Day Two

Day One started yesterday!

Today, Day Two is the Recovery Day.

It hit at 8:05 yesterday morning.  I was at work, ironically making coffee!  I fought it until 10:30 before I realized that Resistance is Futile and headed home.

I've pretty much been parked on the couch from them until now, just after 6:00 p.m.

Bill got me a taco salad for lunch yesterday, sometimes I can't eat but yesterday it helped.

I hate migraines!  I had 15 millions stress fairies visiting me last year (actually for the last 2+ years) and only had one migraine.  This year?  The stress ran away.  And I'm on # 3 for the year, and it's a multi-day attack.

Sometimes the recovery is worse than the actual headache.

Maybe

Winter's not over yet!

We could get anywhere from 2" to 6" of snow tonight into tomorrow.  Or we might "just" get sleet and freezing rain overnight.  Or we could get both snow and ice, which is the worst of the possibilities.  Snow is it's own issue, ice is bad but snow over ice can be worse because people might not realize that it's not just snow!  It's hard to drive on ice, but snow covered ice is harder because people get complacent and think that it's only snow and not ice.

(I know, I'm rambling.)

I had to run a couple of errands today (translation:  I went shopping.) and my last one was a stop at Wallyworld.  I needed three things:  cheese, tortillas and fruit.  I'm trying to make sure we eat more fruit so I buy a few days worth every few days.  We just finished up the oranges I bought the other day, the fruit bowl now contains apples.  Anyway, Wallyworld was very crowded for a Sunday.  There were a few people obviously just buying regular groceries.  A few people were just getting a couple of things like I was.  But the majority of the crowd (and it was a crowd) seemed to be filling their baskets up with BMT supplies!  It's not going to be another 2011 level ice event, people!

I did bring in a little firewood, we had some inside already but Bill's going to be home tomorrow and he'll probably want a fire in the morning.  He's off for President's Day and then he's taking a couple of vacation days as well.  I brought my birdfeeders in, I'll fill them and take them back out in the morning.  I'll see how it is in the morning, if I do stay home it's at least a quiet week because Younger Boss is in Florida this week and the Teenager had already announced that he wasn't going to come in if the weather was as cold as it was supposed to be.

Otter and I did not get to the used bookstore yesterday.  She woke up with a pretty bad migraine headache so she was down for the count all day.  I went with my original plan, which was to go to the library.  Roomie has what is probably the flu-ish bug that we had recently, so they were both home sick yesterday.  I went over to Otter's apartment and got her dirty laundry, I washed it for her last night and took it back this morning.  Along with orange juice for Roomie, cranberry juice for Otter and milk.  And a package of donut holes, just because they are always fun.  Otter was fine this morning, which is her normal pattern with a migraine.  Roomie was staying in bed, I told her to stay warm and gave her/Otter all the "mom instructions."

After I took the stuff to them, I came back home and read the paper.  Which was my undoing, because I found the Michael's ad.  YARN SALE!!!  They really, really hate me at Michaels.  Of course, I found a few that I needed.  Actually, I did need some of what I bought.  The rest of it was just yarn that I wanted and not for a specific project.  I'm now back at maximum density and rapidly approaching critical mass.  Of course, I have tendinitis issues at the moment so I'm not really able to do much crochet!

Last Sunday, we were watching Frasier and were very worried about him.  This week?  Well, he's spent quite a bit of his day running around the back yard at full speed, again and again and again to infinity and beyond.  Just like a (very large) puppy!  A very happy, very large puppy.

2014

It has been a busy year.

January:

Otter started the year off with a bang:  she woke up puking her guts out!  It was allergy, but still not fun.

The next day, it was my turn!  But I didn't get "it" as bad as she did.

We had some snow.  On the 6th, it was so cold that I literally could not breathe outside and that is never good.

We decided to get a booth at a local antique mall. We started out with pachinko machines but then added a few smaller items.  I cleaned out a lot of things!

We had mice in the house, but that's a somewhat normal happening in the winter.

Bill ran out of gas - less than 1/2 a mile from home!

The first of many issues with my computer - caused by stupid windows updates!

Bill replaced the fuel gauge sensor in his/Otter's impala.

Our 29th Anniversary happened.

I started planning a trip to visit Froggy, probably in May.

February:

The groundhog saw his shadow.  And there were people wanting him skinned & turned into houseshoes all over the place!!

We had a lot of snow & cold weather this month.

Otter woke up with a bad headache one day, turned out she had the 2nd sinus infection she's ever had.  Fortunately, she does not have my sinuses.

I finally finished my afghan!

Bill came down with bronchitis, an upper respiratory infection and he also had a sinus infection.

The next day, I came down with it.  I didn't have the bronchitis, but I did have the URI.  And coincidentally a sinus infection.

We spent about the last 2 weeks of February dealing with the bugs and missed a lot of work.  We spent most of that time parked on the couch with blankets and didn't do a whole lot besides that.  Bill was worse than I was due to the bronchitis and had a lot of really bad pain from sore muscles/coughing.  But I have asthma which he doesn't, so I still had to deal with almost as much coughing and muscle pain just not the actual bronchitis.

Bill decided to get a UPS box for the pachinko business.

Booked my flights for my May trip to see Froggy, except that I had a strong feeling I needed to change it to June so I did.

March:

We were still dealing with the end of the illnesses for the first part of the month.

We had more winter weather!

We extended our booth into the booth space next to it, I sold quite a bit of stuff there.

Bill cleaned out a lot of the "useless collection" a/k/a his shot glasses.  He kept several, but he got rid of a whole lot of them.

Found a dead gopher in the back yard - very close to the back fence. Found a dead cardinal a couple of days later - in almost the exact same spot.  As if they had been tossed over the back fence out of someone else's yard and into ours.

