Finally Got That Chicken Soup Made!

The soup I planned to make on Monday.  When Bill decided that he was up to Chinese food so we went out for dinner instead.  Bill's still sick, by the way.  But he's following the same pattern I did, it lasts several days and there are times when he feels really good but then suddenly crashes.  Today was one of those crash days, he was off yesterday and Tuesday but today he went in to work.  I think he made it until about 10:00 before he gave up, I happened to be talking to Otter on the phone (she was home) when he came in the door.  I could hear him coughing from the second he came in the door until we got off the phone.  I think the Chicken Noodle Soup helped him, it at least helped Otter!  She wasn't sick, just starved.  (She had two bowls.)  I told her that she is forbidden to get sick.  Hope she listens.

We're back to the standard bi-polar weather for Oklahoma.  Yesterday it poured.  It actually started on Monday, although it wasn't supposed to.  Monday had off & on showers.  Tuesday had what we referred to as Gully Washers in the TEXAN language.  Of course, it would quit or almost quit raining until I had to go outside.  Then, the skies would open up!  Today was in the 30's.  It never got quite to freezing last night, which was good because there was a lot of water on the streets due to all the rain.  But it was still pretty cold today, and windy.  The kind of wind where you need an anchor!  But it was sunny and looked warm.  It wasn't.

I haven't crocheted at all this week.  I was having some tendonitis issues so I've been avoiding it.  Not bad, but just enough that I know it's there and don't want to aggravate it.  Yesterday, one of the times I got soaked was when I was running from the door of the grocery store (on my lunch hour) to my car and I was carrying two very full, heavy bags.  Then I had to carry them inside the office and to the fridge.  The third time was carrying them to the car from the office when I left, of course it started raining again the second I put my foot outside.  The 4th time was from the car to the fridge at home - and the rain quit while I was on the way home but started up again as soon as I got out of the car.  Anyway, the point is that I might not have crocheted all week, but my right arm was in agonizing pain last night.  And it was all from carrying a bag with orange juice and soy with my right arm, but the load on my left arm was probably about the same.  But my right arm is the one that hurt.  I took two extra-strength motrin last night and slept with my arm propped up on a pillow.

I also slept on the couch, because Billyboy was probably louder than a train would have been.  I didn't want to keep waking him, or making him roll over in a vain attempt to quiet him down so I just moved my pillows and a blanket to the couch.  I also carried the humidifier into the living room, which didn't help my arm.  The humidifier is a small, standard size one.  It helps me breathe, it's not like Monday's humidity or when I'm in a humidity-controlled area.  But it was still a little heavy to carry.  I'm not sure about tonight's sleeping arrangements, the couch is not the most comfortable place to sleep but Bill's still pretty stuff.  Frasier was happy I was in there last night, Bill spent a couple of nights in there himself because he was able to prop up better and breathe easier so Frasier's had plenty of company.  Last night, the dog just came over to check on me once and then he spent at least part of the night snoozing beside the couch.  I'm thinking that we'll probably give the dog a tranquilizer the first and maybe second night that nobody is sleeping in the living room.  He's been much better, but nobody wants to go through that again!

Monday Musings

If Maggie was posting this, it would be called Monday Moosings!  But she's off somewhere in the living room, probably snoozing now that she and Frasier have finished their game of Chase/Dog War.

It's Bill's turn to be sick.  He wasn't feeling the best yesterday when we got up, so we skipped church and then he stayed home and hibernated all day.  But I think he actually started to come down with "it" on Saturday, he was sneezy all day.  Yes, I do mean flu when I say "it"!  He felt feverishly warm last night, not that he would let me take his temperature.  He was pretty congested so he decided to sleep on the couch so that I could at least get some sleep.  This morning, he said he was achy but that it was only from the position he slept in - however, I don't quite think that's the reason.  Heavy denial going on!  He had already taken today and tomorrow off - of course, he only/always gets sick when he's on vacation!  He also had Dr. Otter to take care of him today, she said that he was pretty quiet most of the day.  He worked on pachinko projects, fortunately he had a few things to do that he could sit on the couch for.

It's been long enough that I can say without doubt that he did not get it from me.  But he was talking Thursday or Friday about how so many people he works with are sick and most of them seem to have the flu.

But he's feeling a little better this evening.  Yesterday, we talked about Chinese food but never quite got there.  Then when Bill was sick this morning, I told him that I'd get chicken noodle soop fixins** for tonight but he forgot about that completely by the time I got home, and said he wanted that Chinese we'd been discussing.  So, off we went!  We saw a friend of ours that we haven't seen in months while we were at the restaurant, which was a nice surprise.  After we ate (too much!), we came back home and Bill is back to the couch with his pachinko tools in hand.  I do think he has a touch of the flu, but he won't go to the doctor for anything.  (I did try.)

Otter's plugging away at looking for a job.  She's put in a lot of applications and is still searching out places to apply.  She did have one interview at Radio Shack, but it's been several days and she hasn't heard back so she probably can safely assume that she didn't get that job.  She'll find one eventually, there are jobs out there but there are also a lot of people looking for work so it may take a while.  We aren't worried, although I think she might be feeling a little anxious.  She is keeping in touch with the friends she made at college, she is in contact (text, talk, visit, etc.) with most of the bunch.  She realized a few days ago that her 21st birthday is on Easter Sunday.

