More short updates

Christmas Day - Cari is coaching me. "Lean forward...more, more"

8 pounds of wool on my living room floor. Took all day to sort it, soak, and wash twice. Then soak it overnight again. The cats and Sadie loved it's pungent aroma. Wed, 12/30

Cross-stitch of Higgins Lake. My eyesight is getting to poor for counted cross stitch. A friend, we'll call her, JJ, took it home and had it all done, even the background, in less than 3 weeks! It turned out awesome JJ! Thank you. Now I am going to make a pillow to frame it.

My new Eden Pure - arrived yesterday. I plugged it in at 5pm and it has been running non-stop. I have moved it a few times and I am working on dialing down the temperature, using it in conjunction with a fan, and pointing it in various directions.

I am seeing someone new. Our "first date", Christmas Eve, was 1 hour with the dogs and snowboard (him, not me) on the local hill, and several more hours of talking after that. Now we text and talk several times a day, unless he's working. Nothing serious yet, but I am sure enjoying getting to know him. :)

Short update with photos

Oh things are great now. Physically, emotionally, and mentally.

I am caught up on my sleep, my vitamins, my bills, and Christmas is over. I have a new 'tude. Here are some photos, but I am going to be short on my narrative this time. I want to continue my R and R for now.

Still Struggling

The car is good again. The little bumper car was really a trooper in the snow. But I was still thrilled to have my Equinox back. Turned out it was my rear windshield wiper motor draining the battery. For the past year (last winter too), it would get stuck in the middle. I would shut it off in the car, but the motor would still try to pull it back down into the parked position. In the summer it didn't seem to be an issue, but in the winter, it would drain the battery. Motor is replaced so hopefully, it will not happen again.

Work at the college has reached an all time low. Or a "high" actually, high anxiety. I am not comfortable with the situation...understatement. Also, toned down. Besides losing my mind, I am also concerned that the stress will cause a major flare.

On the bright side, I went out to see LC Guy on Wednesday. A short visit, but I was able to feed the sheep and goats. I spent a little time talking to the pygmy goats - adorable. They are not much bigger than my cat, Mister. We evaluated the fleece on his new ewe, it is long and soft, but getting matted on the ends. He wanted to know if I wanted to wait until spring, letting it get longer. We decided to shear her when he does the others this week. It was getting dark and I was not able to take photos this visit. However, I dug out this photo from October of her (I think! lol). It seems much longer now. To her knees, if I remember right. Hard to tell exactly how long it was with her set back on her bum while he held her and I reached through the fence to bury my hands in her fleece.

He had sheared some lambs earlier in the week and had set aside 31.5 lbs of wool for me. One, a young ram, was pure black. I have washed most of the 3.5 lbs of that and it is really different. Some is long, straight and coarse, I used my new combs to play with it. It is about 6" long. The rest of it is soft, tender, and straight. I am wondering how it will spin up. Obviously, I am not very experienced, and a bit tentative. :) I have to work on getting the drum carder repaired so I can card all this fleece. The wool is backing up!

I managed to get to bed early on Friday take a nap on Saturday after work, and then to bed early again on Saturday night. I awoke 7am Sunday, began thinking about going to work the next day and that was it! I finally got up and started cleaning house. I can't believe how much I got done! Six loads of laundry, steam vacuumed the carpet and kitchen (twice). I even had time and energy to get out the jigsaw and attack the counter-top oven enclosure! All before 2pm. Last week, I asked DDG, a friend and loyal reader, to take the oven to the curb for me and he agreed. How exciting to finally be making some progress on this eyesore! I mean the oven, not him! :) When I was done, I had to redo the floor and vacuum and wash the counters!

Oh yeah, I ordered an EdenPure at 8:30am this morning too. Not sure where that impulse buy came from. There is a good argument for sleeping in! But I can return it after 60 days, and it is in 4 installments. So if it doesn't fix my drafty living room situation, I can return it. I promised myself that I wouldn't skimp on the heat this winter. I had a hard time last winter with my fibro pain and I don't want to repeat it. Everyone I know who has one, swears by them - if used properly.