Otter planted her crop - mostly jalepenos.

We had a hail storm.

Discovered (the hard way!) that I am allergic to something in the green tea Arby's sells.  I think it's the additive that turned it actual green - green tea is not named that because of the color!

Otter turned 22!  She picked a chinese buffet for her birthday dinner.

April:

2 Hot Flashes in one day!  Talk about miserable.

We had a hail storm with a lot of rain.

2 baby blues came up in the whiskey barrel!

I found honeysuckle at a local nursery, we planted several of them.

I had to replace our coffee maker.  We wore the last one out!

Dead frog mysteriously showed up in the same place as the dead birds in March.  At this point, we started walking along the back fence and talking loudly about all the dead animals we were finding - anytime that we saw the back neighbors out in their yard,  Amazingly, the dead animals stopped showing up.

Snow!  Not extremely common this late, but not unusual either.

One of Bill's sisters came to visit.

I'd been expecting a jury duty notice for a while, no reason for it but I expected it.  And it was in the mail this month - for the dates I originally planned to go see Froggy!

I came down with a cold.  I think I caught it from Otter.  I shared it with Bill.

We thought we were going to have another bad year for wasps, but they weren't as bad as we feared.

Otter's annual lung check at the allergiests - he is very impressed with her asthma status.

May:

RHTW had a nice long talk with PayPal!  They got the message.  I don't think that they liked it, though!

Bill's compressor broke.  Again!  This time, it was out of warranty.

I decided not to turn the old quilt top I bought into window curtains.  It was intended to be a quilt by whomever made it, and they put a lot of work into it.  It needs to stay a quilt, so I bought batting and backing fabric for it.

It was a fun Mother's Day, we saw Captain America 2 and went to Cici's pizza.

Jury Duty.  Which wasn't that bad, but it was pretty boring!

Froggy's cat, Chester, went to the Rainbow Bridge.  He was a good kitty, very fluffy and spoiled.  Just the way a cat should be.

J made a million and one brownie points with Otter - he got her Brent Spiner's autograph!

It rained.  A lot.  A LOT.

Otter and her friend (Roomie) started seriously thinking about getting an apartment.

We thought the deep freeze was going out, it turned out that Bill hadn't quite shut the door all the way and the water we saw was from that and not because the entire thing was thawing.

We decided to close down the 2nd half of the booth and just keep the original size.

June:

I got a lot of work done on a lap blanket I started in May for Froggy.  I took it to her!

My 20th anniversary at work.  I got a cake, a gift card for a local Mexican restaurant and a pretty good bonus.  Very good, in fact.  I was very surprised.

I went to see Froggy!  Among other things, we hit a lot of thrift stores and went to San Antonio.  And she took me to a COACH outlet!  Of course, I bought a purse.  The flight back from Austin was rough.  I spent several hours in the Houston airport on a weather delay - it's not my favorite place, to say the least.  But I did enjoy the visit and got to see Toadles.

Saw the first hummingbird of the year.  I think they were here already, but I just hadn't seen any.

Moved my yarn stash out of the closet in the office, they were put in the bedroom for a while then into the living room until I had a place for them because we knew by this time roughly when Otter would be moving out.

Bill's birthday!  I made him a pineapple upside down cake.  And we had bacon!

I got the work done on the car that it had been needing, but we never really had time to get done.  We still didn't have time, but we didn't want to wait any longer.  And it was determined that the previous (crooks) place didn't exactly do what they said they did as far as the power steering leak that was repaired - sort of.

July:

Vacation!  We stayed home.  Shopped a lot.

Bill started changing the office to his pachinko workroom.  That means that the machines have left the living room!

I went to the Coach store for cleaner and left with another purse.

Found out just how sharp a Ulu knife is.

We saw fireworks on the 4th.  Otter used her sparklers that we bought last year and she got sick before she used.

Otter started working on her cosplay outfit for TNT.

Bill got two or three wasps nests this month.

Brake replaced on the car.

Bill's sewing machine broke - just as Otter was getting to the end of a sewing project for her TNT cosplay.  I finished it by hand for her.

Otter had an ear infection.

Toadles' daughter went through Tulsa on her way to somewhere else, we met her and her kids at the Hog Trough (Golden Corral).

Otter got a raise - the 2nd on e this year and she also got a promotion but I think that was with the first raise.

The lumberyard started stocking firewood.

Bill broke in a new dermatologist.  He had a skin cancer removed from the back of his left hand.  Best of all, the doctor already knew all about Redheads and how to take care of us!

August:

10 years since we moved into our current house.

Otter's purse was nearly nabbed in Goodwill, I posted the details already.

Retro TV started running the original Dr. Who series!

I visited several fabric stores for Froggy.

Otter and I got our flu shots.  I had my usual reaction, it was a little worse than usual actually.

The world lost a major supernova and we are all so much poorer for it.

The doctor took 7 stitches out of Bill's hand but left a few in place.

Froggy's daughter graduated nursing school!

Bill's sister came to visit again, we had a really nice visit with her.

Bill cleaned out the first rain barrel and replaced the broken spout/spigot.

We had a lot of internet issues.  Our provider got more than a hint of RHTW in full flow.  They are now afraid of me, which is not necessarily a bad thing!

I took the rest of the stitches out of Bill's hand.

Bill bought a log splitter.  And had a lot of fun with it.

We got the chimney cleaned.

We had some limited water restrictions but not bad.

Otter and Roomie looked at several apartments.

I found the "holy grail" of purses  - at least, it was my "holy grail."  A Brahmin!

September:

Bought a new camera.

Otter and Roomie applied for an apartment, put a deposit down and were approved.

We'd been collecting stuff for her for a while but now it was all moved to the living room and piled in front of the fireplace until she actually moved.

