winter thrills and chills

The days are flying by and blurring together.

We went tubing at a local winter recreation park. We spent most of the day there, but only a small part of that on the slopes. We took lots of photos, so be sure to check both blogs! The photos here were taken with my digital camera. I was too cold to play with the settings, so I did not use one of the programed settings. Twisted sister has an "action" setting on her camera, so I am looking forward to seeing those! I went down about 8 times - what a rush. I know I screamed like a little girl the entire way down on the first run! We tried going down as a group a few times and that was faster and longer when we did that.

It was really cold and snowing (hard to believe, eh?) and the snow would sting your face on the way down. We counted our fingers and toes when we were done and none were lost in this outside adventure.

I fully expected to be too sore to move the next day, but we were surprised that it wasn't that bad. Abdominal muscles and arms, for me, ribs for TS, arms for Jordan, and Ali was fine.



Got the word back on my appraisal - bad news, but not unusual for this economy, it appraised for LESS than I paid for it. The bank is going to do some number crunching and explore other options and get back to me next week.

12/30- We did some shopping and played lots of Mexican Train game with Lowell's homemade dominoes. Steve has not been well, so I grilled the burgers out in the snow and early dark. Everyone should do that at least once in their life. Frying blind. :)

12/31 - today's plan is to get hair cuts, go to the hunting camp for dinner and then the girls will stay with me to ring in the new year.

Not-So-Quick Update

On the 23rd, I picked up the Twisted Sister Gang at the airport and snuck them back to my place for the night. It was close quarters but we managed. Jordan fell asleep on the floor in the studio by 5:30pm!

About noon the next day Christmas Eve, I drove them all to my parents, with bows on, to surprise them. Mom didn't realize who was in the car with me, only that her hair needed fixing because I had brought friends over, so she ran to the bathroom. :) My dad didn't recognize Ali with all her snow gear on until she was right in front of him. It was a fun surprise and my parents LOVED Steve's surprise Christmas present!

Christmas Day - After the traditional flurry of opening presents and making omelets, we had a few minutes to relax before the 11am brunch crowd arrived.

We had a great turn out for breakfast. However, with all the secrecy I had been entrusted with, I completely forgot to make the cheesy potatoes and never heard the end of it. I do want to point out that there was plenty to eat and no one left hungry. Cari and I chased mom and dad out of the kitchen and finished serving the omelets, made toast, and kept the coffee and tea stocked. It was a rather subdued and early party compared to most years, and Traci tried not to take it personally. I went home around 5ish and when I called around 7 pm to report I had found another box of presents, everyone was in bed except dad!

26th - made the inevitable grocery store trip to Wal-mart. We were there and back in 2 hours, that has to be a record. It was steadily getting warmer throughout the day. When I went to bed the snow was cracking and sliding on my roof. I think I heard thunder in the early hours.

27th - I woke up to rain and temps in the 40's. There was dense fog outside and in my head. I took some cold meds and stayed home to rest and try to kick this head cold. There were more thumps and thuds coming from the roof and outside, but when I looked, there was still plenty of snow on the roof. The snow is rapidly disappearing in my yard though. I tried walking in the driveway, but it was really slushy and slippery - and pouring rain, so I didn't push it.

Tomorrow it is supposed to get cold again and last I heard, we were to expect blizzard conditions. Hmm, flood warnings one day and blizzard warnings the next day?...let me check...yep, we are in Michigan.

More snow? Imagine that!

Well, they said it was coming, but when I awoke this morning the sun was shining. I packed up ingredients and went to my parents to do some baking. It hit about 2pm (instead of midnight) and we thought I better get my tail on the road!

I took several pictures on the way home (yes, while driving, the genius of this did not escape me). When I got home, I couldn't tell where I took some of them! Here are some of the more obvious ones.

This one below may not be as easy. They are in order as if on the ride home. Can you guess where? It is on Sunset/Co Rd 100


Isn't tomorrow the first day of winter?

Snow Day!

I just received a phone call from the school and they canceled my class for today due to the weather. You should see it! A fine sheet of snow. The squirrel in my feeder is covered in it too. I had a moment of understanding what Sadie is going through. Inside every day...It is pretty, but it is only December!

I will try and get some photos later.
--------------
Later







Now I am off to see if any of my students have done their Final Exam yet....

No survivor!

No, I am not referring to me. I am just saying that Survivor, Season 17, is over. No more Thursday night TV to look forward to for awhile. Now everything is reruns. Maybe I can catch up on CSI though.

I finally decorated the tree! I discovered that 2 of the 3 strands of lights I bought are the icycles that hang on your gutters outside. So I added my one strand of lights, my cards, some small presents, and I found some decorations a friend made for me last year. It is pretty darn cheery! I even wrapped some more presents and put them under the tree. Dang, I don't even know myself.

Have I said lately that I love my boss? I had a kinda rough day on the phones. Right before I left, he gifted me and I almost cried when I got home and opened his card. Also, after next Wednesday, I don't go back to work until Jan 5th.

Now if the weather would only cooperate! Another winter storm rolling in around 3am this morning. The storm made the national news and my weather crush, Jim Cantorre, was reporting from Chicago about thunder snow, gloom and doom. I am preparing for school closings. I emailed all my students and told them the final exam would still be available online for them to take from home! *evil laughter*

Then another storm for Sunday - freezing rain by Monday. I think that will change to snow as the temperatures are now forecast to be very cold. Who knows? That may change too.

Enough already, anytime now, I am tired of the bitter cold, endless snow, and lack of exercise. I didn't want to get out of the shower this morning, it was the only time I can feel completely warm! :)

I got the call for the appraisal today. I will be meeting her here on Tuesday. They are the same company that did it before, so I told her to pull the file and look forward to a big cosmetic change!

I am fighting off a cold or sinus infection. I started Zicam yesterday, so it shouldn't last too long. I feel better today than I did yesterday. But you know the swollen, stuffy head feeling, I gotz it.

Where did the day go?

Monday was a nasty day. All the schools were closed. It was windy and bone chilling cold. Due to some uncertainty regarding a memo, I went into work at my usual time. Apparently, according to the memo, I didn't have to go in until 10am. I won't make that mistake again! My boss took pity on my and is letting me leave 3 hours early on Thursday.

Monday, I felt like I was caught up on my knitting enough to put up the tree that has sat under my dining room table for a month. Before that, it had been in the shed for 3 or 4 years. The smell was nasty. There were 3 nests in the packed branches, some un-mouse droppings, and a big hole in the middle of the assembly directions! The cats were oddly indifferent, and Sadie has been so bored, she made a big deal out of the whole event. The hardest part was cleaning and sorting the branches. The tree went up in minutes. I decided to leave it overnight. If it was still standing when I got home from work the next day, I might even decorate it! I cleaned up and sprayed it down with febreeze and all is goood.

I am getting the final exam ready for my students this Friday. My 20 week class is divided into 3 six week sections (if you are counting, that leaves 2 extra weeks I use to review or allow extra time in class to work on their assignments.

After the morning dragged, the rest of the day flew by. I stopped at home to let Sadie out and see that the tree was still standing. Then I ran to Walmart after work and when I walked out, it was dark. Where did the day go?