I managed to get outside a little this week and walk. Sadie was going bonkers and I had to get her out and run off some steam. I am thinking I will see if I can rent some of those new snow shoes from X-country Ski Hqtrs and see if I like them. I might walk more in the winter if I do.

Image via Wikipedia

Still no nibbles on Match.com. Could be the time of year, could be I am not being proactive enough. I will re-evaluate after Christmas.

The weekend went by like a blur

Saturday morning the battery was dead again in my car. After the same guy came and charged it, I headed straight to Walmart for a new battery. I never had to buy a new battery, that I can recall, in my Saturn, Horizon, or the Lumina! I had the Saturn 10 years. I know I sound old when I say, "They don't make them like they used to". The guy that jumped my car two days in a row agreed, but he gets $50 a service call. I am glad I have roadside assistance! But, if they put a decent battery in their cars, think of the money they would have saved...No wonder GM is having money trouble.

Then I stopped at the bookstore, and then my friend Erin came in and it turned into a small social gathering. The owner has a new kitten and I spent a lot of time playing with him. She showed me a picture of him in a book and while he was sitting in my lap he kept batting at the kitten's tail in the book! I grabbed my camera and he started batting at the cord on the camera. I was laughing so hard someone else had to take the photo.

I had to lay down for a hour when I got home, but I woke up hungry. The knitting group was meeting at the church to sew, so I threw my pizza and my dog into the car and we cooked the pizza at the church. We hung out until about 9:30 and headed home after a pleasant, if non-productive (sewing-wise) evening.

Today, I did some laundry, sewing, and wrapped Christmas presents. Even packed them in a box and they are about ready to ship to TX! Wow, for me this is major! It will be there before Christmas! Hm, suppose I should not count chickens before they leave the coop, eh?

Busy day

What a busy day today.

My car wouldn't start this morning, so I had to call roadside assistance, LOVE them! I got to work 1.5 hours late, no problem there. But the day flew by. At 11:30 I headed to my weekly teaching gig. Spent a delightful 2.5 hours with my students. This year I have another great group, I know, I say that every year. But this group? Crazy!

Last week, I had them write three short articles of their choice for today's class and they did research to write them! They are prepared to cite their sources. I can't wait to read about superstitions, historical Mongolian warriors, and the game of monopoly. They are a totally different group than the "usual" teens. They are all dorks like me! They had me in such a great mood I reduced their homework by one assignment and made it extra credit instead!

After I let them out, I headed to my hill job to get in a couple hours of work. I took Sadie with me. She has been cooped up in the house for 4 solid days and she ran off some steam in the snow, before I took her into the office. She was still wound up and ran around visiting everyone instead of sticking to me like glue. Everyone was surprised, especially me. I was worried about creating a disturbance, but my boss said she was fine, leave her be.

After that, we drove over to Tractor Supply where I bought all Jordan and Traci's Christmas presents. Just seeing if you were paying attention. Actually, I was out of dog food and the knitting group said TS had some hi-protein dog foods to chose from. Sadie was in smelly nose heaven and once in awhile, a lady would squeeze a sqeaky toy and she would shoot to attention and freeze. I think that lady was messing with her, big time. I found a 40 lb bag of 26% protein food for $10. It was reduced because there was a tear in it and they had taped it up. I could hardly lift it, but we got it home and Sadie ate some from her bowl immediately. She rarely does that. I thought I had a ball of energy before? That's okay, I would rather she gets her energy from protein than carbs and fillers.

As I write this, she is curled up in her chair, sleeping peacefully. Yep, a busy day, for both of us.

I took today's photos through the car windows on the way to work this morning. I haven't been able to take any photos to or from the college since the time change. Not enough light! Today was bitter cold, about 10 degrees, but the wind! It was painfully cold!

A snow day!