It was warm today.  65 degrees at 6:00 a.m.!  It got into the 70's later in the day.  It was rainy off & on yesterday, which means that today was H.U.M.I.D.!  Really miserable, when I left for work this morning it was awful.  Humidity and my asthmatic lungs do not play well together and today was no exception.  We actually had the air conditioner turned on at work because it was so ickysticky.  Of course, we were cold.  But at least everybody could breathe!

Also, I'm still a little itchy from the acai experience yesterday.  Which means that it's actually a very severe allergy.  Wish I could take antihistimines, but they do not work for me.  But it's just about gone now.

OK Froggy. I Blogged. Are You Happy Now?

(Sorry Froggy!  Couldn't resist.)  (Ducking for cover now.)

I originally was going to title this "Sunday Discoveries" but I've already used that title before.  Also, I'm kind of getting away from just a "Sunday" post and just posting whatever whenever.  But I did make a discovery today and it is Sunday, so I probably could have re-used that title.

But I like the one I used better!!! :)

Anyway.  My discovery today.  It's a new allergy.  Or, more correctly, it's one I didn't know I have because I've never been exposed to the allergen until today.  Acai berry.  Otter and I went to the mall for a little while and we stopped at Teavana.  Which might be a required stop, at least if you ask Otter.  We like to sample the different teas they have and they are usually good.  The people that work there are more than willing to go read the labels if I ask about specific ingredients and they don't know, usually lavender is the big one that I'm liable** to come across there.  Kiwi is one of my other big triggers, but it's not in too many things that Teavana would have.  I tried a new tea sample today and it was very good.  She read me the list of ingredients prior to tasting it, and it didn't have anything I really needed to worry about.  At least, that I knew about.  The only thing it had in it that was new was Acai.  About 10 or 15 minutes later, I realized that I was itchy.  And had been for about 5 or 10 minutes.  After about 10 more minutes, I remembered the tea sample and that it had acai berry in it.  When my allergic reaction is a skin reaction, it can last an hour or several hours - depending on how much of the offending substance I've had.  I don't think that I had much at all, but it lasted about an hour and a half.  So it's a fairly strong allergy.  I did some research, and apparently the main allergic reaction is hives - which is the more correct term for the reaction I had.  It has a pattern to follow, as it works it's way through my system.  I'm mostly not itchy now, but there is still some residual itchiness.  I'm just past the point of wanting to scratch all my skin off!  Guess that's one more thing I'll need to watch for.  Acai is promoted as a superfood, but it really doesn't do anything like it's marketed to do anyway.

We also went to an estate sale while we were out but we didn't find anything.

I've been working on UFO's, which I think I've mentioned a few times.  Yesterday, I kind of finished one.  I say "kind of" because it's the scrap yarn pillow cover and I've used all the scrap pieces I have as of now.  The pillow cover isn't quite finished, but I'm out of small pieces so I have to wait until I have more to be able to actually finish it.  But I did at least cross it off my list, for the moment.  Otter, my Chief Enabler, did attempt to get me to buy more yarn in Wallyworld earlier.  It's a  beautiful variegated color, purples and greens mostly.  She tried really hard, but I resisted.  She thinks it will make a wonderful something for a relative (no, Froggy I don't mean you.  For once!  But let me know if you want something.) but until I have an actual project, I'm not going to get it.  I was in my yarn drawers yesterday and at least two of them are filled to probably beyond capacity.  But it's a spring yarn, it's new in the store and it will be there for a long while.  So if I do come up with a project, I shouldn't have any problem getting it.  But I really, really need to de-stash a little (OK, a lot) before I go buy anymore yarn.  I was thinking about Chemo Caps, but they need to be a soft yarn since they are designed to be worn by women with hair loss due to chemo.  I have quite a bit of soft yarn, but it's smaller amounts and not necessarily enough to make a cap out of any one particular color.  Except for one full skein in lavender which I will probably use for it, but the colors I have don't necessarily lend themselves to being put together.  I might see what I can do about making multi-colored hats, but I'm really not sure if any of the yarns I have will work together and it's not just because of my color match inability.

Yesterday was our 28th Wedding Anniversary.  We made pizza, which was a lot of fun and also very good.  I made a pecan pie Friday evening so we could have it yesterday - it's like molten lava when it first comes out of the oven and it stays that way for hours so I make it the night before I want to have it.

Bill's sniffly.  He's probably having allergies but he wasn't feeling too good this morning so we didn't attempt church.  We didn't go the last 2 weeks because I was sick and we didn't go today - Pastor Dave probably thinks we've gone back to TEXAS!  The trees are starting to bud out and I've seen bugs, and that is always a good indication of things blooming.  Which means allergy season is starting early - not that it ever really ended from last year.

**Liable.  In the TEXAN language, it means likely to.  Also, the "i" is just barely pronounced and the "a" is emphasized slightly and more like "ah" than "aye."

Screwed!

This is a tire:

This is a wood screw:

They don't go together.