Sunday, gloomy Sunday

It has been misty and wet all day. I got out to the store and home before noon as I wasn't sure what was going to happen with the roads, and my driveway.

There was no change in the weather and it was warm all day. 34-40 degrees. It is supposed to stop raining and then the temp will drop and then roads will freeze, but that will not be until 5am-9am tomorrow.

I am all settled in to watch the finale of Survivor tonight. I really want Bob to win, but I never get what I want when it comes to the winner of Survivor. My second choice is Sugar. The football game is running late, so I guess I will have to record the reunion and $100,000 favorite survivor winner (Bob!?).

My fingers and elbows are still sore from yesterday, so I have had enough typing for today. Happy Monday all!

Later that day...

Shoveling off the roof wasn't so bad after all. I dressed appropriately, tucked my sweatpants into my SmartWool socks, wore deep tread hiking boots, called mom before and after to check in, and took my cell phone and water with me.

I was able to do alot of the work from the ground because my roof is so low. The snow was light on top, but packed at the bottom. I was able to work the shovel under the snow, pry it up to break off large sections at a time and just drag the shovel backwards until it fell on the ground. The hard part was once I climbed up and had to work it all downwards. I was able to do a lot of the work the same, except I had to push more of it off. I think I got the worst of it on the back carport side where it backed up 2 years ago. There is already a 4-5" layer of ice on the bottom edge of the roof, so I glad I got it when I did.

In retrospect: Don't wear sweatpants. They got wet, heavy and stretched. I felt like they were riding low in back and when I got back inside, I checked, I was right. My apologies to my neighbors, it wasn't a plumber on the roof, it was me. lol Also, I would take kleenex next time. Note to self: I over did it this time. I should of quit when I thought I should've, but I stayed and finished the section I started, pushing and pulling the edges off and then had to shovel Sadie's path and the driveway where I had pushed snow into it. My elbows are screaming at me right now. However, I am just glad I accomplished what I did before the rain started. It was plenty heavy already. If I am up to it, I will try some more tomorrow.

The highlight of it was that I never once worried about my weight and falling through the roof. Five years ago, I never would have attempted this chore. I reflected on how glad I am that I am not that heavy anymore. How I can do all sorts of things I could never of considered doing before. Really, daily, I am thankful I did that one thing for myself.

As I finished, it began to snow again. Naturally, I cursed, but they were the giant fluffy flakes that gently float downwards and are too beautiful to hate. lol yeah, right. I think homeowners have had enough snow removal for one winter already.

Get er done

Gas jumped in prices overnight Thursday. It is $1.74ish now. I hope it is not a trend.

It is supposed to rain tomorrow. If it rains on top of the snow, the snow acts like a sponge and will soak it up. Naturally, this will increase the already heavy weight of the snow on the roof. Even if the roof doesn't collapse, it could damage the structure and compromise its integrity.

So guess what I get to do today?

Thankfully, it is easy to get on and off my roof on the carport side. I plan on doing that side only as that is the side that I have had trouble with ice dams in the past.

I had planned on going to Grayling to grocery shop and then to Mom and Dads' to do some baking, but that may have to wait until tomorrow or next week. I have a feeling that the roof is going to kick my fibro butt. I will do what I can, when I can, but I may end up having to hire it out in order to get it done before tomorrow's rain, which I can hardly afford to do right now.

Good news, I am making a huge dent in my Christmas knitting. Mom gave me some really good ideas too. I am having fun again with my knitting and had trouble putting it down last night. :)

TV Night

You must admit, this is the best season of Survivor EVER. Twist, turn, blindside, and stab you in the back fest! I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I left work at noon today. I ran some errands and then I signed disclosure papers at the bank. The interest rates are dropping like a rock this week! They were 5.975 on Tuesday, today they are 5.5! I will be having the appraisal next week and a lot depends on the outcome. If the house doesn't appraise for the right amount, I may have to pay PMI for awhile.

The mortgage lady said some properties have fallen in value as much as 20-30%. Now that I think about it, I wonder how many people out there have a mortgage for more than their house is worth? Isn't that a scary thought? No wonder the economy is so bad.

Okay, I am being distracted by Survivor, Tribal Council is starting. Stay tuned for some news about me that I have been sitting on for about a month. I should know more next week! Send me positive vibes!

catch up - snow

I have been on the run since last Friday. I have been officially reprimanded for not updating my blog.

Friday/Sat/Sun - Sadie and I packed up for Kristi's and missed the snow storms that have been blanketing the entire state in double digit snow fall. Gas was $1.64 in St. Helen and it was only $27 to fill my tank! It snowed heavily in K-zoo on Saturday but travel days were clear. Sadie romped in the back yard with Utah and came home exhausted. I relaxed, knitted, ate, baked and had a great time and came home feeling great. Gas was only $1.54 so I topped off the tank before I left K-zoo.

Monday - Was my knitting group's (Knorthern Knitters) Christmas party. Lasagna and tons of yummy food. I had seconds. We had it at a member's new home and it was all decked out for the holidays. ALMOST put me in the spirit. However, as I write this, my brand new tree is still sealed in the original box under my kitchen table. The cat loves sitting on the box.

Tuesday - More snow, tons of snow. My office closed! This is rare! I slept in, watched videos, knitted, and shoveled snow. My neighbor brought his snow blower and removed the 12" of snow that had fallen overnight. I will say again, "I picked a hell of a year to go without a snow plow contract".

Wednesday - Long day. My boss and I participated in a all day training 7am-4pm. We had a break for lunch and went into town for lunch. By the end of the day, my mind was numb. I come home and have to dig through all my old records for tax info and more for the bank (I will get back to that soon), feed the critters, and myself. I sit down to check my email and I have an email from one of my former students. He is the son of the $100 dramaqueen woman I mentioned in a previous post. It seems she told her son I upset her and has been crying about it. Now he is upset and asking me what is going on! I feel sorry for him, she has done similar things in the past I had to talk him through it. I haven't talked to her in how many years and now she's upset? And for the past 2-3 weeks? And she dragged her son into it too? I am speechless and angry.
Now, back to my mention of the bank. I am going to attempt to refinance my home. The interest rates are continuing to drop and I will be able to pay off my debt. It all depends on the value of my home established by the appraiser. In today's market, this is a major concern. I meet with the bank tomorrow to get the ball rolling and have the appraisal. Considering my past luck with the debt reduction attempts, wish me luck!

For the weekend, I would like to get in the mood to put up the tree. Also, I need to get some baking done (umm, Mom?) but don't have the oven, and of course, I am knitting my fingers to the bone to finish Christmas presents!

And what's this I hear? A DUSTING of snow in Houston? And you like it? LOL You can have some of ours, really? Or maybe that dusting is a result of our generosity already! I can't wait for the Life Down South photos!

Thursday - TV night

I would love to tell you something new, but...it's still snowing and still cold. :)

TV night consists of Survivor, Grey's and ER.

I am hoping the weather will break tomorrow so I can get to Kalamazoo for the weekend. I think I need to get away. Then back in time for the knitting group Christmas party and my friend Anne to arrive to stay for a few days. Remember Anne? She was stranded at my place this summer and got to know the WHOLE family in a very short time. :)

Have a great weekend.