We were dumped on overnight. I was hearing thunder this morning. I LOVE thundersnow! It almost guarantees a day off. lol

One minor incident of note. My neighbor's plow guy decided to plow his snow into my driveway.

Despite being told otherwise, the plow guy insisted that "Up North" people are not around in the winter. Apparently, that's why he thought he could move up here this winter, make tons of money plowing, and snowmobile to his heart's content. I took several photos of his work in case it was necessary to play hardball, but he returned and moved it - up against the utility pole and into my neighbor's yard.

Yes, I am rolling my eyes.

My neighbor is actively looking for a new plow guy.

Sore Snowy Sunday

It's a couch day. I ache all over. I woke up feeling horrible. I am reasonably sure it is fibro pain, but I am also not thinking clearly, so who knows.

My friend, and at one-time roommate, Jennifer came to visit this weekend. I had asked her to come up sometime "before the snow flies" but she missed it by about 2 days. That's okay, after last winter, this has been a late winter, so I am happier for that gift from Ma Nature. Saturday, after I worked, we went to Christmas in the Village. The book fair was not what we expected, but I was pleasantly surprised by the craft fair. I was able to pick up lots of stocking stuffers and even a gift for $20.

Image via Wikipedia

I know how much love, work, and thought go into crafting. I made sure I talked to the artist or crafts-person about their work, acknowledged their work and creativity, and basically tried to show my appreciation for what they were doing, even if I couldn't show them with money. I try to do this at the fiber fairs too. Personally, if I try to turn a hobby I love into a money making venture, I end up hating the hobby. It isn't fun if it "on demand" rather than something you do to relax.

Image via Wikipedia

Backtracking a little to Friday evening. I got a phone call from my cousin in Houston. When she was visiting last summer, we found that we shared a mutual love for Jim Cantore (click here for his bio), the storm tracker for the Weather Channel.

Jim Cantore live in Galveston
Originally uploaded by GalvTravelGirl

She was wound up because our man was in Houston, reporting on their snowfall. She was trying to figure out where he was reporting from, staying, etc. We kidded around about being groupies and getting autographs from him. I promised to watch the Weather Channel for the information and would let her know if I found out. Jennifer and I spent the rest of the evening catching up while viewing the the Weather Channel with the volume turned all the way down. The snow was everywhere! Lots of southern states were getting hammered. Jim was periodically checking the road surface temperature to watch for icing in Houston.

Image via Wikipedia

I love the severe weather stuff. Because of this, I've been told I am an adrenaline junkie for the severe weather. Deadliest Catch, Tornado Road, Storm Stories, Stormchasers (my current fav), When Weather Changed History, and I monitor all the news stations during hurricane season. I want you to know though, I don't like severe weather to occur anywhere NEAR me! My adrenaline rush is limited to the television and internet.

Nuff for now, as I mentioned, I'm sore all over and that includes my fingers - usually my feet and hands are worse then the rest of me.

New Doc, New Hope and Improved Attitude

I worked a very long day today, but I have a new hope and energy.

I had my first visit with my new doctor today. We are going to reduce the amount of medication I am taking. She feels I was over medicated and she cut my dosage in half on one, and cut my frequency from twice a day to once on two. She also wants me to decrease my coffee intake, but I forgive her for that. :)

Hopefully, this will reduce my anxiety and increase my energy. She is going to run the whole gamut of lab tests too. Special attention to sugar and hormones. I have been waking up a few hours after going to bed with (what I thought) low sugar shakes. I get sick, shaky, and cold. It used to be only once in awhile, but now its weekly. I usually eat something - ice cream, or a protein bar or some milk and it will reside.

She wants me to walk more often - 5 times a week. With winter coming, I think this may not happen right away. But at 4:30, I went home and got Sadie and we went for a walk. When we arrived, the sun was setting and I tried to find my camera without success. Missed photo opportunity! Sorry. But on the way back there was a beautiful moon rise. I ran into the office and grabbed the Rebel to snap some photos. Its frustrating being a photographer and not having a camera when beauty is all around you!

