On the plus side, I'm making progress on Zach's sweater...having finished the armhole reduction and heading toward the neckline.  On the back that is.  And after looking at purses that don't fit my needs, I'm looking for a pattern to crochet one.  I need to get some crocheting back into my daily routine as well, plus I can work out a purse easier crocheting than knitting.  Faster, too.  I can find some material to line it with and maybe make a smaller purse to fit inside to carry all the loose stuff that ends up on the bottom under everything else.  I have plenty of Red Heart yarn in my closet to pick from.  Lots of colors, too.

Well, I need to start supper.  My last time with macaroni and cheese.  Tomorrow I'll do better but tonight I'm tired and cranky and this is quick and doesn't dirty up every pan in the house.

TTFN

Trying to get back to normal

After a night of 12 hours sleep, I'm moving slowly and achingly but at least I'm moving.  I've trudged up and down the steep basement stairs several times doing laundry and have several more trips to make before I'm done tonight and I'm cooking a real meal for the first time in nearly a week.  Okay I've had a few meals in there but mostly it was fast food or microwaveable stuff.  I really dread the clean up but I much prefer a clean kitchen so my options are limited.

I cooked a chicken in the crock pot.  As soon as it cools I'll take the meat off the bone and freeze half of it for another meal.  Also some chicken-broth rice and a saute of mushrooms, green peppers and onions, barely cooked green beans and a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers with red wine vinegar. I really must learn to cook fancier meals.

I'm up to the sleeves on Zach's sweater.  I knitted it extra long because he likes his shirts well below his waist which is okay.  I like mine nearly to my knees.  I worked a bit today on both the sweater and my shell but mostly laundry took up my day.  And tidying up after everyone.  And taking care of the pets.  And checking my mail and reading blogs.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be moving better.  I didn't take a tramadol yet as I do tend to hoard them, but I've been taking ibuprofen today to deal with the fibromyalgia pain.  My right leg swelled up yesterday for some reason so I drank some tea and water all night and this morning it was back to normal.  It's always a bit swollen...not sure why.  I had thought it was just my knee but it's the whole leg.  I'll mention it next time I see the doctor but I'm not going in for a visit over it since it's been that way for at least 3 years and it's not gotten any worse...aside from last night. 

Well, off to finish up supper and get another load of laundry and do the washer/dryer swap.  And start another load.  Not the last one yet.  I have one more after that.  It was just too hot to wash much last week and with the frenzy to clean the house, no time.  I really hate those basement stairs.

TTFN

The Monday aftermath of the cleaning frenzy

I'm keeping up with the house just fine, but progressing I'm not.  At least not yet.  Today was errand and bill-paying day with a trip to the credit union to transfer the money for the property taxes.  Plus shopping and the library.  And it was 88F out there.  Not ridiculous temps like last week, but hot nonetheless.

The good news is I have an air conditioner in the living room now.  My brother-in-law and his girlfriend gave it to Tom for his help with moving.  They weren't going to take it with them and they didn't want to leave it in the apartment so we got it.  It's a fairly new model so it shouldn't run the electric bill up outrageously like the old one in the wall does.  But I haven't had to use it yet thankfully.  Professor was a bit annoyed Zach didn't have his a/c on this morning.  He sat outside his door wanting in and then found it hotter in there than out here.  He's sitting in the yard in the shade right now, surveying his kingdom.

The bad news is I'm so tired I'm not even cooking tonight.  Didn't get home from errands and shopping until 6 p.m. and I'm exhausted.  I picked up some microwave-able meals which is cheaper than fast food.  Everyone is on their own tonight.  Tomorrow I plan on digging in and making more progress on the house.

And knitting.  I haven't had time to do much of that lately.  As a result my dvr inventory is over 70% full.  I don't know if I can even keep up with that on a daily basis.  I'd hate to have to delete some of the movies I've got on there but I can get them from the library so I suppose I could make room that way.  Tonight I plan on tackling both Zach's sweater and my shell that I haven't been working on lately.  I think I'm going to frog the feather and fan baby blanket because I don't like the way it's turning out.  It's puckered badly where the ripple part is and being acrylic (the pattern was designed for the brand of yarn I'm using) it won't unpucker.  I'm enjoying working on clothing so I want to get back to that.