But apparently, they think that they do!  Because I had to go back to the tire place today about the fact that the tire I had repaired last week was still losing air.  Guess what they found?  Yep, another one!

Bill is denying responsibility for the 2nd one.  He did admit that the first one "just maybe, possibly, could have been" one of his.  But he's not claiming the 2nd one.  Well, there's only one place I could have picked them up.  And it's my own driveway.

I told Bill that he owed me dinner, but that I'd also settle for a bottle of Bailey's cream liquor.  He agreed to that, which is fortunate.  Since I'd already gone and bought it! :)

The Bailey's goes in my coffee on Saturday mornings, since I'm not going anywhere then.  I don't use much, which is a good thing.  Because Bailey's is, after all, Irish Cream Whisky.  It's pretty good, actually.

We've been watching the show "Moonshiners."  It's pretty good, (there are a couple of those good old boys that it's a miracle they have survived to adulthood).  But one of the commercials is for a legal brand of Moonshine.  I saw it at the liquor store today.  I didn't buy it, but I might get some later.  It's also something that would be taken in small doses.

Otter spent the afternoon at the library.  Along with getting her weight in books to read, she's also doing research for me/us.  Bill's making a pachinko machine for me, or he will as soon as he gets the right machine.  I want a steampunk pachinko!  We've been having a lot of fun, coming up with the features and figuring out exactly what/how we are going to do.  Otter found a book today, it's mostly jewelry made to look steampunk but it's actually going to be very helpful for our project.  Pictures will be posed on the craft blog, but it's not going to be a quick one.

It was cold today.  It was in the 30's.  And windy!  The clouds almost looked like snow clouds.  Tomorrow will be warmer, 50's I think.  We'll be in the 70's Monday and Tuesday with possible rain on Monday.  Then next week will possibly be colder again, but I'm not really sure about that.  This is January!  There is a reason we say that the weather in Oklahoma is bi-polar.

Just Some Fun Stuff

Tired Does Not Even Begin...

to describe how I feel this evening.

I made it nearly all day at work, I left at 3:00 which is about 30 minutes early.  But I was exhausted and it was probably obvious.  I got a lot done that I would have normally done last week.  I'm nowhere near caught up yet, but I am getting there.

I came home and spent about 3 hours on the couch, except for a brief spell of driving the beagler crazy(ier) with her tennis ball.  But that was mostly spent sitting in the floor, petting Frasier because he wanted attention as well and throwing the ball for Maggie Moo to chase.

I did manage to get dinner cooked, Otter and Bill were out running errands.  Otherwise, she was going to cook dinner.  But I didn't mind, after all they let me have a lot of rest time so I'm not complaining.

I'm working on finishing UFO's.  I finished the blue shawl, which is posted on the craft blog.  I got out my scrap-scarf-turned-blanket and decided that it needed to be finished up as an extra-wide scarf, the last row was about half-way done so I finished it up last night.  Then, I put it in my donate bag.  I don't think it would have ever really been finished, at least not for several months/years, because of the fact that it was being made with tail end pieces of yarn and I really needed the room in the stash closet.  Also, I have a pillow cover that is being made the same way and I'd rather finish it instead of the scarf/blanket project.  I have two pillow forms actually, and the 2nd one might be made the same way.  I started the 2nd half of the cover for the first one last night and got a lot done, as well as using up lots of little pieces of yarn.  Not sure if I'll crochet tonight or not, I'm pretty tired.

Better

Today, I almost feel like I'm recovered from the flu.  I say almost because I'm still kind of tired and I run out of steam quickly.  But not as fast as it has been, and it's also not so catastrophic when I do run out of energy.  I did manage to get to the post office to check the box, but mostly I just went along for the ride and my chauffer (Otter) also went in to the post office so all I had to do was go to the car from the door and then back again when we got home.  I just needed to actually get out of the house for a bit.

Today has been quiet, we didn't go to church and I've been taking it easy.  Except for the ride along, I have pretty much kept the couch from flying away and not much else.  I did get some crochet in, and between Otter and I we managed to get a load of laundry done.  I went out in the back yard for about 5 minutes to watch the crazy dogs, it was so nice to actually get some outside time and it's a really nice day.

I updated something on the craft blog:  Turquoise Blue Double Hug Crochet Shawl

It's back to work tomorrow.  I will manage to stay the day although I'm sure I'll be tired.  But I really need to, I'm sure I'm way behind on some things and it's probably going to take me a few days before I can find the top of my desk again.  But I'm not complaining, it's just so good to feel good again.

Friday Flu Report

I've still got it, which is probably not a surprise.

I am better, but I am now coughing my head off.  Which is probably also not a surprise, seeing how the flu attacks some of the same areas that asthma does.  The coughing is actually a good thing, because it means that I'm clearing my lungs.  The other choice is to not cough, which can then lead to all sorts of nasty things when you have asthma.

I called in this morning, I was and am still very tired.  I spent several hours on the couch this morning, with a blanket, beagle foot warmer and my yarn & hook in my hand.  Although I didn't actually crochet very much, mostly I just sat and relaxed.  Frasier isn't being ignored, he came and checked on me several times and got a lot of attention, he's just not into crawling under blankets and sleeping which is apparently one of the highlights of Maggie Moo's life!