Quick Update

Thanksgiving was wonderful and I spent the next few days camped on the couch eating leftovers and knitting and watching movie marathons. Deadliest Catch and The Stand (8 hours!) By Sunday, I had enough and had to get out.

Today we were hammered again with another 8 inches on the ground this morning and it is still snowing. Guess I will be shoveling again. My hands are sore from knitting, so I will just tell all this with pictures.

Sunday's Walk ( I walked, Sadie ran)

What my yard looked like when I arrived home today about 3:30pm

Nice storm!

It is looking a lot like Christmas. We received 8" of heavy fluffy snow. The limbs on my white pine are laden and bent to the ground. I love this tree for that reason. I love my pear trees too, but one of them did not bend under the weight of the snow, it broke.

All this heavy snow hit the day after I decided that, as a cost saving measure, I was not going to pay the up front fees for snow plowing and take my chances this year. Yeah. Guess who was out shoveling what the snow plow piled in front of the mailbox? I tried not to over do it, and I was sore that day, but not the day after, so I think I am learning.

Sadie LOVES the snow. She high steps, pops into the air, and runs and slips with a great big silly look on her face. I let her run a bit in the back yard, but it is still hunting season, so I pulled her back after a quick run.

Tomorrow I will let her run to her heart's content. We are having our usual Thanksgiving at the hunting camp. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love making a dish to pass, this year my double layer pumpkin pie - no oven necessary, showing up to a warm and festive camp drenched in the delightful smell of a huge turkey dinner. It is lots of friends, family and FOOD in the middle of nowhere on the river.

The guys cook the turkey. I believe this tradition started when the guys all hunted and rather that give up a morning of hunting, they would have the women-folk bring out all the side dishes and then they could shoo them out the door afterwards. Regardless of how it started, it has endured for many years. The people and side dishes change, sometimes even a second entree was added, such as a pork roast, for Buddy. But one thing never changes. It is the most pleasant day of the year for me.

I was just telling a friend of mine today that on Thanksgiving 2003, I had my first solid food post op weight loss surgery at the Beaver Club. I had to puree the turkey in a food processor, but nothing has ever tasted so good.

So, on this wonderful holiday of giving thanks, forget your troubles, count your blessings and be thankful....and wear loose clothing, eat a lot, and watch the Lions! :)

Double whammy day

This will also become known as the day the oven died. yep, dead. I now have a very large, very ugly counter timer with a light. I didn't find out until I had prepared 4 breaded pork chops and set them in what should have been a pre-heated oven. I tried the breaker just to see, but I knew it wouldn't make a difference - the light and minute hand were still working. So I just turned off the breaker. If you remember the ugly kitchen contest letter, you will know this isn't much of a loss.

The second blow landed in the mail. That credit card thing I applied for a couple posts back. You need to meet their criteria and provide a bunch of info to qualify. I suspected this in the back of my mind. I am going to call them and have them interpret the criteria, it is written in "lawyer-speak".

I took a run over to the Loom Room and picked up my prize. I got some potholders and some chai tea. I visited with the young guy and he mentioned Traci - of course! :) He said he was going to email her because they are school teachers and going to Galveston for spring break. The place they have reservations is not scheduled to be open until March 1. That is cutting it close. If you recall, Ike took out most of Galveston. We talked about all of that for awhile, but Sadie was in the car and I didn't want to dawdle.

I stopped in at the bookstore while out and about today. We put together two groups of books and I am going to see what happens on Ebay with them. Then we will see about trying to do it on a regular basis. I let her know I had lots of time off during the holidays if she needed me also. I took in Sadie and showed off her good manners. After that we headed home, skipping Wal-mart.

Gas is $1.78 in HL. It dropped a penny to that in the hour I was there.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The hammer never fell in our area last night! So, yes there was school today. No problem, I did enjoy it once I got moving. When I closed the curtains about an hour ago, it was snowing and it has been snowing since I awoke...at 9:45am.

Before I left for work I got a call from The Loom Room. When Mom and I were there last weekend, I put our names in a jar to win something. We figured we wouldn't win, so we didn't ask what the prizes were. Well, as you may have guessed, I won a prize. Again, I didn't ask what it was, but I will pick it up tomorrow or Sunday, depending on the weather.

I am debating taking a chance with snow plowing this year. Last year I was gouged - 7 months of paying for snowplowing and the guy came the last time when there was barely any snow...then charged me full price for it. Now the thing all of them do is charge, partially or in full, up front. My guy wants $99 up front, at 16.50 a plow. Have you seen my driveway? So, yes, I am thinking I am going to go without a plowing contract this year. I can clear the end of my drive when the plow goes by or pay a local plower to clear my drive once in awhile.

I have decided to put up a tree this year. I haven't done this in, oh, 10 years or so. I bought a tree a few years ago and it is still in the box. I stopped at St. Vinnie's for some baskets and they did not have any, but nearby were tons of Christmas tree lights. So I grabbed 3 bags of white lights ($1.00 ea) and headed to the register. I thought that would go a long way on a 5' tree. I got home and hauled the tree out of the shed, checked it for mice and squirrels, and moved it to the house. It's a 7.5 foot tree! Oh well. I am not planning on spending any more on decorations, I am going to use what I have around the house. Shells, yarn, nautical knick knacks, etc. No macaroni or popcorn! :)

I spent money on un-necessaries today. $3 on tree lights and $6 on SF Dark Chocolate. I can not resist those. For a total of $9. I don't think I need to beat myself up over that, do you?

Thundersnow

Michigan is getting hammered. You could apply that statement to the ridicule aimed at the Big Three CEOs that flew separate private jets to Washington to beg for money, but I am referring to the weather.

They are predicting thunder snow in parts of Michigan tonight. That means I might hear thunder tonight and look outside and see nothing due to a heavy curtain of snow (yeah, and the fact that it is dark out, duh). I can remember this happening only a handful of times. It is a weird weather phenomena. Once, I saw lightning in a storm in the late 80's. One thing for sure, it means LOTS of snow. The forecast, right now, is that the western shore will get in excess of 24" (2 feet!!!) by tomorrow afternoon. This area could get up to 12".

So, here I am sitting here watching the weather reports like a school kid, hoping they will call off school tomorrow. If three or more area schools close, the college will close, and I will not have to go to school, I mean, work tomorrow.

Everyone is finding ways to reduce costs this winter. Do you have any suggestions? Add them to the comments. Personally, I would appreciate any suggestions.

Steps I have taken:

• Programable thermostat - 67 degrees from 6:15-6:50; 65 from 4-10pm & weekends; 60 all night & workdays
• Plastic on windows
• Thermal curtains on picture window
• Rolled towels at bottom of doors to prevent drafts
• Shut off 2 rooms, and shut heat vents
• Unplugging most electronics and all chargers when not in use.

A couple days ago, the Twisted One commented that I seemed to have a good attitude toward my budgeting. I appreciate hearing that. I was kinda having fun with it. Today was the big payoff. I talking about how good it felt to pay the bills and have money left in my account. It isn't much, but that was also after putting money into savings. The best thing? I am not worried about paying the bills. I am in control...at least today! :)

Monday/Tuesday

I need to slow down or something. I am having an uncomfortable flair up of fibromyalgia. Mostly hands, feet and hips. I am thankful I only have a mild form and it is nice to finally know I am not crazy. But it motivated me enough for me to take a look on Amazon for some books about it.