Froggy's cat, Callie, vanished.  She never turned up and they never figured out how she managed to get out.

2nd sinus infection of the year!

We got the notice that our insurance company is leaving the state next March.  Nobama care is the reason.

I finished Uncle Crazy's lap blanket.

Bill got a bunch of firewood.

Otter requested a bunch of comfort foods leading up to her move.

We got 10 crepe myrtle plants and they are planted along the back fence.

The passenger window fell down in the door frame on Bill's/Otter's impala.

The Chevy dealership we use for repairs was introduced to RHTW.  And RHTW won that round, but then She usually does.

October:

This was a big, very busy month.  At least at first it was, it got calmer towards the end of the month.  Especially on the first, when our nest because officially empty!

The TEXAS persecution was especially bad this year.

We decided it was time to get serious about finding a new church, we've been unhappy with our current one for a very long time.  We still haven't found the right one.

There was a lunar eclipse.

Bill fixed the oxygen sensor on his/Otter's car and replaced the windshield wiper blades.

This month is when we realized that Maggie was leaky and having lot of problems.

The vet thought that she mad a UTI, she was on medication for a while and it did seem to help a lot.

Bill went over to Otter's apartment one day and showed Roomie all the basic car maintenance things - she'd never been taught any of it, not even how to check her oil OR how important all those things are.  We officially refer to her as out Other Daughter and that's how we feel about her.

Otter had a tummy bug.  And she shared it with me!

My email quit working - thanks to another unwanted, unneeded update!

Otter had what she thought might be a cavity starting.  Turned out, she needed a root canal.

I started a lap robe blanket for Otter.

Major migraine - I have had several this year, but this one was the worst of the year.

Bill replaced the brakes on Roomie's car.

Halloween.

 

November:

 

Otter's root canal actually took place this month.  She had her typical Redhead reaction to the laughing gas.

We decided to have a low-key Thanksgiving.

Which almost didn't happen as we planned, the heating element on the stove went out.  The part came in a couple of days before, so we had the pizza we wanted.  And that Otter could eat!

Otter had a pretty bad migraine.

After running around all day, I finally found towels and stuff to redecorate the guest bathroom.

Snow!

Bill's other sister came to visit.

I had what I first thought was the flu, but it turned out to be "just" a bug and not the actual flu.

Froggy - this is when KN#3 contacted me about the towels you liked but couldn't find locally.  I got them and shipped them to her around Thanksgiving.  And you were very surprised with them on Chrismtas!

Thanksgiving.  We had our pizza.

We cleaned the living room carpet.  And realized that Maggie Moo had been leaking for longer than we realized.

 

December:

 

We decided to close out our booth.  We actually were thinking we'd probably get a new one in a few months, but a new antique mall opened and we were able to get a good deal on a slightly larger booth so we emptied the old booth and took the pachinko machines directly to the new booth.

Bill replaced the lights in the kitchen.  And I saw just how dirty my kitchen really was!

We had a spell of very foggy days.

Retro TV finally got to the episodes with the real Dr. Who, # 4!

Finally replaced our microwave.

I got Bill a leather wallet for Christmas, he got me a calendar - after I finally decided that was what I wanted.

Microsoft did it again, and this time I found the settings on the laptop to where I have to approve all updates before they are installed.

I had the 9th migraine of the year.  I haven't had that many in more years than I can count.

Vacation!

I got My/the Guest/Craft/Sewing/Front/YARN room mostly organized.

Otter went to Oklahoma City for Christmas with J and his mom.  She "met the family" finally.

We had a quiet Christmas.  It was nice, we had steaks & baked potatos and enjoyed it.  It was different, but it was nice.

I got snow on my birthday!  And went to a local flea market.

 

2014 has been a busy year.  It hasn't been a bad year, but there has been a lot that happened.  But at the same time, it's kind of hard to realize that it's already about to be 2015.

Still Here!

It's just been one of those weeks and I feel like I've been running behind all week.  Meeting myself coming and going!

 

Anyway, I thought I'd better check in before Froggy gets too antsy.  :)

 

I keep thinking about how this time last year, it was so cold.  We'd had a couple of snows already (at least one anyway) and it was a whirlwind leading up to Christmas.  This year is much calmer, it's just that I've been on warp speed all week.  Getting ready for vacation and reminding the Boys that I'll be gone in a week, and that they will survive me being gone, is a big part of it.

 

I got a "nice" letter from my bank this week.  Apparently, another store has been hacked and my debit card might have been in the compromised bunch.  We haven't seen any untoward activity, but I have to go through the rigamorole of getting another debit card issued.  I can keep using my current card until the new one comes, if there are any unauthorized charges the back would reimburse me - but it could take 48 hours so I cancelled my card the minute I got the letter, if there are any attempts they would not be honored by the bank since I did that.  I think I'm going to go back to writing checks, this is the 4th time in 12 months!

 

I had the 9th migraine of the year this week, which wasn't fun.  It wasn't bad, but it still was a migraine and I don't like them!

 

Otter's been over a couple of times, she brought laundry Monday evening and then yesterday (Wednesday) she came over and made a double batch of brownies to take to work.  She reports that they more or less vanished immediately upon being put out for her fellow employees.  She's coming over Saturday to make several batches of chocolate chip cookies to take to J's family.  She'll be spending Christmas with J and his mom, and his extended family so we won't see her from the 24th until somewhere around the 28th or 29th or maybe not until the 1st.  More or less, she's not sure exactly what the return date is but we'll probably have our Christmas with her on New Years.

 

This Christmas is going to be very quiet, just me and Billyboy.  And the dogsters, of course!  Since we aren't doing the big "Bill Breakfast" this year, Bill has requested bean, bacon and cheese tacos on Christmas morning.  I think we're going to have steaks for the main meal of the day.  I've already given him his gift, he needed a new wallet and I got him a nice leather one.  I have finally come up with something I want, I want another robe and that's what he's going to give me.  I have to get this one myself, but I don't particularly mind.