Bill needed to go to Hobby Lobby for something, so I went with him and Otter also went along for the ride.  We also went to the Post Office to clear the PO box, and to the library so Otter could restock for the weekend.  None of those were particularly strenuous stops, but I was tired to start with and am now more tired.  But it was nice to get out for a little bit, maybe an hour and a half total.  But I think that I'm probably done with any running around until Monday morning, when I should (hopefully!) be able to make it back to work and actually stay all day.

Until then, I'll just be lazy.

Technical Derpyculties

Yay!  It worked!  I can post pictures.  Blogger has a notice that there have been some problems with loading pictures so they've posted a "back door" to use and it worked.

Otter, this one is very appropriate.  Don't you think so? :)

OK, now that I've figured that out, on to other things.  Such as the fact that I'm still sick.  And still tired of it.

I went to work this morning, I actually felt a lot better.  Not well, but a lot better.  Until I didn't.  At about 10:30, I cratered.  I managed to get quite a bit done in the short time I was at the office, but I'm thinking that it's going to take me days and days and days and days to get anywhere near caught up again.  When I'm going to be on vacation, I make sure I have plenty of time prior to being off so that I can get everything done.  But the flu caught me off guard.  I'm now pretty certain that my Redhead Anemia last week was probably the early symptoms of the flu coming on, or at least some of it was.

There are a huge number of people in this area that have it, and quite a few had the flu shot.  As I think I've mentioned before, the serum for each year is an educated guess and sometimes they guess wrong.  They did get part of it right, but they didn't get it all right when they were figuring out which strain(s) would be dominant.  I think that the fact that I got the flu shot did help, I don't have all the horrible symptoms and the ones I do have are not as severe as other years when I have gotten the flu without having gotten the shot.  But that doesn't mean I'm enjoying it!  In hindsight, I probably should have gone to the doctor last Friday when I was still in the magic 24-ish hour period for tamiflu to be effective.  But I really didn't think that the pain in my arms was anything other than the tendonitis and the fact that I'd been crocheting a lot.

Right now, I don't think I'm going to attempt work tomorrow but I'll decide for sure in the morning.  I did try not to overdo it today, and mostly I just sat at my desk and worked on paperwork.  But Fridays are kind of chaotic at the best of times and I really don't think it will be a good idea.  I will probably do what I've been doing most of this week:  stay parked on the couch with a blanket, a beagle underneath said blanket at my feet, a glass of water and my motrin close by and (most important!) my yarn and hooks in reach!  Daytime tv sucks, by the way.

Bill was off today and is off tomorrow, he's taking comp time and then he's off on Monday.  I'm fairly certain that I'll be back at work on Monday.  He's been working on pachinko stuff, he's been going out to the garage to work on his sanding/painting/building project and coming back in to the kitchen table, where he has his mold making stuff set up so he can cast parts for the pachinko machines.  Although he did move the mold making stuff off the table for dinner just now!

Dinner was pork chops, rice, brown gravy (yes, Froggy it's Pioneer!) and steamed green beans.  I have been "frying" pork chops when I make them lately, which isn't often.  They aren't really fried in the traditional sense, I think it's probably technically pan-fry but I put a very small amount of olive oil in my frying pan, turn on the heat and then when the pan is warm the pork chops get tossed in.  They are seasoned first with a little salt & pepper on each side.  It probably takes about 15 minutes to cook them through, turning frequently.  They are pretty good, actually.  Cooking dinner was exhausting, even with Otter handling the gravy and vegetable steaming.  The rice pretty much cooks itself, all  I had to stand in front of the stove and flip chops.

And I had to ignore doggies!  They were haunting the kitchen, in hopes of a hand out.  They did get a tiny bite of pork chop, after we'd eaten.  And in their bowls, they are not fed from the table.  Now, they are probably back asleep.

Sick & Tired

of being Sick & Tired!

I went to work this morning but I realized pretty much as soon as I walked into the door that I was pushing it a bit.  I managed to stay until shortly before 11:00, after spending 2+ hours dealing with a 96-year old teenager!  I got him organized, at least for a bit, and managed to get more done than I thought I would before I gave up and left.

I had to put a little air in the tire this morning on the way in (19 degrees!), then when I left work my first stop was at the tire place to get the low tire checked.  I thought it probably was a nail that I'd picked up, seeing as how there is so much construction going on behind us and we drive back there frequently to see how close they are getting to us.  Turns out, it wasn't a nail at all.  IT WAS A WOOD SCREW!  What does Billyboy use to put his machine cabinets together with and to hold parts of the pachinko machines together?  If you guessed wood screws, you'd be right. :)  I'm sure he'll deny all knowledge, but I have a more than slight suspicion that I picked it up in my own driveway.  But, it's fixed at least.  Took about 15 minutes to get it taken care of, then I continued on my journey home.  Once I got home, I had some soup for lunch and am taking it easy for the rest of the day.

Blogger still isn't letting me post pictures, I think that I need to contact the webmaster and see what is going on.