I also need to get some laundry done tonight...Zach's sheets in particular.  He's miserable from lack of sleep and in a deep funk that makes him unsociable and deeply depressed.  I tried to listen but I'm down myself and it's hard to be strong for everyone all the time.  Still, he needs me right now so I have to be strong for him and hopefully give him the tools he needs to rely on his own strength some day.

In the meantime I'm off to knit and start the laundry.

TTFN

Busy as a bee

I've been pecking away steadily on the kitchen alone today.  The pantry is done and part of the floor mopped, the stove wiped down and one of the counters cleaned.  Now I need to start on the refrigerator.  I hate to do it but I think McSnacky is cooking tonight.  I only have tonight and tomorrow to clean the house before the brother-in-law shows up and if I cook, then I have to clean up afterward.  So that's about 2 hours for cooking and cleaning I just don't have to spare.  Tomorrow I'll be on better footing, I think, with just the living room and dining room to do.  And the bathroom.  I'll stick a chicken in the crock pot for tomorrow night.


I do have the back hallway to sort out as well, but what I've done around the pantry has opened up the space so you don't have to walk sideways to get to the hallway.  Now if we could walk through the hallway without walking sideways.  Problem is that's where we keep the recyclables, hanging on hooks on the basement door.  There's just no other place for them.  And when the bags get full, walking space disappears.   Especially trying to walk through with a basket of laundry.

Then there is laundry that needs to be done.  Zach has sensory issues due to Asperger's (undiagnosed but almost certainly has it) so sleeping is hard for him as he can feel every thread in the sheets.  It's a problem with his clothing as well because the way his shirts rub on his back makes him so twitchy.  Not to mention miserable.  So I broke down and bought him some Egyptian cotton sheets that I have to wash before putting them on his bed.  They feel so much smoother.  I just hope this solves the problem of him not sleeping.  Ever since he was a newborn, he's been unable to just go to sleep like everyone else.  He can only sleep when he's thoroughly exhausted.  He managed to make it through college but most of his classes were in the evening.  Not planned that way.  Most of the classes were at night.

Well, the sheets are in the washer with a load in the dryer and I need to start on the refrigerator now.  That will take at least an hour, I"m thinking.  I'm not doing badly considering but eventually my minute energy levels will run out.  They must last until Sunday morning though.  I have no choice.

I went to sleep early but woke up when I felt something wet and cold on my leg.  Tom was playing with Professor on my bed and his glass of Kool-aid spilled on me.  Quite the wake up!  As a result I was up until 4 a.m.  Still, I managed to hit the floor running when I finally woke up at 11.  It would have been nice if I had slept through but Professor found things to bark at.  The bark sensor is still working; he's not barking incessantly, but he still tries to bark before he gives up.  That's enough to wake me up though.

I knitted a bit on the blue and white baby blanket using the Portugeuse method but I noticed that my stitches are now loose and sloopy between my knits and purls so I switched back to Continental.  It was a good experiment but not as satisfying as I had hoped.  For some people I'm sure it's the answer.  I guess Continental was the answer for me since my stitches are so nice and uniform when switching from knit to purl and cabling.  I'll just prop my left arm up under a throw pillow and I'll be fine.


I'm making good progress on Zach's sweater, too.  It's been a while since I've knit any clothing and I miss it.  I found a sweater by Vicki Howell that I might make for the fall.  I have some black Caron Simply Soft that I need to unravel and wash the kinks out of it.  In fact, I probably have more than enough and could make a beret to go with it.  But I still have many other projects to work on as well.  I'm getting terribly bored with baby blankets, especially since I don't know any parents with babies.

Well, it's getting late and I still have the refrigerator to clean and floors to mop and laundry to finish.  I might get to bed by 3 a.m. if I'm lucky.

TTFN

The heat has left us

Well, my semi-annual visit with the rheumatologist is out of the way.  My blood pressure is always excellent when I visit her, not so much when I see my family doctor.  I like her but she yells at me so I tend to get a bit stressed anytime I walk in the door.  Okay, not so much yelling, but a lot of suggesting.

At any rate, it's out of the way and my next appointment is the mammogram next Friday.  Then, when that is done, I'll schedule my appointment with the surgeon for my annual  post-cancer check up.  I'll be so glad when those appointments are out of the way.  Necessary but bothersome.

At least I only have one boob to smash though.