 

One week and counting until vacation!  Bill starts his vacation Monday, tomorrow is his last day of work for the month/year.  He is taking a couple of vacation days, since he works for a school district he's actually off for several days in a row.  He's going to get the carpet cleaner out one day and clean the hallway and I think the first bathroom as well.  Beyond that, he's planning on spending most of his time off working on pachinko machines.  I don't have anything planned, other than the fact that I'll probably crochet.  And of course shop!

Are We Sure It's Not Monday?

Cause you can't tell by me!  It's been a Monday-ish day all day long.  I mean All Day LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG.

 

I couldn't wait for 3:30 to roll around so I could escape.  Of course, I then had errands to run and everywhere was crowded.  The liquor store was pretty busy, that's typical before a major holiday.  The post office was absolutely horrible, I stood in line for something like 30 minutes just to mail one small item for Bill.  The grocery store was pretty crowded, which I expected.  I didn't intend to wait until the night before Thanksgiving to buy our groceries, it just worked out that way.  They were running out of things, not just the typical Thanksgiving meal items either.  Grenadine?  None left.  Cheese was also going fast, just the regular cheese and not the specialty stuff.  There was one really delightful older gentleman who was shopping with his wife.  He had a particular look, one that involves a long white beard, full belly and a red hat!  I told him that I thought he must be very popular this time of year, and he said that he had so much fun with the little ones.  Really nice man, he reminded me of Dad even though he didn't resemble him at all.  It was the fun-loving attitude.

 

I had a small migraine yesterday, nothing big but it probably had something to do with why I didn't sleep too well last night.  I had to run to Wallyworld on the way in this morning, then I had errands at lunch (Michael's was pretty busy, too) and then work was kind of chaotic.  Add my after-work errands in, and the result is that I am exhausted.  I think I'm going to have a drink in a little while - that is, IF I can get up from the couch.  I have a large coyote asleep with his rear right up against my left foot and a beagle against my right foot!

 

At least I didn't have Otter's schedule.  She went in to work at 3:30 (just when I get off) and doesn't get off until 11:30 tonight.  They're stocking the shelves to be ready for Black Friday.  She has it even worse then, she goes in to work at 4:00 a.m.!

Wiggles & Jiggles

There was another earthquake felt in Tulsa yesterday.  It actually originated in Kansas but it was felt in this area.  I didn't feel it, I was driving at the time.  Bill was home, he was working on a pachinko machine.  He has a bobblehead-style Hula Girl figurine that was a gift, the person who gave it to him thought it would look cute in the El Camino but it never got there.  It's been sitting on a shelf in the office/pachinko room, along with the Stripper Doll that Sweetie gave him last Christmas!!  Anyway, he was sitting in front of his work bench/desk when the Hula Girl started shaking her grass skirt!  (Or maybe she was just cold?!) :)

 

My migraine didn't last too long, I went to bed feeling cold last night but that is also a symptom I sometimes have.  I have a suspicion that those disgusting, bad, EVIL cinnamon scented pinecones had more than a little bit to do with the headache.  Otter went to Michael's yesterday after she got off work, she was standing by some of them herself and she started to get a migraine as well.  Those things should be illegal!

 

It's still pretty cold and will be for a few days.  The "S" word has been used, by the forecasters on all the local stations.  I don't think we're supposed to get more than a dusting, if anything at all, and it is forecast for either Saturday or Sunday.  We're prepared, but then we usually are.  IF we get anything, it probably won't be a snowed or iced in situation, just very cold.  I am going to spend the weekend inside anyway, in front of the fireplace mostly and a hook in one hand and yarn in the other.  Although I might go to a used book store with Otter on Sunday to trade in her boatload of books that she cleaned out before she moved.

 

I loaded the trunk of my car up with stuff she is donating.  I'll take it tomorrow and give it all to Goodwill.  She was over here for a while this afternoon, she helped me move the last of the pile of her stuff out of the center of the craft room, and then we moved the rest of my yarn stash in there.  I vacuumed the closet again and a part of the middle of the room.  Then we moved the sofa table to where it's more centered in front of the living room window.  Otter is going to get me a couple of boxes from work, the remaining pile of stuff will be boxed up for her to go through as she has time.  The picnic baskets are now in the closet, there is still a stack of boxes that has her notebooks and sketchbooks and will eventually be put up in the attic.  She left a plastic 5-drawer unit, it has "office" supplies, some craft stuff, some drawing pencils and lots of misc. stuff; she thinks she wants it but she hasn't had time to go through it yet.  I might move it into the closet for now.  I'll probably get that done next week or in the next few days, then I'll get the sewing machines moved to the desk.

 

I also filled up two of my seed feeders for the birds, I'll put them out in the morning.  I need to get a few more suet feeder refills.  Maybe tomorrow, but if not the birds will still be fine with the plain seed feeders.  The dogs were very interested in what I was doing, they like birdseed and seemed to be a little unhappy that they didn't get it!

 

Otter came by so Bill could check the car.  The "check engine" light came on again today, which is what it did a few weeks back.  They took the car to the auto parts store and got it tested.  It's probably a clogged valve, which will be around $80 for the part and Bill can fix it himself - when the current cold snap is over!

I Could Have Done Without Another One

A migraine, that is.  I was in the grocery store and had just managed to get past the evil scented pinecones but I could still smell just a hint so that might have had something to do with it - they are that horrible.  Anyway, I was just getting started on putting stuff in the basket when I saw the first hint of a flasher.  I did think about leaving my basket there and heading home, but I can usually tell how bad the flashers will be and how long they will take before my vision clears completely and I didn't want to risk driving home with a flasher causing vision issues.  I figured I had about 45 minutes until it cleared completely, so I got my groceries and it was nearly cleared up by the time was ready to check out.  The headache isn't severe, but it is there and I know it!