I'm still not sure if I've been dealing with the flu or not, I did call my doctor and they gave me the rundown on strep throat symptoms, but I don't meet any of them.  I have had just enough flu symptoms that it's a possiblity, but not necessarily.  I think that flu is the most likely culprit, especially given how long it's taking me to get over this.  But I'm still having issues with my throat and voice, which wouldn't still be going on with flu.  So, who knows?  But, I am better - not well by any stretch of the imagination.  But better.  I'm thinking that I'm probably going to make it all day at work tomorrow, I have some things that have to be done on a timely basis.

In the meantime, I'll keep resting and doing what I've been doing:  Not much of anything!  Besides crochet when I feel like it, and following the dog's example in laziness.  They seem to have that down to a fine art.

Now That I've Had Time to Think About It...

I think that I do have the flu.  Not a bad case, it's fairly light but I'm pretty sure that I am dealing with the flu.

I stayed home today, I took it easy although I did have to get out once.  I needed milk, I took Otter with me because she wanted to get out of the house but I didn't do a whole lot.  We went to Wally, and when we got home I realized that I'd bought orange juice instead of milk.

That's about how well I'm functioning today!

I'll probably be at home tomorrow as well.  The Teenager called me while ago to check on me, and he pretty much ordered me to stay home tomorrow as well.  I am probably going to take his suggestion.

OK, now I'm going back to my spot in front of the fireplace.  It never actually got to above freezing today and it's going to be in the teens tonight.  So, I camped out in front of the fireplace and had two dogs for company.  If I'm lucky, they'll be in a sharing mood and move out of my way when I go back!

Just Sunday

It's cold, although it looks warm.  It was supposed to be in the 50's yesterday and then get cold last night with the possiblity of winter weather.  It started out warm yesterday morning, but it didn't stay that way very long.  It got cold, fast.  By mid-afternoon, it was below freezing.  We had firewood inside already, so we started a fire and kept it going until about bedtime last night.  It was rainy most of the afternoon and very windy.  It was well below freezing last night.  As a result, it was icy this morning and we had a little snow overnight.  Not even enough to coat the ground, but it did cover the deck a bit.  It melted off pretty quick, it's sunny but it is still very cold.

I didn't really want to get out, but we had to return the movie we rented on Friday so we got the car defrosted and de-iced and got ready to go.  Only to discover that the tire I've been watching for the last few days was pretty low.  Bill's compressor bit the dust a while back and the parts to repair it haven't arrived yet, so I had to drive it to the nearest convenience store that has air.  Which was about 3 1/2 miles awy.  I put air in the tire (it was very cold!) and then we got our errands done.  I've been watching it for about a week because I suspected it might have a slow leak and it apparently does.  I'll see how it is in the morning, it's going to need to be checked and fixed but I'm not sure if I'm going to work tomorrow or not so I don't know if I'm actually going to be going anywhere.  The movie had to be returned today, and we also went to the post office to mail a couple of things.  We stopped at Michael's, because I'm working on etsy stuff and they had the cotton yarn I needed on sale.  Also, Otter had a bunch of books to turn in at the used book store so I figured that we'd better get it all done while we could, in case the tire needed to be fixed today.  But it held up and got us home, it's still ok but I'll check it in the morning.

While we were at the book store, Otter also picked up a job application.  Because she's made her decision and she will not be going back to school at this time.  She intends to work for a while and then maybe at a later date she might go back.  But not now.

I'm feeling better.  But not 100% yet.  I was seriously concerned on Friday night that I might have the flu, but the muscle aches I had went away and I never developed fever.  I spent most of yesterday on the couch with a couple of blankets and I got a UFO finished.  I started working on my turquoise shawl a while back and then it got put aside for other projects.  I started back on it and after I'd done several rows I realized that I was using the wrong hook, smaller than the one I started with.  The stitches were a little bit smaller but not enough to really notice so I decided to just keep going with the 2nd hook.  It's a small-gauge yarn and very silky, but it took a lot more rows and a long time because of the yarn size.  At one point, I was about ready to just call it finished and toss it in the etsy or donate pile, because it was taking me forever and I really was tired of putting a row on it and then not being able to tell that it had grown any.  I got it out last week and decided to go ahead and finish it, and I did that yesterday.  It looks good, it's a very soft yarn and I am anxious to wear it but I'm not in a hurry to make anything else with that yarn for a while!  I will get pictures on the craft blog soon, I need to get my official photographer to take pictures for me but she's occupied with something in her room at the moment.

Anyway, I started the last paragraph out about the fact that I don't have the flu or at least I don't think I do.  I have been resting as much as I can, today's errands were not that long.  We were probably gone about an hour, they were quick and the video store was not something we could put off since I didn't want to pay an extra day on the movie.  I just figured that we should get all our stuff done while we were out, but I really didn't feel like doing much.  I am able to talk, but my voice comes & goes.  I had a sinus-type headache most of yesterday morning but it finally went away.  I am having some mild asthma symptoms, but they are not too bad.  I'm not sure yet about tomorrow as far as work goes, I'll see how I feel.  I'm just glad that it doesn't seem to be the flu.