It did not keep me from spinning on a spinning wheel last night! Katie needed to work on a Christmas present - and I have designated Monday nights as MY time to work on whatever I want. :) So Jenny brought her wheel and I sat down in front of it! Next time I will take different wool roving with me, the stuff I had with me was fine and not good for beginner spinning wheel work....at least for me. I spun for about an hour and by then the room and I had become too warm. Plus when I stopped, I realized my ankles hurt. lol

Made a dent in Weekend To-Do List

I have 1/2 of my to do list done AND I finished a major Christmas gift today. (REVISION: After reading my todo list in the previous post, I have to say, I completed the list today! I'm doing better than I thought - I can be a bum tomorrow)

I even made it to Walmart and only went $5 over what I budgeted. That is major considering I thought I had dog food factored in and when I arrive at the dog food I discovered it wasn't on the electronic list! Sadie's usual food is $15. So I had to make some major cuts and had to downgrade the dog food and also downgrade my yogurt from yoplait to Walmart brand. Nothing unessential was purchased and I was in and out in 1/2 hour.

I haven't addressed the rest of the budget thing yet. Mister is sleeping on it in this photo.

The crawl space was not fun. But the good news is that there does not seem to be much damage to the subfloor under the bathroom. I left some of the insulation pulled down anyway to allow some air circulation - can't hurt, can it?

Did I mention I finished a knitting project I have been working on since August? Huge relief!

Mom and I are going to the Loom Room tomorrow for their Hunter's weekend sale. Up to 50% off. Call your orders in to her! LOL I am going for the ride - Sorry, no non-essentials until December.

Gas was $1.97 in HL!

Thursday/Friday

I really enjoy my Fridays now. I can sleep in and still take my time getting ready. A few weeks ago, I asked my class if any of them were afraid of dogs - none were, and I mentioned I may bring Sadie to class sometime. Last week they asked where she was, so I took her to work with me today. I have seen dogs on campus before, so I figured it would not be a big deal and it wasn't. The girls welcomed her warmly, approached her properly and were sensitive to her skittishness without me having to say much about it. Then all of them fell into working, Sadie laid down at my feet, and class progressed without distractions.

After class, I had to drop a piece of equipment off at another building and took her with me there also. Again, she was welcomed, but Sadie didn't relax this time. On our way into the building we passed squirrels and chipmunks (the college's nickname is Chipmunk U) and she was completely focused on getting back outside, despite efforts to get her attention back.

We stopped at my parents' to visit for awhile and the driveway began to fill up like Christmas while we were there. M.A. rang the bell and sat down for a visit, then Cari pulled in, and she was followed by mom returning from shopping for a family for Christmas. I planned on going to Wal-mart so I scooted out soon after.

When I got home, I decided it was getting dark and didn't want to drive over to HL in the dusk/dark. I had been hearing gunshots everywhere I went today and figured the deer would be unpredictably on the move. Tomorrow may not be much better, but at least it will be easier to see.

I chatted online with LC Guy last night. He was packed and ready for deer camp. I wished him luck and pretty much said - see you in about 2 weeks. :)

I stuck to my no-spending vow today, but yesterday I slipped and spent $3 for a bag of sugar free Russel-Stover dark chocolate minitures. It's the only candy I eat anymore.

Tonight I need to make a grocery list and I am going to try and make it no more than $50. I am still putting off making up my budget.

Tomorrow, I also have a list of chores to take care of this weekend.

1. Lower the shower curtain - to reduce leaking from sides of tub
   
2. Hang a set of cupboard doors in the kitchen - who wants to see my oatmeal?
   
3. Put insulation in the vents in the crawl- to save $$
   
4. Inspect the crawl under the bathroom for water damage. I may have to pull some insulation down to accelerate the drying process & reduce mold/mildew
   

What about you? What are your weekend plans?

Mini-update

Just a quick note. I added a picture of my FIRST EVER skein of yarn to yesterday's post Fiber and Politics.

Also, I found this photo on my camera. When I was re-caulking last weekend apparently the fumes did effect me. Because Sadie is wearing the shirt I was caulking in, and I didn't remember the photo until I saw it. Nasty stuff, that caulk. Sadie does not like wearing clothes, can you tell?

Fiber and politics

This morning I am stumbling around, half awake, getting ready for work and I sudden become aware that somebody is yelling at me. It was Lucky. Meow mew Ack - translation: nag nag nag. She usually does this at 10pm when I have not started getting ready for bed. She has never done this in the morning unless she is out of food or water. But, I had just feed them the night before.

So I grumble at her and make a fake toward the bedroom. She doesn't notice I quit following her and continues to the platform where I feed them. When I do get back to the bedroom, she is sitting on the platform, staring down at her food dish. I walk up expecting to see an empty food dish, only it isn't empty, it is full of water! Lucky squawks at me again. I look in the water dish. Yep, it's full of cat food. I had put the water dish on the food side and the food dish on the water side. She didn't like this one bit! So, I quickly traded places and harmony was restored as she dove into her food.

One of my knit night friends, Barb, stopped over after work and she played with Sadie while I fiddled with her digital camera. I changed some settings for her and we settled down at the table to play with my fiber. :) She brought her niddy noddy and we wound my YARN (yes, it is yarn now because it is plied) around and around, after several bad starts. She showed me how to wind it, tie and remove it and how to wind it into a real skein. Then we undid it and did it again, and again. Then I realized we hadn't measured it! The length of her NN was 18" and the yarn is wrapped as you saw in yesterday's photo - twice on each side. So 36" or 1 yard each side - each full wrap = 2 yards. I counted 37 wraps, therefore I have 74 yards of my own hand spun yarn! Then we sipped tea, ate nuts and bolts, and played with my fiber. :)


I spent 2.69 today on milk. I consider this a necessity, so it does not count in my Do Not Spend Vow.

I have set aside the $100 for now. It is going to fund my trip down to Kristi's for another baking/craft weekend. Last year we combined our efforts to bake dog biscuits for Christmas gifts to our dog loving friends.

I behaved today, no snaps, and I actually feel optomistic with all things financial.

To that end, I am not sure it is related to my lift in spirit or not, but as I am learning more about our President-Elect, I am finding that I like him more as a person. I am still not completely sold or clear on his intentions and policies, but I feel better knowing he really is as down to earth as he claims, and has boatloads of honest American values that has been missing in our leadership and society in recent years.

I was a sassy wench today

But first...
About last night....

Sadie and I arrived at knit group later than usual and it was a full house - Sadie was, of course, uncomfortable at first. We usually get there early, settle down and then everyone else arrives and she can get used to it slowly. But, she adapted quickly. Well enough to jump into Katie's place on the couch after Katie had moved to the floor to scratch Sadie's back! Ungrateful dog! :)

Jenny brought her spinning wheel, so we could learn how to ply our spinning efforts. I guess I didn't realize that meant I had to sit down and pump the wheel and keep it going (that's the hard part) in order to ply my spun singles. I don't know what I was thinking. I was caught off guard when she plopped it down in front of me. It was a rough start, and it took almost the whole two hours, but I did it! And it was fun. Not has hard as trying to spin - less hand work, so it was probably good for practice. Unfortunately, no one else got to play with it, so she is bring it again next week. :)

When I got home, I logged on and LC Guy was online...we chatted for awhile and then he ended up coming over until 11. I am not used to staying up that late! It was rough getting out of bed this morning.