I'm taking Zach out to eat tonight to celebrate his graduation.  He's feeling a bit down about it all especially since his degree is obsolete already and he's not getting any result on his job search and will probably end up working at McSnacky's again.  Until he can get an academic four-year degree.  My older son just got his Associate's at a better tech college and is in the same position so he's going to Purdue to pursue an academic degree.  Plus he didn't want to go through the ceremony so his only "graduation" was a diploma in the mail.  He didn't want a party either so there was no fanfare at all.  A Cowboy Burger at Appleby's seems to be the present he wants.

I must say it's so much cooler today.  Actually about 20 degrees cooler, factoring in the heat index.  It was 85 (heat index) and breezy this afternoon compared to 105 (heat index) yesterday.  And the wind felt like a convection oven.  It's going to be positively chilly tonight, dipping down to 67F.  It feels like a gift.

Well, I need to get ready to go.  I'm thinking an early night tonight since I didn't sleep well last night.  Professor stayed out with me and either barked or panted in my ear all night.  And Hannibal thought he would join in and try to sleep on my face.  He's had his last dose of medicine and even a few treats, which he handled quite well.  I even gave him some dry food this morning, although not much.  He gulped it down and ignored the mackerel in his food dish.

TTFN

Don't trust people who don't live here to tell you what the temperature is

The Weather Channel is a lying liar.  According to them, the temperature is 93F and the heat index is 101F.  Not true.  Both my thermometers say 96 and the heat index is much higher than 101 for sure.  I've got three window fans blowing out, all the interior fans circulating the air, including the ceiling fan and the temperature indoors is 86F.  Yesterday when the heat index was 105 it was cooler in here.  At StuffMart today my car thermometer registered 99F...all that pavement, you know.  Which is why grass and trees are so terribly important.

Plus it was already 90F at 10 a.m.

Professor doesn't want to go into Zach's room because he wants to be with me.  I'm heading in there in just a moment but I wanted to read my mail first and decided to just go ahead and blog while I'm at it.  Not that I have much to report.  Sleep was good last night thanks to a thunderstorm that brought some cooler weather.  Professor didn't sleep on the bed, though.  He camped out in the foyer on the ceramic tile.  Cooler than wood floors, apparently.

Hannibal now has his last dose of anti-worm medicine.  I'm not sure if I'm supposed to keep him on this diet but it's working and is cheaper in the long run because I'm not throwing food out so I guess we'll stick with it.  His coat is nice and sleek and he's picking up weight.  His face is fuller and he's not bony anymore, especially his spine.  And he's frisky...much to Professor's despair.  The vet thinks it was just a parasite since he's responding so well.  Glad we won't have to go back and have surgery on him.

I picked up another window fan because we still have August ahead of us and those are the days that get up in the 90s.  If July is any indication of things to come, we can look at temps in the high 90s or 100s.  Hence the extra window fans. 

Tom's brother is coming up from Kentucky to help his girlfriend move so Tom is going to help but that means I really have to clean house.  I don't want anyone to think we actually live like this.  I'm concentrating on the kitchen and bathroom because I don't have time for everything else, but next week I have to get the basement cleaned up.  I have to squeegee the floor after every rain but the damp is still setting in on everything down there and I'm sure I have a colony of mold and mildew down that that will ensure I have to take allergy meds as long as I live here.  But I can try to get rid of as much nastiness as possible.

Wonders of the Universe is coming to the Science Channel next week, I think.  I've got it on my dvr schedule.  I loved Wonders of the Solar System so this should be great.  I've been watching Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, too.  Very good shows.

Well, I'm melting and it is NOT a heat index of 100F out there.  It's much hotter today than yesterday.  My thermometers say so.

I was able to knit a while last night.  I gave up on the Portuguese knitting because it was so much slower and while I did manage to get better on my tension, it was harder to keep the yarn flowing from the skein, unlike when I knit continental.  I'll just stick with what works for me.  Since it was cooler, I managed to get a lot done, but I haven't gone near my knitting today and probably won't tonight either.  It's just going to be too hot.  And I got pizzas and tv dinners for supper tonight.  Both can be microwaved so we won't heat the house up at all.  But for now, I'm going to just grab something cold to drink and head to Zach's room.

TTFN

Yep...still hot

Last night was lovely for sleeping though.  A nice rain brought the temps down to the mid 70s and with the fans it was really nice.  I slept very well until around 10 a.m. when the heat woke me up.  I was so sleepy all day long, trying my best to keep my eyes open.  When I did try to doze off for a bit the phone would ring.  We go days without our phone ringing so this was very annoying.  Twice were telemarketers and once was my brother in law trying to reach Tom.  I must leave a note for him to call tomorrow.