Ick

I have something that might be a cold, probably isn't allergy, could well be strep throat OR could be something else:  flu.  I did get the shot last fall, but the main version of the flu that is going around my area is one that was not in the shot because the experts didn't think it would be the dominant strain.

Last night, I was talking to Bill and literally in the second between one sentence and another - I lost my voice.  Well, it's still there.  But it's rough & rusty!  Literally fine one second, then the next I wasn't.  I had been having some congestion and stuffiness during the day, but not anything bad.  My throat was suddenly dry and I also realized later that it was sore.  I went to bed last night hoping that it would be better by this morning.  It wasn't.  I was also beginning to feel icky.  I got to work and got several things done, then the teenager got there about 10:00 and started lecturing me about going home.  I gave in about 10:30 and left.  I had an errand that couldn't wait, so I picked Otter up and we got it done.  I got her in case I started to feel worse and a) decided not to be the driver or b) decided I needed to go to the doctor in which case a) might still apply.

At one point, I was seriously wondering if I might be coming down with the flu because I was having some mild aches.  But I also have tendonitis and it was my arms, so I decided to just watch it for a while.  Now, I'm not achy and I can talk a little better sometimes.  But I've had a headache off and on.  My throat feels a little better, but I've been pouring down liquids and I'm also taking motrin.  At this moment, I think it's probably "just" a bug that's going around but I'm going to keep a close eye on things just in case.

My Saturday plans include parking on the couch for several hours and probably crocheting.  Not much different than most Saturday activities, actually!

Dog Tails

And probably other stuff, too!

The dogsters got their vet check today.  And they got other stuff done as well.  Both dogs got heart worm tests, "regular" worm tests, and they each had to get various shots.  Maggie also got her rear-end squashed, which was not pleasant and since the test for regular worms is similar, she was not a happy camper!  In fact, she peed all over the floor of the exam room - twice!  She never does that, but she was pretty stressed out so I guess we shouldn't have been surprised.  She also got her claws trimmed, it's difficult to say the least so when they asked if I wanted it done I immediately approved it.  Frasier weighs 62.9 pounds and Maggie Moo is 26.2.  They were so glad to get home...

It rained off & on today.  It was not a hard rain or even steady.  But as we were leaving the vet's office, we saw the prettiest rainbow.  It was huge and very bright.  And double!

Otter's still thinking, but I'm pretty sure she's going to sit at least the next semester of college out and try to get a job.

It's been a very busy week.  I'm glad that tomorrow is Friday.  The menu for tomorrow night is spaghetti and garlic toast.  Spaghetti is pretty much my favorite food, and we eat it a lot.  But we haven't had it in several weeks because Bill and I have been trying to be careful with what we eat and that involves some measuring of portions.  Spaghetti is not easy to measure!  But I need my sketti, so we're having it tomorrow.  And probably Saturday/Sunday as well, because I intend to make enough for leftovers this weekend.

I still can't get blogger to load pictures!  It will not let me search for the pictures on my computer, I think that there is a glitch somewhere because the screen will come up and then change.

Red Head Drawbacks and Other Stuff

One of of the drawbacks (bad side effects) to being a redhead is what is known as the "Red Head Curse" and it has a lot of different facets.  One of the issues is the issue known as Red Head Anemia.  I've been dealing with it lately.  I can always tell when my iron level is low and it certainly is at the moment.  I'm actually better than I was a couple of days ago, but I'm still feeling tired and draggy.  I'm not as cold as I was, but it's always going to be a fact of life for me that I get cold easily.  It's just worse sometimes, and this is one of those times.

Not that I particularly enjoy them, but there are times when I wish I could schedule a hot flash!

One of the side-effects of low iron/anemia, no matter the reason for it, is not sleeping well.  I have had a few nights with that but I've had two good nights in a row so I'm hopeful that I'm nearly over this go-round.  I've eaten a lot more protein/iron rich foods the last few days and I think it's making a difference.  I'm still a little paler than usual although I don't think that I've had much of a problem with that this time.

Oh well, it's one of the trade-offs that come with the great benefit of the hair color.  Not much I can do about it, so I'll just do what I always do:  put up with it.

Other stuff:  Otter and I went to the library tonight and literally got more books than we could easily carry.

The dogsters go to the vet tomorrow afternoon.  Along with the normal rear-squash for Maggie Moo, they both need shots and I'm also having them checked for heart worms since they've been off the preventive for a few months and while we're at it, the vet is also going to do a "regular" worm check because I have some suspicions about Maggie Moo.

Otter's still got her difficult decision to make, as regards continuing her college education.  She's seriously leaning towards not going back to school and trying to get a job.  But she hasn't completely made up her mind yet.  I think that's where she stands, at least for now.

I've been fighting allergy symptoms for a couple of days now.  I'm really beginning to suspect the beginning of another sinus infection, but it's still to early to tell.  Sometimes, my allergy symptoms will mimic one so I have to wait a bit before I head in to the doctor.  It might "just" be allergy, I'll know in a day or so.