Then something weird happened today...Someone dropped off an envelope at the front desk for me. Even when they said who dropped it off I was confused and I made a joke. It was dropped off by a teacher from the high school that I had been friends with about 10-15 years ago.

FLASHBACK: At that time, I was working part time at the school, I was broke, no benefits, and no paid holiday. I house sat for her while she went on vacation over Easter/Spring Break. It was hell. Her dog ate my new $65 Reeboks, I fell on her deck and hurt myself really bad, the leg is still not right (broke, no insurance- so no doctor visit was ever made). Then her dog got loose and ran away and I chased her all over the neighborhood. Her house was a disaster, filthy, and toys COVERED the floor. You should have seen my socks! I refused to clean up the mess (I wasn't getting paid enough for THAT), frankly, I was afraid to touch anything, she didn't even make up a bed for me, she expected me to sleep in her unmade bed! I was reluctant to sit on the couch and was uncomfortable and miserable the whole time - I seriously considered going home! Abandon Ship! And she told me i could do my laundry, but there was no laundry detergent! I had to go buy some. She offered me $100 to house sit and I am already in the hole on day 3! Long story short, she never paid me, and I asked twice, verbally and in an email...saying I really needed the money. I really did! Nothing - I was casually waved off.

TODAY: Anyway, there was a note of apology and $100 cash in the envelope. The kicker, I was afraid to touch the money! Her daughter was the source of a recent serious outbreak the school. Remembering the condition of her house, I checked with a nurse before I read the note. I am serious, I did check.

I was curious as to why the sudden generosity. Well, a couple days ago, after receiving 2 of those annoying chain email FWDs from her in 2 days - mind you, I haven't heard from her in years and suddenly, I'm her spam target. Any, I replied and politely asked her to remove me from her email contacts. Apparently this meant she offended me in some awful way and after "thinking about why" she suddenly remembers she owes me money. Oh, did I mention she is a drama queen?

Then I snapped on one of my snotty co-workers too. I'm taking a business call and I can't hear what they are saying because of her yelling obnoxious comments over the cubicles. I said "NAME, I couldn't hear the person I was talking to on the phone, you need to keep your voice down"...she says, "you need to turn your phone UP"...I couldn't believe it and I snapped, "you need to turn your voice DOWN". She was quiet the rest of the day and ignored my existence. I was able to concentrate and had a very productive day. Normally, I am patient and slow to anger, but that particular fuse has been burning since last spring. I remember telling visiting relatives about how they behave when they were here last summer. (thank you for letting me vent)

I called Barb from my knitting group when I came home. We were going to try and get together. She has an extra Niddy Noddy and was going to show me how to use it to wrap my plied yarn from last night. A niddy noddy is a silly name for a plain stick-like tool used to measure yarn. Every wrap is a certain length, usually one yard. (Click To Read More) The wrap part is where the learning curve part comes in, it is similar to a figure eight - I think! Anyway, hopefully we can get together sometime this week. If I do it right, I will have a finished skein of yarn by next Monday to motivate the other spinners. Not that you need much motivation to spin, it is so relaxing and fun.

So no spending today. I know I said I was going to address that next, but hey, it's been an eventful 24 hours, you've had enough to read already.

I Jump Right Into the Personal Finance Responsibilities - Again

I worry about money constantly, always have alway will. Sometimes it is founded, sometimes not. I have had a particular thorn in my side for awhile and it came to a head last night. I let myself get all worked up about it. My usual mantra "What's the worst that could happen?" wasn't working. I think Dad gave me that one. Could be a Dale Carnagie thing.

After having trouble sleeping last night because of my bills, I awoke determined to do something about it. Sometimes things have to sink real low in order to get my attention. This is such a case. Thankfully, I was able to take the bull by the horns today.

First, I sat down and made a list of all my bills and the minimum payments. Car and mortgage stay the same and that makes budgeting easy. Unfortunately, as we all know, winter increases all utility bills! My gas bill is $12/month in July, last month it was $68 and we are not even into the cold-cold season. We are close, it was 24 this morning and 34 this afternoon.

After evaluating them, the same thorn was sticking. The one that was really ripping me up inside was my GMCard. I am fortunate that I only have one credit card. But last summer when I was laid off and no receiving my unenjoyment checks, I was late on 2 payments. Guess what? That means the credit card gods can legally change your interest rate to something unbelievable! Yeah, I found out the hard way. 30.99 percent! It raised my payment $45 per month! It is truely a hardship now that I am only working part time. And it is keeping me up at night.

Initially, I seriously considered not paying it at all. What's the worst that would happen? I have really good credit, it shouldn't make that much difference. I could wait out the 7 year blight to my credit and stay in my house until it is erased from my credit history, right? I did some research and found out that it really isn't such a good idea. I don't want creditors calling me all the time, becoming a slave to my caller ID, and waiting for the axe to fall.

My next option was to call and negociate with the credit card company. Did some more research and found out that I am in too good of shape to get away with that. Apparently, they will not negoiate a new interest rate or decrease your payment until you are delinquent for 90 days. By then, my anxiety level would be through the roof!

By now I am depressed and running out of options. I poked around on the website trying to make a case for reducing my interest rate. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask, even if they didn't consider me a hardship. I stumbled across some program they offered that would suspend your payment obligations in the case of hardship. Yep, I met the criteria, but there was a monthly fee. Hmm, better see what I can do with payments and interest first before going that route.

So I make the call. I listened real hard to the foreign accent that was telling me, basically, too bad, we can not adjust your payments and interest rate...yet. I will be notified by mail if a special rate opportunity comes around. Hello! Its GM, I am not holding my breath, they are hemorraging money in the wrong direction these days. By now, I am in tears, and I blubber something about their program and he transfers me (eagerly, I am sure, are there any guys that want to reason with a crying woman?) to a harder to understand woman who was very understanding. :)

My main concern was that my interest would continue to accrue at 30.99 percent while the account was on this program. Nope, only increase would be the monthly charge. There were a few other stipulations, like I could not charge/use the card - but I don't use it anyway, and the program lasts 18 months (I just need to get through the winter!). I am MUCH calmer now. This is sounding too good to be true. So I decide to ask her, "why?". What is in this for you? type question. They want to keep their good customers in these hard times. Are you buying that? It sounds good. But I am not sure. She didn't sound like she was reading from a script, like she had for most of the conversation (that drives me nuts too and is part of the reason why I asked her that question). Gee, this is all going so well, and she is so agreeable! So, what the heck, I asked her if she could reduce my APR....alas, I hit another wall. Hey, it never hurts to ask, twice. I hung up feeling like a huge weight had been lifted. I will get the fine print in the mail soon and have 30 days to change my mind or cancel the program at any time. *deep breath*

I have to get something to eat and go to knit knight. I feel SO much better and I will certainly sleep well tonight.