Poor Professor crept off to Zach's room sometime during the afternoon.  I looked for him and he was no where to be found.  I hollered through the door and Zach let me know he was in there.  I finally decided I wasn't going to get anything done so I grabbed some stuff and headed in there myself.  I worked a bit on one of the baby blankets but I had made a mistake previously so most of the time was spent looking for the error so I could fix it.  I finally came out at 8:30 p.m. to fix supper, which I really didn't want to do.

And laundry.  I got the load from the dryer but forgot I had one in the washer.  It was not very nice-smelling so I had to re-wash it.  It's in the dryer now with another load in the washer.  I probably won't do anymore laundry tonight.  Tomorrow I need to squeegee out the basement again after all this rain.  It doesn't smell too well down there either.

It's still a bit warm in here.  The thermometer is reading 85F again.  I feel like it's stuck on that, but I have the window fans blowing in because it's cooler out there than in here.  The living room isn't too bad so I should be able to sleep tonight.  Tomorrow is going to be the day from hell though.  Real temps are going to be near 100 so I can only imagine what the predicted heat index will be.  They're saying 105 on the Weather Channel but we had that when the real temperature was only 94 the other day.

I have errands to run tomorrow that I can't put off so we'll put Professor in Zach's room with water and a puppy pad.  I don't want him out in the house while we're gone.  If it gets up to 90 in here he could get very sick.  He's been puny ever since this heat spell started, coughing and hacking.  He has the dreaded "honk" that Chihuahuas get and with this heat it's worse.

I'm off to work on my knitting.  I had to rip back the part I knitted Portuguese style because it was so tight the stitches looked wonky.  I'm practicing on it though because it really does relieve some of the stress on my hands, although I'll still probably knit continental most of the time and save Portuguese for when I'm tired or achy.  I just don't have control of my stitches yet.

I'm really dreading tomorrow and wishing we could afford air conditioning for the whole house.

TTFN

Day 2 of the heat spell

Hot again today although some morning showers brought a tiny bit of relief.  I didn't move into Zach's room until nearly 3 p.m.  But I didn't sleep at all last night, waking up as soon as I dozed off, dripping in sweat.  The interior temps didn't go below 85F with a heat index well over 90F.  I'm cooking supper right now...and sweating... but we have to eat and if I have to eat another salad in the next few days I'm going to scream.  I need something hot.

I've been working on a new way of knitting.  Well, new to me.  I saw it on an episode of Knitting Daily that I had saved back.  It's Portuguese knitting.  It might solve the problem with my elbow digging into my side when I knit, plus purling is so easy with this type of knitting.  Here are some youtube videos of it.

How to hold yarn 
How to knit
How to purl
How to cable

There are several more videos on the sidebar when you get to the links.  It's definitely easier on my shoulders as I'm knitting with straight needles right now and it's a bit of a strain on them.  Plus I'm not digging my left elbow, the one with lymphedema, into my side anymore.  I just need practice to even out my tension though.  And figure out something to use for a pin.  Safety pins don't work because the yarn gets caught in the spring.  I'll look around next time I go to the store.  Maybe springless safety pins.

I think I'll be okay to sleep in the living room tonight.  It's cooling off already and is predicted to be about 10 degrees cooler tonight than last night.  I'm sleepy enough I should sleep well.  Professor slept in Zach's room last night.  He was panting so hard I was afraid for his health so I moved him in there and every time he had to go for a wee, he went right back to Zach's room when he came in.  He's in there now but wouldn't go in until I went in today.  He was content to stay asleep on the bed when I left to fix supper though.

I need to do laundry but it's too hot to run the dryer, even at night.  I think we have enough clothes to last until Friday when it's going to cool off a bit.

We got a bit of rain today so I didn't have to water the garden and with mostly cloudy skies all day, I probably won't have to water again tomorrow either.  I hope.

Thursday I have an appointment with my rheumatologist up in Fond du Lac.  I hate the drive but Tom is letting me take the truck which has air conditioning.  Zach is going with me.  We'll put Professor in Zach's room with a comforter and a bowl of food and water before we leave.  It's going to be so hot on Thursday that I don't want to leave him out in the heat.

Well, off to eat supper, then a quick clean up of the kitchen and on the couch in front of two fans to knit and watch stuff I dvr'd.

TTFN