But then it was back to work until about 7pm. Then we piled back in the car and I drove back up the Grayling to go to Wendys. A special treat. I shared a little with Sadie, but I ate the whole double! I have been so hungry lately. Like a bear getting ready to hibernate. I was a bit concerned and even weighed myself to keep an eye on it. Guess what? I have lost weight! I love it! I have become the type of person I used to envy. I patted myself on the back, smiled, and enjoyed my day.

Top photo may too sharpened, but I was trying to bring out the limbs in the foreground, and lost the shape of the moon. I was more conservative on the middle photo. The bottom photo I converted to black and white and played with the contrast.

10:30pm and its been a long productive day. *yawn* I better get, good night, gentle readers.

aah, that's better

Amazing what a good night's sleep will do for you.

Yeah, much better.

The bathroom is on hold. I got a couple more down next to the tub. I have one plank left and I think need a couple more. I didn't waste any of it, it is just my luck. So, I will take some time to do some figuring and if I have to, I will run to HD again this weekend to grab a new box. Anyone have any ideas for the leftovers? Hm, maybe a closet?

The new jigsaw works like a charm. I was a bit tentative with it at first, but before long I gained enough confidence to try and stop the blade with my finger. No worries, it is a very small cut. lol

Thanks for the extension on the use of the Steamvac, Erin! Much appreciated. I love this thing. It's almost as easy as using a vacuum.

Skip this one, its for me only.

Roller coaster - stop, I want off.

I am trying to figure out the emotional roller coaster I am riding. It is physical too. I feel pretty damn low today.

Why?
Good question.

I must have overdone it yesterday physically. I was in pain and refused to take anything to help me sleep. I sometimes take an antihistamine but I don't feel real rested in the morning. I usually take them only on Sundays. Yeah, for the first time in years, I am suffering from that "dreading going to work on Monday" thing. If you go back a couple months in my blog entries, the reason is there.

Anyway, I didn't sleep well and today I am not happy. A lack of sleep screws me up. I have been crying and in pain. I have the heating pad on high on my left calf. There is a knot of pain there that makes no sense. After about 2 hours, it is starting to ease.

My hope for this 4 day weekend was to rest. Instead, I stayed up late, slept in late, Screwed up my medicine and eating schedule. Then overdid it trying to finish my bathroom floor and shampoo all my carpets. Neither is done.

So maybe its Sunday, I didn't get much accomplished and I am mad at myself? When will I ever figure out my limitations?

Look Mom! Mud puddles in the snow!

Sadie and her new handsome friend hit it off as soon as they met. They both have a need for speed! And like to get dirty. They ran through every puddle they could find on our short walk.

Yep, we got our first snow on Thanksgiving Day. I am glad it took its time coming. With all the snow melting it made it muddy going out to the hunting camp, but the thin blanket of snow made the landscape clean and pretty - when you weren't watching where you were walking.


Sadie's new buddy is Dakota, a very spunky American Eskimo dog. We had to keep an eye on him around the turkey. He didn't walk, he pranced and he walks on his back legs a lot. He is adorable and loves to cuddle.

I finally got my hands on a jigsaw! I braved Home Depot on Black Friday but I had nothing to worry about. I am happy with the purchase while it remains in the box. I will pull it out tomorrow. But only after I prepare my Thanksgiving leftover Shepard's Pie. Now I know how I will feel after I finish and I want a good, easy meal at the end of the day.

I also need to do some online research about making the cuts I need to make around the curves and corners in the bathroom. I need some ideas for template creation. I only have 4 planks left and every cut counts. I will be bummed if I have to run back to HD to buy another whole box just to cover a few inches of floor! Eventually, I will want to do the kitchen, but I'm not ready yet, nor do I know if I want the same pattern for that floor.

DIY with a short attention span

I started the morning steam cleaning my carpet, and ended up half way through a bathroom makeover.
I love this steam cleaner! I have been calling around to all the Kmarts hoping to find one and put it on layaway, but so far none have one in store. Fortunately, my friend, Erin, has one and allowed me to borrow it. It cleans like a dream and it is so easy to use. I must have one now! The damn cat, Lucky, may actually survive the winter if I can get my hands on one.