Next time: Regarding the no spending vow I made.

Sunday, the day of rest?

I overdid it this weekend. I blame HGTV.

Just before noon, Sadie and I walked to the hardware to see about replacing the plastic molding around the tub. They had never heard of such a thing, so I bought another tube of caulk and headed home. It is a short walk, but this time it was a cold, snowy, and windy return trip. Yes, it has been windy, and sleet/snowing most of the day. I hardly noticed because I was in the tub from noon until 3:45pm. I scraped, vacuumed, scraped some more, wiped it all down with diluted bleach, then kneeling in the tub, I did some more scraping and more wiping...finally I was able to start the caulking. By then, I had a monster headache, from the fumes, no doubt. My fingers are raw-from the scraping, so I may not be able to knit today. I wore rubber gloves for most of the process, but nothing beats an index finger for smoothing the caulk out. :)

I am curled up on the couch right now. I have the fan on and pointed in the bathroom again. I ate a large bowl of goulash and the headache is slowly receding. That's it, I am DONE for the day. I am unsure if I will be showering in the immediate future, but I am done. Hmm, I haven't taken a bath in a very long time - that sounds....warm!

Friday/Saturday

Friday didn't go well. I started out behind. By the time I had finished class and stopped at mom and dads, I was feeling shaky and ill. So I just went to bed when I got home. Thankfully, LC Guy's hunting partner knicked a deer and they had to track it. I was released from hostess duties and crawled back into my PJs and camped on the couch.

Today went much better! It was cold outside, so I concentrated on things I had been meaning to do for awhile. Laundry, scrubbing carpeted and tile floors, hanging the insulated curtains, and the biggie...recaulking the tub enclosure. That took hours to remove the old caulk and get behind the molding - it is all soaked, mildewy, and I felt like crying! I will have to do the recaulking tomorrow, but I have had the fan on full blast to dry out as much as it can get before I seal it up again.

Now I am tired and sore, but content that I have made some progress today. My house is clean (except the bathtub) and life is good.

Oh! I finally received my new spindle in the mail on Friday! I spent all of Friday night spinning with it. I really like it. However, it is smaller and ligher than I thought it would be. It can not handle the regular roving I have. I had to use some of the lighter and slicker roving and then it went quickly. I will post a picture soon!

Now I am off to finish watching Stormchasers and then crawl into bed with a Lisa Scottilini novel and some popcorn.

I did not go out today, but yesterday, gas is down to 2.18 at the corner gas station.

Packing up summer

Today is the last day of beautiful, warm, sunny weather for awhile. I used the opportunity to sweep leaves off the deck (again), pack the deck furniture in the shed, and pack the hammock in the rafters. Then did some laundry, ran the dishwasher, and made some coffee. Now I am settling down in my studio to spin and watch my Thursday night shows.

LC Guy brought over dinner last night and we spent a very pleasant evening catching up with each other. We had corned beef, potatoes, and rolls. We plan on doing it again tomorrow, but I will do the cooking this time. Yeah, I can cook, I won't kill him. I am not the M. Stewart that Cari is though. :) All I usually do are large pots of whatever I can freeze for lunches throughout the week. Tomorrow will be chili or goulash, I haven't decided yet. However, he will be hunting all afternoon and if he gets a deer, I expect I will be dining alone. :)

I spoke with Sheila this afternoon. Saturday is AJM's birthday and they are having a snow party. This company comes in and makes snow in your back yard so the kids can play in it. I fail to see the novelty of this, but they live in NC.

Well, I better check my email for student's questions. They know that they have to get me before 8 or wait until class tomorrow. I have a wonderful group this year! Small, but SHARP!

Then I need to sit and spin - do they still make those Sit-n-Spins?

Is it Nov 5 yet?

I voted - rah rah! Okay now, get rid of all the signs, phone calls and commercials puh-leez.

Afterward, I ran some errands and took Sadie for a run at work. We didn't go inside to talk to anyone today, the parking lot was still full of administrators - Sadie prefers to stay away from administrators.

I added new photos to the Weekend Update entry below. The hunting camp is gorgeous this time of year (okay, always). Sadie was sporting her hunter's orange - a scarf I knitted for her last year. Dad told me to keep an eye on her down by the river - raccoons were known to drown dogs by holding their heads under water. Either its true or he has been hanging around with Murph for too many years.

Then I sat down and updated my Wasabe account. I haven't done that since last May! Ouch! Yep, it is time to set aside the denial and get serious about personal finance again. Regardless of who our new leaders are, the economy is not going to change overnight. Time to revisit the no-spending plan.

Gas in town was down to $2.29. Gas is beginning to look like my cheapest entertainment!

Well, I'm off to do some spinning - Oh, another one of the girls in my knitting group bought a spindle and I showed her how to use it last night - next week, we ply!

Weekend Update

I spent most of the weekend just trying to stay warm.

Friday was actually nice - high 50's low 60's. My students were wonderful and the 2 hours I spend with them flew by before I knew it. Then I went to give Mom her b-day present - lottery tickets, of course. :) Then I ran to HL to get gas ($2.35!), grocery shop at Wally World, and then out to the Market for feta cheese dip and to fill dad's request for Dearborn smoked sausage.

Saturday was okay. I was feeling blue and lazy and took a nap. Then went to mom and dad's to catch a ride out to the beaver club (hunting camp) for dinner. Sadie was pretty subdued compared to her usually self out there. I wondered if the bear had been around recently. Cari and Jerry joined us and we BBQ'd burgers and visited with friends that were also out there.

Sunday I started putting plastic up on my front window. Cari called and we met at the gazebo to winterize it. More plastic wrapping. :) Jerry was there and the three of us made a good team and it didn't take long. Then I went back home and finished my window, did some laundry, and then tried to take it easy. I did some knitting.

I have trouble with the time changes twice a year. It seemed like it was dark by 4. However, since it was so sunny and bright earlier, when it became overcast and started sprinkling, maybe it just seemed that way. I hauled the garbage to the curb, took a shower and settled down on the couch. I bought a new spindle with my ebay earnings. I will definitely be posting a picture of it - it is made with blue Murano glass.

Sad News

My Uncle John in NC passed away unexpectedly in his sleep yesterday. He was a lot of fun and I admire him for overcoming the obstacles that he did.
We are all having trouble accepting this and our thoughts and prayers are with our family in NC.

Need I say more?

Snowy?

Yesterday was "interesting". It snowed twice!

It was 32 this morning and my deck was covered in frost.

I am finally getting on track with all my knitting projects. I have actually finished one project and I am more than 1/2 way done with 3 others. I even picked up my sock project yesterday and after consulting with my resident sock expert (thank you, Katie), I was able to get back to work in earnest on them.

An overall sense of accomplishment.

A Blustery Sunday

Today is a blustery day (didn't Winnie the Pooh use that adjective?). It has even thundered loudly twice - Sadie barked to mark the occasion.

I most of the day organizing and cleaning the studio. What? A mess already? No, just wanted to find better ways of displaying my fiber and textiles. I tried to hang a couple things on the wall, but the items were awkward and heavy and I gave up until I can get some help, or find a better idea. I tried hanging a 5' chenille rug and a old cabinet I bought years ago on ebay and still haven't found a use for, vetoed all of it and now it looks the same as when I started! It is the only room in the house without artwork (or anything else) on the walls.