 

Oh and Otter did say that she liked the Tooth Fairy idea!  But since we'd been to Michael's and used my 25% off on the entire purchase coupon and she had stuff in the purchase, I told her I'd just pay for what she bought.  She thought that was a good trade off!  :)

 

I got into Otter's closet yesterday morning.  I pulled everything out of it already, and I took the vacuum to the feather/mouse nests before I went to work yesterday.  And the vacuum promptly clogged up!  Lots of feathers, as well as quite a bit of plastic bag pieces and torn up paper which had all been used as nesting material.  Bill took the vacuum hose off and found the clog, and it also contained a small plastic spork! 

 

I am going to vacuum the closet again tomorrow, and then I'm going to move the picnic baskets to the closet.  They are filled with part of Otter's fabric stash.  The remaining stuff from the closet is going to be boxed up for Otter to go through when she gets a chance, and I'll vacuum the rest of her old room then.  And then I'm going to move (the rest of) my yarn stash in there.  The next thing is to bring the sewing machines in, then I just need to arrange it all.  Otter took the last of the clothing last night, she cleaned out the stuff she wanted to donate and the stuff she wanted to keep.  She wanted me to hang on to her Black Belt for a while, she doesn't really have a place for it.  It's in my closet for the moment, but I think I'm going to put it in the Guest/Craft/YARN room when I move the yarn stash in there.

 

I took my car in for the oil change today.  I went back to the Chevy dealer that we've been using, the service manager who was such a jerk is gone and we thought we'd give it one more try.  The other Impala needs to get the oil changed as well, I'll take it next week but I'm not sure if I'll be taking it to the same dealer or another one.

 

Cold!  It was in the mid-20's this morning and our high for the day was 32.  I think it got there, but I don't think it got any warmer.  By the time I was coming out of the grocery store, which was just a little after 5:00, it was really cold and felt like the temperature was dropping.  We have a fire going, we've had several already and I'm thinking that Bill should probably get at least one more load.  Not that we know where we'll put it!

Dark Early!

I don't particularly like the time change, I believe I "may" have mentioned that a time or two.  Or a few dozen times!  I just couldn't think of a good title today, and it works...

I spent a few hours running around Tulsa today, looking in various stores for bathroom stuff.  And finding almost nothing, mostly.  I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond - they have some Bed stuff, very little Bath stuff and not much variety in what they do have - and a whole lot of Beyond which seems to mostly consist of make-up!  Looks like the same stuff that wallyworld carries, too.  I looked at Burlington which used to have a lot of household and some clothes - and now has almost entirely clothes with 2 small aisles of household stuff.  And it was messy, it looks like the employees don't bother to keep things neat or follow up after customers.  I don't think I'll be going back there anytime soon.  I looked at Target, which did have a few possibilities but not exactly what I wanted.  I did buy a soft pretzel at Target's snack bar, but that was the only thing I did buy there.  I hit a few other stores, too.  I finally decided to just to go Tuesday Morning in my small town but didn't think I'd find anything there since I had been striking out everywhere else.

I should have gone to Tuesday Morning first.  Because I found just about everything I wanted/needed for the guest bath.  I didn't find a bathmat, they did have some but not in a good color to go with the towels because I'm not even going to attempt to match the shower curtain.  I found a sort-of dark goldish color trash can, matching soap/lotion pump, matching small container that I'll figure out a use for and a burgundy plastic drinking glass.  I noticed that I'd been calling the shower curtain ruby, but burgundy is a better word for the color.  The gold I was finding today was mostly bright and I wanted a darker, almost antique gold color.  I found a decorative towel and washcloth, I would like a hand towel in the same pattern but they didn't have one.  I'm going to look at the Tuesday Morning close to where I work and see if they have one, if not I'm going to get another bath towel and get busy with needle and thread to make it a little smaller.  The towels are a cream color with a gold ribbon decoration, it's a little brighter gold but it works.  I am probably going to get a cream color bathmat, they did have some but not a lot.  I had a small plastic and metal basket that I use to keep things like small soap, toothpaste, stuff that a guest might want.  It doesn't really go anymore, Otter had a small woven basket that works better, she doesn't have any use for it so she gave it to me.  It had a green ribbon wrapped around it, I took the green off and am going to use some burgundy ribbon I got at Hobby Lobby today.

Otter has had a rough few days.  Monday was the root canal and her tooth is fairly sensitive still, then she woke up Friday with a very severe migraine.  She was off Thursday and supposed to work Friday morning, but there was no way she could go in.  She was taking the strong motrin the dentist gave her so she took some on Friday to see if it would help the headache - it didn't even touch it, I'd forgotten that she used motrin before and it never worked for her.  I was going to pick her up and take her to work Friday morning, then pick her up when she got off and either take her home to her apartment or drop her off at the library and then she was going to come home with me to get the car for the weekend.  Since none of those things happened, Bill drove to her apartment after work and I met him there.  I took her some rice I made Thursday evening and Bill met me at the door of her apartment.  She was in bed, she got up and let him in and went back to bed.  She was feeling really bad, she wanted to take a night-time allergy pill to at least get a little sleep but it has Tylenol in it so I called the pharmacist to ask about it.  He said that after Motrin, as long as you wait 2 or 3 hours then you can take Tylenol and that she should be fine - I read him the ingredients in the allergy pill and he ok'd it since it has other stuff in it as well.  She was going to take the allergy med and hopefully get some sleep, so we left.  I guess it's just as well that she did not go to Wizard World this weekend after all.