Of course, a lot of today's issues were caused by the 2 1/2 onions that I chopped up this morning and put in the freezer!  It was so bad in the kitchen that the dogs wouldn't even go in there, and that's saying something because they don't seem to mind very much in the way of smells!  I also started soup this morning, Otter watched it for me all day and stirred it as needed.  The dogs were right in there with her, apparently they liked the smell of soup cooking better than onion armageddon!

Been A Few Days!

So I thought I'd better get something posted.  Before Froggy gets on me, that is.  Not that she's able to do much of that, considering that she had her teeth extracted yesterday and got her dentures fitted.

Now, we're a matching set!  All three of us have inherited our mother's teeth, which means that they were never good and got worse.  So, at different times we all went the plastic route.  Although Toadles is still the champ:  he's the only one who can pop his upper out at will to terrify small children!  He's offered to give Froggy lessons.  I think she should take him up on the offer.

I've been trying to post pictures, but blogger has apparently changed the procedure again.  And didn't tell anybody.  Again!  I'll figure it out, but probably not tonight.  Too tired!

Otter and Bill are watching the 2nd Iron Man movie at the moment.  The first one was on earlier, we saw the end of it.  I think that whatever station it is, since I forgot which one, is running all the Avengers movies again.  Fine with us!  (Although my favorite is still Captain America - sorry, Otter!)  (Otter's favorite is Iron Man.)

I haven't had much crochet time lately.  I didn't even attempt it on Saturday.  I've been dealing with a not-so-slight case of Redhead Anemia and I spent most of Saturday attempting to stay warm.  It wasn't a particularly cold day, not even cold enough for a fire in fact.  But I spent most of my day on the couch with 3 or 4 blankets covering me, as well as one (or sometimes two) furry foot warmers.  I've increased the amount of protein & iron I eat over the last few days and I feel much better although I'm still getting cold easily.  However, I noticed Bill carrying a bunch of blankets to the couch just now.  I think he might have "only" had three.  I'm pretty sure that I had four, so I win!  :)

I did get some crochet done, on Sunday.  Not much but it was enough to count.  I am working on the turquoise shawl project again.  I'm still not sure if I'm going to finish it to my size or not.  It's small gauge yarn and it seems like no matter how many rows I put on, it doesn't get any bigger!  I think I put two or three rows on it Sunday but it didn't look like it to me.

OK, that's it for tonight!

Mostly Just Random Thoughts Tonight

I think it's Thursday, but it feels like Tuesday!  Yesterday, Wednesday, felt like Monday.  Tomorrow (Friday) had better feel like Friday!  My day identification confusion is a result of being off work for a week and a half, then going back to work mid-week.

The Wildman and the Otter met me for lunch today.  We went to our favorite Mexican place and stuffed ourselves.  Then the Wildman went home and the Otter went to the library.  I had to go back to work, which was kind of boring!

Doggie Disgrace today!  One of them, probably both of them actually, got into a plastic bag of trash that was in the garage.  We normally have trash pick up on Tuesday and Friday, Tuesday was a holiday so the full bag was tied closed and placed in the garage to wait for Friday.  Today, the dogs were apparently bored while they were blocked from the house when everybody was gone.  They found something to play with.  Bill thinks it was Maggie, but I think they both had a hand in it.  Or paw!  It's been re-bagged and is still in the garage, but they don't spend too much time out there when we're all home so we're hoping that they'll leave it alone and it will still be intact for tomorrow's trash pick up.

(I think maybe I spoke too soon, I just heard Otter yelling at Maggie and bringing her in from the garage.  I think that maybe the trash has been rearranged again!)

There has been a lot in the news about hitlary's concussion and resulting blood clot.  While I have absolutely zero respect or admiration for the woman, I don't wish her any ill and I do sympathise with her on this.  Concussions are not fun.  I'm 51, mine was 40 something years ago or thereabouts.  And I still have issues related to it.  I probably always will.  The easiest way to explain it is how it was phrased to me:  when there is a hard enough blow to cause a concussion, brain cells actually die.  When that happens, assuming it's not fatal, the brain will attempt to heal itself which means that it will re-wire itself.  But it can't completely heal the area that died - so it has to "go around" that area and create new links between sections.  Which means that sometimes things get skipped, when the re-wiring occurs.  In my case, it is words.  Not the spelling, I'm a whiz at that.  Not at pronunciation and I can type like lightning (accurately).  But in the recall of the word I want - I don't do it very often, but it does happen enough that it's noticeable.  Especially when I'm tired or stressed.  I might want to say glass (as in drinking glass) but say cup instead and I might say something else entirely, like key for example when I meant to say dog.  Sometimes, I can't remember the word at all and it takes me a moment to remember which one I want.  It's annoying and it's frustrating in the extreme.  And my concussion was probably not the most serious, although it was bad enough.  I am missing several hours in my memory, I know what happend because I was told what happened, I have no memory whatsoever of the event - I was running out the door and slipped on a wet place on the concrete porch, which caused my feet to go out from under me and my head to hit the floor or concrete.  I have a very fuzzy memory of waking up, I was on our Aunt's bed and I remember Froggy or possibly one of my friends saying "she's awake" and I remember seeing Mom standing in front of me - my vision was fuzzy.  The next thing I remember is my friend's father asking me how many fingers he was holding up and I think it was two.  Then I remember blacking out again and not anything else until several hours later, when I woke up in the hospital with the worst headache I've ever had in my life - and I've had some humdinger migraines.  I was dizzy and nauseated, unsteady for days and the headache also lasted for days.  I read an article the other day, it talked about secondary concussions that occur when someone has had one and then gets another one - usually within a few days to weeks of the first one and usually from something high-impact like football.  The healing process is so delicate and the brain is so fragile; when it's compromised from a concussion and another impact occurs it can be fatal or at the least, it can be catastrophic.  They are not something to be taken lightly.  When Otter got hit in the head with a baseball bat at kid's group at church, we were really afraid she might have one.  The doctor didn't think so, but we had to treat her like she did have one just in case.  She was "lucky" that it didn't - I don't believe in luck, as we all know but the word works and no, it's not because I don't know which word I want!  I think I might have some other related issues, but they are minor and might not have anything to do with it.