I played with my yarn a bit also. Straightened out a couple projects that were languishing on the needles in need of help. Listened to V is For Vendetta on the TV while I tried to straighten the studio in order to straighten my mind. I am slowly pulling the house back into shape after the cleaning spree. I have to go slow or the cats freak out and stop using the litter box - believe me, I tried. :(

When I stopped at my parents on Friday, I had asked if there were any plans for the family on Sunday - Dad's birthday. There were none at the time, and still none this morning, but Cari did a little persuading and we are going to have dinner at my parents. Lasagna, yuummm.

Saturday - cold and overcast - YEAH!

I have huge plans for today. Nothing! :)

It is a crappy day, cold, overcast and wet. I am not-so-secretly happy about it. I am going to use the indoor time to do laundry, play with my new camera (lots of knitting projects to photograph), and veg.

Aaaah, the art of doing nothing...and ya'll know I'm an artist!

Temperature update

Had to let you know...it was 28 degrees yesterday morning and this morning. I turned on the furnace full time about 7-8 days ago.

It's shutta time!

Yep, came home and my camera was on my doorstep. I charged it for 15 minutes and ran out the door with Sadie to take a walk and snap some photos.

Which brings me to this year's photo for "Find the Pup In Da Pitcha"! Here is the link to last year's photo.

Can you find Sadie along the trail?

Day's End

I was quite the social butterfly today.

I never did get to the bank. I drove right past it without seeing it. I was in Houghton Lake and had never been to that branch and obviously, it wasn't where I thought it was. No harm, it was a beautiful day, my bills are paid, gas is finally below $3 ($2.92), and life feels good.

I stopped at the bookstore and put away my books, found some more books, and then sat down and visited with my boss for 2 hours. Finally, hunger drove me out the door, but I had to go to Walmart real quick before I could eat.

My main reason for going was for popcorn and envelopes. This is an uncharacteristically short list. But I really wanted to see my new camera in the store. Well, they didn't have it! I did some looking around and came across a similar model by Sanyo, but it was locked to the wall. It has been a long time since I shopped electronics in the store, so this kinda surprised me. I hear a man yelling something like "do you want to see that?" I explain why I am looking at it and he takes it down and we start a nice discussion about "my deal", and I mention my concern about the batteries. He thinks I will be fine with the batteries. When the description said Lithium batteries, I think of the larger, rechargable batteries. He thinks they will be AA size rechargable batteries! I hope so!

Then I was off to Taco Bell. Cheap food. HL doesn't have a Wendy's, so I settled. I ate it in the car on the way home. At the last minute, I decided to mark something else of my fall "to-do" list. I stopped at the gazebo to unplug the fridge and clean it out. I propped the fridge door open, brought in the chairs and did up the garbage.

The side screen had fallen out AGAIN. I took it in the beginning of the season and had it cut down in size because it kept popping out. It cost me more to have it resized than it did it did to have the whole screen made a couple years ago. After resizing it, it continued to fall out. So I put nails in all the around it to hold it in. Lot of good that did. So I brought the screen inside too. I don't know if we will be able to put up plastic in the front - the dock is stacked right up against the building. The lake was beautiful. Hardly any wind, hardly any docks, and quiet. I enjoyed the peace for awhile, then I gathered up all the towels and headed home.

At home, I continued with the "to-do" list. The whole time I am telling myself "don't over due it, don't over due it", but I packed my summer clothes and unpacked my winter clothes. Then I sat down to finally relax!

Last weekend I got hooked on the Final Destination movies. I watched 1 and 2 last weekend and made it a point to watch 3 tonight. I really got into them and sat on the edge of my seat at some points. They are cheesy, bloody, teen suspense/horror flicks. Completely predictible, but I enjoyed them.

Philosophy warning: Life can be like that too, totally predictible, but still enjoyable. Kind of like my day.

Now I am off to bed. Nice clean sheets, a new book, and a glass of milk.

Warning: Excessive Thinking Ahead - I buy a camera

I couldn't take it anymore. After researching the cost of repairing my camera - there was nothing positive nor any happy reviews about my camera's LCD repair costs. Really, nothing nice about repairing digital cameras in general.

The cost of new point and shoot digital cameras have come down dramatically. I paid over $300 for mine 3-4 years ago. It has/had a 3x optical zoom, viewfinder, 5 Megapixels and otherwise was an awkward, but serviceable camera for what I bought it for. I just wanted something smaller to take non-artsy photos with. After hauling my 14 lb Sony Mavica with 14x optical zoom all over France and Italy, I needed to downsize. My neck thanks me. The smaller camera became indespensable when I started blogging and selling items on eBay.

Last night I spent some time researching point and shoot cameras. I got some ideas from ebay, but didn't want to wait for auctions or pay their "Buy it now" prices. I remembered how happy Twisted Sister was with her HP so I started looking them. It wasn't long before I found out that HP pulled out of the camera market and all the cameras shown on ebay were discontinued items. hmm, I was not sure how I felt about that and it was too late to put in a call to Houston to find out more. I meant to my sister, not the company. :)

So then I started the rounds of the retail market to see what was current and under $50. Hey, doesn't hurt to dream! I was surprised there was a lot of possible choices! My 2 favorites are called Beans. They look like carabiners that you click onto your backpack and come in fun colors. The small one, called the Bean Sprout, is only $15 at Target and the full size Bean is just under $50 and comes in a 3 and 5 MP. I love the portibility and style, they are just a fun idea! However, the Sprout has no LCD screen and no options. There are also no reviews that I could find online. And I am not familiar with the company...so reluctantly I moved on.

I went to circuitcity, target, walmart, bestbuy looking for deals. At walmart.com I found my answer. As part of a special buy, they had listed a camera that has a retail of almost $300 for $66.00 with $3.00 shipping. I love a deal! But is it really a deal? It was still a little more than I wanted to spend, and maybe more than I needed. Back to Google for more research.

I found a surprising source with Flickr.com. Flickr keeps track of camera information that is part of the image files you upload to their site. A little scary, but in this case, handy for me. It includes how many people are using the camera, ranks the popularity of it, tells you what they are using it for (night, action, portraits, etc), and then you can see examples of pictures taken with that camera in those catagories. This was valuable info for me. These images were spectacular in all but one catagory...night. My other camera sucked with night pictures also. I have come to believe that it shouldn't even be an option on point and shoot cameras. They just can't handle it well enough to be worth the effort.

Anyway, the short story is: I bought a camera last night. I bought a Sanyo Xacti VPC-T700 7.0MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom. A mouthful, I know. The reviews on it are mixed, but I chose it for several reasons - The PROS: Great price for 7MP, small, simple, large LCD, has movie with sound capablity and uses same memory cards I have now. It will work well for ebay and blog use, i.e., daily use. The CONS: no viewfinder - I like this option for bright light conditions (hello!, the beach), but I think the larger LCD will help. Different battery type than I own now, and less than rock solid reviews. I will be hanging onto the receipt as one gloomy reviewer recommended. :)

So now I am off to the bank to deposit the camera money. I am going to head to Houghton Lake to the bookstore and hit Walmart.