This morning, she texted me that she was going in to work and that she did feel better but her head still hurt some.  I stopped and left her a surprise snack in her car, then when she texted me later she said that she really felt bad.  She was scheduled to work until 4:00 and they were short-handed, so she knew she wouldn't be able to leave early.  I told her I'd bring her some Gatorade, so I stopped at the convenience store near her store and got three bottles.  I left them in the car for her, then I went inside to see her.  She was checking out a customer so I waited until she was through.  She did not feel feverish but he said she felt fairly awful and she was pale - which is saying a lot, she's got the typical Irish Redhead coloration.  She thinks that she might have actually had a bug that was aggravated by a migraine, but I really think it was "just" a migraine.  I headed on home at that point, she texted me about 2:30 that the next cashier had arrived and her boss told her to go on home.  She texted me later on that she'd had some soup broth (with chopped onions added to it) and that she was feeling better because she'd had some rest.  She is going to take an allergy pill tonight and should be able to get some sleep tonight.  She works tomorrow but not as early, she gets off at 3:00 but then they have a mandatory employee meeting at 6:30.  I told her to put her laundry in the car then she can come over here and get it done before she goes to the meeting.  I don't know if I'm taking her to the meeting or not, but she will bring the car back tomorrow at some point.  She's off Monday and Tuesday, so Bill will have the car and she will also have some downtime in case it is a bug.  The dentist appointment is Monday, it was scheduled for 4:00 but the dentist changed it to 10:00 in the morning and I'm glad of that since her tooth is tender.  She thinks it's just because the spot the dentist worked on is on the back of the tooth and it's kind of hard to keep from bumping it with the bottom teeth.

 

I'm hopefully going to get started on the tulip bed tomorrow.  The dirt work, anyway.  The ground is probably going to be cool enough to plant the bulbs very soon.  Possibly extremely soon, we have a cold week ahead of us and may get a "wintery mix" next Saturday morning!  So, I'm going to get the soap/oil/water mix on the bed tomorrow but I still have to get the weeds out of the way first and start loosening the dirt.  I might treat it again in about a week or so, but I might just go ahead and plant the bulbs then.  Either way, this is probably the last time I'll plant tulip bulbs there.  We may extend the back fence and the tulip bed area will not get enough sunlight if we do.  I may plant them somewhere else at a later time, though.

I Think I've Set a New Record

2, two, TWO migraines in one day.  (I didn't say it was a good record.)  The first one was late morning and the flashing lights didn't last long at all.  The headache was not horrible, but it was there and I knew it.  Caffiene to the rescue!  I went to Hobby Lobby at lunch for the other skein of yarn for Otter's blanket and yarn did help, but not enough because I still had the headache until about 4:00.  About 4:30, I started seeing flashers again and this time it lasted.  Bill made me go lie down, I was down for about an hour and the flashers finally went away.  The headache is always after the flashers, and tonight's headache is actually worse than the earlier one.  Usually, small flashers = longer, more intense pain but tonight's headache is worse that the morning.  Which could be because it's my 2nd one of the day.  Or, it could be that the first one never really developed until 4:30 when I started seeing the 2nd set of flashers because the first set was just barely there before it went away.

 

Whatever, I don't like it!

It's a Jungle Out There!

Or at least it looks like it in my front yard.  I called someone we know and he is going to either come out here in the next day or so, or possibly send one of his crew over here.  Probably tomorrow.  Maggie Moo will be pleased, she's afraid of getting lost!

 

Bill's doing pretty good, just a little stir crazy.  Not that I blame him.  It's hard not to use your hand, but he's trying very hard.

 

Froggy, I know what you mean about women and their purses.  Many times, I've seen a woman shopping and the basket with her purse in it is either behind or, our several feet away.  I've seen more than one nearly be stolen, just my presence and obviously seeing the person has been enough to have the would-be thief walk away.  Otter has noticed it pretty often as well.  In fact, if she and I are shopping together and notice it we will make a point of walking by the basket/shopper in question and loudly (so that she hears us) commenting to each other how someone could have grabbed that purse and the owner would never have even noticed it.  Otter thinks she should print up cards to leave on top of the purse with words to the effect of "I could have stolen your purse and you'd never have seen me" as a warning.  I remember one time walking into a grocery store and hearing a woman yelling that her purse had been taken out of her basket.  I also went to Sunday School with a woman who had her bag stolen out of her basket at a clothing store.  There are enough bad people in the world, why make it easier for them?  But it happens.  Very frequently.

 

Migraine today.  This is the 4th one this year.  I usually average about 3 per year.  This is only August, I still have several months left in 2014.  I hope that it is not a trend!  I did have ranch dressing on my salad yesterday, I usually don't eat ranch dressing unless I can read the label on the bottle because it usually has msg by the ton in it, but this was a prepackaged salad and I just didn't think about it.  Hidden Valley brand is one of the worst, and it's also the most commonly used ranch dressing.  Well, it does taste good.  I think it's the most likely culprit.  The headache hit about 11:00 or so, I had planned on getting lunch and bringing it back to the office so I could crochet but crochet and migraines do not mix!  I was a little nauseated, which is also common with migraines.  I went ahead and ate lunch, I had a tuna sandwich at Subway and it helped.  I managed to stay at work but I left about 30 minutes early.

 

Otter needed to get something at Hobby Lobby and I had already asked her to wait for me so I could go with her, so I forced myself to go (not that it was all that hard.)  I actually need to buy yarn this time, I bought 5 skeins for Uncle Crazy's lap blanket but it's going to take 6.  At least.  I cruised the yarn aisles while Otter was getting her stuff, the fall colors are starting to come out and they are nice!  I was able to resist, but I'm not making promises for any future trips!

 

Froggy, you do realize that you are now an Official Conscript of the Pachinko business!