I bought new flooring for the bathroom yesterday. I was going to do this over Thanksgiving's four day weekend, but I couldn't wait. I hate my bathroom floor! So I started the floor this afternoon, after all, how hard could it be?

Well, I am one sore girl! Mostly my knees and hands. The rest will have to be done a little at a time during the week or I will finish it next weekend.

The tile is hard for me to cut with my utility knife. I may need to investigate a better way of cutting the laminate-like flooring tiles. They are floppy, but thicker than I thought they would be. Other than being sore, I am enjoying this project. The name of this tile design is "blonde maple".

Moulding for the bath, then texturing and painting the walls are the follow up projects. I hope I survive my sudden motivation to "do it yourself" (DIY) home improvement. I should just stick to knitting!

Oh, a major breakthrough last night. I finished knitting 2 socks at a time using the magic loop method. I had sworn (and cussed) off socks forever after the last pair I tried about a year ago. But I am re-thinking it after learning the magic loop. The socks I finished last night were the small "test" socks the book walks you through to learn the method. Now I want to make a regular size pair for myself!

The book is a library loan, so I will have to add this book to my wish list. If anyone is curious, the book is "2-at-a-time Socks" by Melissa Morgan-Oaks. Most sock knitters will recognize the title. There is even a group on Ravelry dedicated to the book. There is help for people learning the technique or adapting patterns to this method. They are knitting all the socks in the book right now. I'm a member, but just lurking right now. I will jump in with questions if I need too.

Mail box answer

Image via Wikipedia

I got an answer on the mailboxes from my most loyal reader...no, it's not my mother. lol

"You haven't heard the big campaign? It's been on the radio, and there've been inserts in the Herald and the Resorter. You're supposed to go out and "shake your mailbox" and see if it's winter-ready; if not, you're supposed to somehow fix it. I'm assuming that's why so many people have guards up? They shook their mailboxes, and figured out they weren't stable? Just a guess..."

I think that is a very likely reason! My answer was something along the line of "well, at least I'm observant, since I am not in touch with my community!"

I did try to take some photos on the way home, but the light wasn't good. Tomorrow will be sunny and I will make it a point to take some photos. So if you see some photos of mailboxes in the next few posts, you will know why.

Sadie, we are on a mission!

First taste of winter this morning

It was a exciting ride to work this morning! I thought it was black ice, but the news just said it was actually frost on the roads. I passed a SUV on it's roof out by Jack's - it was in the trees a good 50' from the ditch. Scary! Thankfully, it appeared that everyone was okay. The cars in front of me slowed down 15 miles per hour, and I was content to follow suit.

Another thing I have been noticing...many people are reinforcing their mailboxes for the winter. It is kinda funny. I know the snow plows are hard on them, but for some reason, this year everyone is building barriers in front of them. I don't know if it was recommended by the road commission or the post office. Some are pretty elaborate. They use tongue and grove paneling, decorative numbers, reflectors and the golf course has sand bags on theirs...probably a temporary edition!

I think I will make it a point to photograph some of them so you can see what I mean.

In the meantime, does anyone know if there was something I missed on this development? Or is it for the county roads? Main roads?

Tuesday Short

No photos today. It is still dark when I leave on Tuesdays and it is only 2 miles. But, major news on the ghost kitty! I opened my back door this evening and stepped out and was startled by ghost kitty less than 3 feet away! Well, she was startled too. GK stopped at the end of the deck with a hunched back and some hissing noises. But she stopped. And I froze and talked to her until her back relaxed. I walked to the other end of the carport and back and she hadn't moved. I didn't push it and just came inside.

I am really enjoying a show a friend just told me about...SuperFetch. Positive dog training. A few more episodes and I may be teaching Sadie to start my coffee in the morning! Thanks for the heads up on the show, E!