On another note. I am getting back into the personal finance mode. One of my PF blogs talked about a "No Spending Month" in order to save money for Christmas. I am interested in this exercise and think I can handle it for a month. I even wonder if it will make a difference. I have slipped recently, but this is pretty standard operating procedure for me. Some were doing it for longer, for different goals. I need to build up my Emergency Fund again after being laid off, so I am thinking of doing it for 2 months. I will post my progress here to keep me honest. Anyone else want to give it a try? I will look for some kind of goal tracking widget for my blog...but I need a specific goal...hmmm, I will have to figure out an attainable goal.

Any ideas or suggestions? You can post anonymously!

It's Thursday, Watch Survivor

I stayed home again today. Slept a lot and I will be able to sleep in again tomorrow before going to the college, so I am thinking I will be fine by then. This morning the headache was excruciating, and sore neck and shoulder

I did some baking and cleaning, but not much cleaning. Just cleaned up the kitchen mess I made, really. It was another beautiful sunny fall day today. If it is this nice this weekend, I would love to find a apple orchard or cider mill and get some more honey crisps. Kristi gave me some Honey crisps a few weeks ago and dang they were good! I am not usually big on apples, but granny's and honey crisps are my favorites and those were tasty.

I can't do the cider and donuts thing, but I do enjoy the drive and the experience regardless. I need some more dried fruit for my granola too. I am low on papaya and I used the last of my apricots in the mix I made today. I have been thinking about a food dehydrator, then I could make some of my own. I bought the papaya in Mio at the Amish market and that is a loooong drive for papaya. So far this year, I have not had a excuse to go to the schools up that way.

Twisted sister...you are definitely not the last one to get picked in gym class. LOL Get yourself a Facebook account and find me, I am on my way there now. :)

Where are you, girl?

I have no excuse other than the weather has been nice, the yarn is calling me, and I miss my digital camera! Really! I have seen a fox and a quail and was unable to capture the moment! I have only caught sight of both critters twice in my life! And I couldn't share it with all of you. The fall colors are spectactular and I can't post any photos! My dad suggested I send it back to the manufacturer to see if they could repair it and I am going to look into that soon.

I know why Sooz and Cassandra have not been updating their blogs!Maybe Anne too? Facebook! Sooz talked me into signing up also and I have found a few familiar faces there. Don't ask me to explain how it works, it is still a mystery to me, however, I can tell you that it is extremely social. So far, I mean that in a good way.

LC Guy contacted me about a week ago and we are going to try dating again, slowly and with no strings attached. I have been asked several times how I feel about this and I say, "Sure, why not date someone that has the ability to make you feel like a million, well-cared-about bucks?" I would not want to miss out on that. :) In this ecconomy, that is a good return. And I am not referring to wall street, just relationships. The dating pool is shallow "Up North" and the winters are long. I have updated my profiles on Yahoo and Match and put my neck out there to see what happens.

My web page class is going great. The girls are great. I have 8 girls and no boys. This will be interesting, maybe they will concentrate better? Anyway, I am trying something new this year and it seems to be working so far. I am walking them through the first assignment, not once, but twice. The second week we had 3 new students so some went through it once and some twice, the second time I added a lot more so the first week's students benefited from the repetition and the new stuff. I like the approach and they don't look afraid and overwhelmed! I hate that look on a student! :)

Last weekend I concentrated on spinning with my spindle and braiding for a rug. It was so nice on Saturday and Sunday, I did it all out on the deck.

So the short story is: I am doing good, dreading winter bills but working to build up my savings and avoid tempting purchases.

Well, this is short, I know, but it had been so long since I had written, I was starting to dread trying to "catch up" with everything.

Tuesday at the needles

More than 1/2 our work force in the administrative office were out sick yesterday. Some flu or cold thing going around. I have (knock on wood) escaped it so far. But I had a quiet and productive day yesterday. :)

Knit night was fun and we had a full group! And ambitious! One girl is knitting a bag with a siloette of Jimmy Stewart on it. She printed and blew up the image and traced it on special knitting graph paper. It is so cool! Another lady is doing a suduko afghan, using colors. 9 blocks of 9 colors that don't line up. Yikes! Too much thought involved for me. I am having trouble with socks, snakes, and hats. I can't do anything requiring too much thought at work or in the knit group. Well, I can, but I have to rip it out within 1/2 hour.

Sadie and I walked again on Sunday. It was beautiful. The leaves are turning colors and falling and the sun was shining brightly. I was feeling dizzy and nauseous afterwards so went home and laid down. I got to thinking it might be my back. So, first thing Monday I called the chiropractor and that seems to have helped with my headache and dizziness.

Well, back to my knitting...Christmas is coming. Gosh, I pressure myself enough, don't I? :) Cripe, I have an economy in the pits to do that for me already!

Much better

Yes, I am feeling much better today. A restful weekend definitely helped.

Yesterday, Sadie and I made new friends. When we went for a walk we ran into a gentleman and his 2 standard poodles. We had a nice 30-40 minute walk and the dogs hit it off right away.

I started a new knitting project. That makes about 8 in progress now. This is the only one going smoothly! It is strictly knitting 19 stitches back and forth, so it is kinda hard to mess up at this point.

I didn't mention this before, but last week I had an interesting puzzle. For 3 out of 5 mornings, I woke up with the ceiling fan on. I did not turn it on before I went to bed because it is too cold now. So why would I turn it on in the middle of the night? And why don't I remember? I hope it is because I was overly tired last week and hopefully that puzzle will not reoccur.

It was in the mid 30s when I woke up at 9:30 this morning. However, it is a sunny, beautiful day and Sadie is looking at me as if to say, "come on, ma". So we are off to take a walk on the hill. We can not go to Marl Lake, they allow bow hunting so we stay away from there this time of year. Maybe we will take a ride too....but I haven't done any of my chores! Oh, well. LOL

Friday of a LONNNNGGG week.

This week has been a wash. I have been tired and achy all week. I may have overdone it last weekend and maybe I am having a fibromyalgia flareup. After class today, I came home and went to bed for 3 hours. I feel better, but still tired.

Fortunately, I have no plans for the weekend and can rest. I do have a list of little chores to do around the house, but I will see what my energy level is tomorrow.

All my knitting projects are falling apart again. The knitting mojo is lost again. I mess up everything I touch. Then have to rip it out. I have one project that I have ripped out 4 times. I tried to start a new project last night and had to rip it off the needles as soon as I put it on. *sigh* Today I made an attempt to go to Gaylord for sock help, but by the time I had gassed up and was ready to depart, it was 3pm and I still had a 30-40 minute drive to a workshop that ended at 4pm. I had a pounding headache and thought sleep was a wiser investment. :)

At least my spinning is still going well. Maybe I will stick with that this weekend. Perhaps I just need a knit break. Ever since the NML&W Festival, I only want to spin or braid. I have completed a couple braids for the 2' x 3' rug I am working on.

Gotta run, my nap has me off schedule and Sadie is trying to tell me she is hungry. It is 7:15 and I usually feed her around 5:30-6pm. My bad!