 

We just saw an advertisement for a can't miss movie:  Into the Storm.  All I got to say is, Yeah Right!  As Otter says, anybody who lives in Tornado Alley should know just how B.A.D. that one is going to be.  I'm pretty sure we'll pass on that one.

Sunday Rearranged

That seems to happen on a fairly regular basis, around here!

 

Today's original plan was that we were going to a specific Mexican Restaurant in Tulsa today, as it's the last Sunday of the month and we do something special then.  Then, according to the plan, we were going to come home and Bill was going to head back to his pachinko workroom.  At that point, Otter and I were going to the mall - she wanted to shop for shoes and I just wanted to shop.  And try to avoid the Coach store!  But since Otter woke up with a migraine in progress, that plan was blown to smithereens.  Bill and I went to church and left her in bed, attempting to go back to sleep.  When we got home, she was awake but still had the headache so she went back to sleep.  Bill and I went by the booth and shopped a little at the store it's in, then we went to the Mexican place for lunch.  We also went to Big Lots, which Otter nailed me about for going without her, and we looked at a junky/antique store.  We got a couple of things at Big Lots, but nothing at the junky/antique store.  I did get Otter a package of animal crackers, the cookies in the circus train box!  I also promised her that I'd make sure she goes to Big Lots with me the next time I go.

 

Since the sales-tax-free weekend starts this coming Friday and Otter's off on Saturday, we've rescheduled our shopping trip for then.  The mall will be crowded, but there are also a lot of sales then and besides, it's just fun.

 

It's 6:30 p.m. as I type this, she's feeling much better.  She got up about 4:00 or so, after sleeping most of the day.  But it actually worked out good that she was able to sleep so much today, because she needs to stay up as late as she can tonight.  She goes to work at 9:00 p.m. tomorrow and will probably work most of the night.  They are rolling out a new pricing structure and everything has to be rearranged/repriced/etc., which is impossible with customers there so it's going to be done tomorrow night.  She's going to sleep in as late as she can tomorrow morning and then hopefully, take a nap sometime in the afternoon.  She's going to be mega-caffeinated before she goes to work.  I wish she hadn't had the migraine, but at least it will be easier for her to stay up so late tonight.

 

I think I figured out why Frasier is such a goofy boy.  He's part coyote, and they are very intelligent animals.  He's also part dog, and frankly sometimes they are pretty dumb.  So, he's a mixture of dumb dog/smart coyote!  Which explains why he's sometimes the dumbest smart dog I know.  But, he's a sweet natured boy and we love him.  Even if he sometimes is as dumb as a box of rocks.  Oh, wait.  That describes Maggie Moo!  So does sweet natured, she's just not smart.  But she knows how to work it, and she does it well.

Um OK, Friday?

Drawing a complete blank on a title today.

It's been an odd week.  It's July, but it's been in the 60's for a couple of days.  60's!!  Yesterday was rainy, today is cloudy and overcast but not rainy.  We were supposed to get rain a couple of days early this week, but it held off until yesterday.  But it was not the hard rain we were expecting.  We still need more, but at least we got some rain.

I've been fighting what I first thought was a sinus infection for a few days, but now I think it's "just" allergies.  I thought Wednesday morning that it was a migraine and I called in because my head hurt to bad but now I don't think it was.  However, I have had allergy issues and they've been enough that I thought I needed to get as much rest as I could.  I've gone in the last two days, but I didn't have a whole lot to do and I came home as soon as I got my daily stuff done.  Motrin, liquids and rest.  I really wish I could take allergy medication, but none of it works on me.

Otter just texted me (she's at work) to let me know that one of her ears is bothering her.  She said she put drops in it this morning, I guess she means Swim Ear drops, but she said it still feels funny.  I hope she is not dealing with an ear infection.  She hasn't been swimming but she might have gotten water in it in the shower.

No particular reason for the picture, I just thought it was cute.  Of course, the sofa table in the background is cluttered but it doesn't look like that anymore.

Just because it was cute.  Otter babies!

Yarn on the floor, and it must be dealt with immediately!

Froggy, I bet you agree with this one!  (But did we ever listen to Mom and do it her way at first?)

 

OK, that's enough for today.  Keep your fingers crossed that I do not have to run Otter up to the urgent care place about her ear tonight.  The fact that she's actually admitting to "discomfort" means that it's really bothering her, she is a very stoic young lady and it has to really be bothering her for her to even admit that much.  I think that comes from years and years of severe asthma spells and learning from a very young age how to deal with potentially life-threatening issues without panic!  Unfortunately, it also means that when she does have something that needs to be dealt with immediately, she doesn't always realize it!  Oh, yeah - she also learned over the years how to deal with serious stuff like blood and broken bones from having to deal with the Resident Engineer!  Froggy, I bet that KN#3 also learned a few lessons from Uncle Crazy and that might have had some bearing why she is a natural nurse!**

 

**KN#3 will be an official nurse with a degree to prove it in a few weeks.  We're very proud of her.

The Countdown Has Ended!!!

As of 3:30 p.m. last Friday, I'm officially on vacation.  And I'm going to enjoy it.

 

Even if my main focus is working on getting the Pachinko room/office conversion done.  I've cleared out all my stuff from the office, including everything that was in the closet.  I vacuumed behind/underneath my desk and also in the closet.  Bill moved a specific, very tall pachinko machine into the closet and my desk will maybe be moved to where it was at.  He'll be rearranging all the furniture in there, I'll vacuum as he does so.  He may have to do a little re-wiring in there, I'm not sure.  The 5 machines that are currently all over the living room will be moved, but one of them is actually being restored now and he's going to finish that one before he moves the rest of them.  It's in various pieces and it would be difficult to move it as it is, for fear of losing pieces and it's a restoration job for someone else.  Of the remaining 4, I think one is his that he bought last week and the other three are restoration/cleaning jobs but they won't be started until he's finished with the current one and NOT in the living room.