I guess it's appropriate that my brain had to re-wire itself.  I am the Borg Queen, after all!

Benefits

The benifit of working three days this week is that Friday will be here sooner!

That's always a good thing.

It was a brutal 19 degrees this morning when I left.  By the time I got to the gas station (absolutely the most important stop or I wouldn't have gone anywhere!), it had risen to about 20 degrees.  Big improvement, huh!

Our phones are fixed.  Otter and Bill were home today and I was able to schedule the service call for today.  Anwhere between 8:00 and 5:00, they couldn't be any more specific.  But it was (as usual) a short or break in the line, on their side, and probably caused by the rain/wet/cold we've had lately.  I'm not really sure how long the phone was out.  The last time I remember with any certainty is Friday morning.  I'm not honestly sure if we used it after that.  But it's fixed now.  Until the next time!

I'm a tad bit on the tired side.  I woke up just after 4:00 this morning.  I decided to just get up, until I looked at the clock and saw what time it was.  I went back to bed and attempted to go back to sleep, but after about 20 minutes I gave up and got up.  Bill got up around 5:00, I was hoping he'd at least get to sleep in a bit.  But he got up and we had coffee, then I had plenty of time before I had to leave for work.

Work wasn't too bad, I'm already pretty much caught up.  But I think Otter is beginning to feel housebound.  Bill had to run an errand today, but somebody had to be home in case the phone repair guy showed up so she was the lucky one.  Then he didn't get here until well after Bill got back, but the upshot is that she's been home all day (horrors!) and didn't get to go anywhere.  As opposed to nearly every day for the last week & a half, when we went somewhere just about every day - and several of those days involved shopping!  I think I'll be ready to hit the library tomorrow, so she'll at least get to get out of the house then.  She's so deprived.  (Right.)

I did manage to get about 5 rows on my afghan last night.  Not sure if I'm going to crochet tonight or not, I attempted to rip my right thumbnail off today when I smashed my hand into the side of my computer at work.  It wasn't fun!  And it's kind of on the painful side, so I'm going to hit the "publish" button and get this posted.

New Day, New Month, New Year!

I'm not superstitious, so I didn't use my original title choice:  Lucky (20)13!  But that's the alternate title for today.

Froggy, I just now saw that you'd left comments when I signed in.  Blogger didn't tell me about them earlier, although it's supposed to.  So, they are both posted now.  And yes, I will make you a frog cap!  But I'm going to work on a particular UFO first.  It's not a resolution, but finishing this one is a goal for this year:

I dragged my afghan out of the closet this morning, I started 2013 with the three C's.  Chocolate, Coffee, Crochet - in that order!.  I put a row on the afghan and then started the next one, which involved a color change.  It's about half done, and I would have finished it last year - if we'd ever actually had winter!  It's big enough now that it's like a small blanket and it is warm.  I had planned on getting back on it last week, but most of my limited crochet time was spent working on Grandpa's afghan.  Which I enjoyed, by the way.

I'm also starting out this year with books.  Otter and I went to a local used book store and we both found what we were looking for.  I now have the complete set (until February 14) of all the Maeve Binchy books.  Well, I think that there might be one or possibly two others but they were never released in the US and I haven't been able to find them anywhere online to order them.

Froggy, it will be worth it.  I promise.  It's not fun, but honestly the anticipation was much worse than the actual process when I had my extractions and got the dentures.  You'll adjust a lot quicker than you think, also.  I suggest you get a few projects lined up such as quilting and maybe a supply of books to read.  You will recover quickly, but you'll have a little down time and will need something to occupy you.  Besides texting me!

I discovered this morning that our home phone is out.  Again.  They just fixed it a few months back and promised me that the problem was solved.  Apparently, it wasn't.  The break in the line was on their side and Bill thinks it probably still is.  He's home the rest of this week, so I'll call them first thing in the morning and see if they can get out here quickly.  So, if anybody needs us you'll have to get us on one of the cell phones.  Or email, but we don't spend a lot of time on the computer so it might be a while before any of us actually check.

In about an hour (around 2:30) I'm going to get my pinto beans on.  We had biscuits & gravy for breakast, then just sandwiches for lunch.  Beans and cornbread are on the menu for dinner tonight.