I have to get to work on my mystery knitting. I still have NO idea what it is...
It is a tube and you can't wear it...

The mystery KAL is taking place in the knitting community area of the Knit Picks website.
http://community.knitpicks.com/group/colorworkkal

Wow, I bounced back famously. No pain today.

Ghost kitty was lurking when I came home from work. I snapped a couple shots before zipping off to knitting.


My knitting group is preparing for a knitting olympics. The idea is to select something to knit for yourself from your wishlist. Most of us are choosing sweaters. Then we cast on during the opening ceremonies, we knit like mad women for 2 weeks, and finish it by the closing ceremony.

Short post

Having a real bad pain day today. Yesterday was bad, but I managed to function and wear out Sadie on our walk. Today I am unable to move off the couch. I have no idea what brought on this flare. It has been months since I have had one this bad. I am worried about going to work tomorrow.

In the meantime, please enjoy my artsie-fartsy moss and lichen photos. I was playing with the macro setting on the camera. Some of them almost look like underwater photos of a coral reef. I know lichen isn't that interesting, so I keep the number down to three...and the token photo of my girl, of course.

Thursday & Sunshine Continues

The morning was cold and misty. I made sure my camera was handy as I backed out of the driveway. The sun was trying to burn through the heavy fog, but I didn't have a good photo opportunity until I arrived at work. Could be that I was paying attention to my driving - I was afraid of black ice. No problems with either until I got to work. My shoes were slipping on the sidewalks as I walked in.

I saw the ghost kitty yesterday morning and today it was sitting in the middle of my brush pile when I got home from work. I hurriedly snapped a photo from the carport. It looks like one of those grainy photos you see of the Loch Ness Monster or Sasquatch in The Enquirer. Kinda funny.

After the photo, I repaired Sadie's zip line for the second time in a week. She pulled it out of the house this morning chasing something in the mist. Probably ghost kitty. I was in my bedroom and heard a big "pop". I knew immediately what it was. The first time she bent the hook straight, this time it popped right out of the side of the house. I may never find it in the leaves. That's why I bought two last week!

I did some minor chores and promised myself I could spin when I was done. I sat down with my familiar neppy wool that was the first fiber I prepped from fleece. It was wonderful to sit and zone out and not think about it too much. No technique to practice, no tension to worry about, just spin and grin. :) Yep, the good vibes continue in my daily life. No, nothing spectacular, just an overall cheerful feeling. The only downer is headaches, congestion and a small flare - mainly my hands. But I am still smiling!

Just wanted to share my photos. I adjusted the levels in Photoshop and cropped part of the first photo out so you could see the light reflecting of the small frosty branches. The campus is really beautiful and full of photo opportunities. I would love to see someone encourage photography with a contest or even an informal show and tell on their new Facebook page. Hm, maybe I should post one and get the ball rolling? I will have to think about it.

Monday, Tuesday, and an Anniversary!

"Hands on Sadie"

Here's a photo of Sadie and two of her faithful fans. She is sitting between them on a loveseat and they're both petting her at the same time. She's a happy girl. I photoshopped her eyes because they were red-eyed, but not sure its an improvement.

Also, I'm including my artsy-fartsy photo of the day. An old truck I saw on our walk today.

Since Friday, I have been sleeping so well! A few stresses in my life have suddenly disappeared, temporarily, and I think my body and mind are slowly dialing down.

I have been falling asleep on the couch in the evening and sleeping very well during the night and it feels great! I feel much better - freer and happier. I tire out fast, by 2pm, I am ready for a nap, but I am thinking of it as my body healing itself.



For the first time in a long time I am feeling optimistic. Not that I was pessimistic in the first place, more like in limbo or waiting. Those feelings are melting away a little more every day.

Tomorrow is my six year anniversary of my new life as a thinner, healthier person! And it truly is a new life for me. I am so glad I did it for myself. No regrets.

Knitter's Sewing Day

Great time with the girls. I was able to finish a project, with minimal ripping out.