 

Otter and I went by her store earlier today and got the tarp he wanted, he's going to move his desk to where mine currently sits.  His desk will be beside the wooden filing cabinet, the tarp will cover both and that will be his new work bench.  We have a really interesting shelf-ish contraption made out of old plastic milk crates with a plywood top, it's used to store envelopes and misc. office supplies.  It might be moved to where the tall pachinko was, instead of my desk and it will hold the printer and scanner.  My desk will, if not moved to where the tall machine was, be moved to where his desk currently sits and that is the one he'll use for his computer and actual office/website work no matter where it lands.  He will have quite a bit of room to actually work, and the desk/filing cabinet will give him a larger workspace than he currently has in the living room on top of the sofa table.  His desk is pretty big.  There is also a shelf on the wall behind where my desk is now, his small plastic 3-drawer units that he uses for small pieces like screws, pins, etc., are on the shelf now.  He had 4 and he needed 6 more.  Otter and I went shopping this morning and found those for him.  He's got them all filled and labeled.

 

He has two tall plastic drawer units like I have my yarn in, I think I've shows pictures of the yarn stash before.  They are currently beside the sofa table in the living room, they will be moved to the office as soon as he gets through with the current restoration job.  They have things like larger tools, paintbrushes, glue, etc. as well as pachinko machine parts.

 

I'm not sure exactly what my next step in there is, I may have to wait until the rest of the furniture is actually moved before I can do anything else.  Mostly, I am running the vacuum in there and dusting as needed.  After all the junk, crud, pachinko stuff is moved out of the living room, I'm moving all three of my yarn drawers into the spot where his currently sit.  The sofa table will be moved a couple of feet, but all three of my drawers will fit where he has two sitting at the moment.  I am going to see what I can do about reorganizing my stash, it was organized but it was almost impossible to get to it when I needed yarn while it was in the closet.  So, I've been stuffing yarn in whatever drawer I could actually get to and open without having to move Bill's shipping supplies out of the way.  I need to get it back in order, it's really bugging the Borg Queen not to be organized!  I'm also thinking I might clean out a little, I have some yarn in particular that I don't think I'll ever use and I'll probably donate it.  I have a lot of really nice yarn that I bought in TEXAS recently, as well as yarn I bought in the last few months.  I am still going to use "regular" yarn for many projects, but I'm starting to use "better" yarns more often.  I have my "regular" yarn sorted into several drawers, my "slightly better" yarn and then my "really good and expensive" yarns together.  I also have several tote bags and some of them have yarn in them.  Some of them are just spare tote bags because I always need one for something, or Otter does.  I have some sewing supplies in with my stuff, some of it is Otter's (OK, a lot of it is Otter's) and I also have a collection of hooks.  I use most of them, they aren't very big and are in a metal "lunchbox" style container that I got in TEXAS a few years back.  But none of that is nearly as big as the pile of stuff Bill has in the living room, and of course the Borg Queen is always organized-to-the-point-of-obsession!

 

Bill mowed the yard first thing this morning, I got busy with my tree trimming tool and tackled the two trees in the front yard that were beginning to resemble bushes due to the limblets growing up from the bases.  We discovered that there are two evildenizensofhell attempting to start a nest on the front porch overhang, just outside the front door.  They will be dealt with tonight.

 

This is the last Sunday of the month, we usually do something fun as a family.  Sometimes we just go eat somewhere, which is what we decided to do this time.  We went to Goldie's.  Last month, we had intended to go to Goldie's and we completely forgot!  So, we made sure we remembered today.  We never actually had breakfast, Bill and I split a bagel and Otter had a roll.  So, we were pretty hungry by the time Goldie's opened at 11:00.  They had a huge group just ahead of us, 35 people - however, their grill only holds 30 items at a time so it took a while to get them served and then to get out food cooked.  It was pretty good, though.  We don't eat a lot of greasy food like that often, and it's going to be a while until we have it again.

 

As far as plans for the week, the main focus is going to be getting all the Pachinko stuff moved and not much else.  Bill's going to finish up the machine he's working on now and after he gets everything moved, because I won't let him start another one until then and won't let him stall despite his best attempts, he'll see about starting on the next machine in line.  Otter and I are thinking that we might actually get to go to the zoo, which we've been trying to do for ages, and J is going with us.  Possibly, we might run off and do a little shopping/antiquing/thrifting at various times.  But we aren't planning anything much other than that.  We might make pizza one day this week, possibly Friday.

 

Also, Otter has given me extremely strict instructions:  On Friday evening, even if she is deathly ill, I am to find something to lean her against in the back yard and duct tape her hand around a sparkler or two.  Then after I've lit the sparkler and it's run out, I can toss her back in her bed.  (This is a joke, she has a history of being sick on holidays for some reason and she had a major-league migraine hit her last July 4th so her fireworks never got used and we kept them for this year).  Although Bill did say that he's willing to pick her up and toss her over his shoulder, if she wants him to carry her anywhere!

Day Three & Counting

For the 3rd Day in a row, the forecast has been for rain.  But it hasn't show up yet!  It's cloudy and humid.  Extremely humid, and hard to breathe.  I hate humidity.

 

We've been busy all day, but it seems like we've hardly gotten anything actually done.  I did get my tree trimming tool and tackled the forest growing up from the bottoms of two of the maple trees in the back yard - not fun with the humidity, but it needed to be done.  We went to church this morning, although Otter actually went to work as her shift started at the time church does.  We took her to work, since Billyboy wanted to get a few things at her store and the plan was to go shop there when we picked her up but we actually went in there shortly after church.

 

We've been to the booth twice today.  Once to take a machine & cabinet and also get a machine to bring home so Bill could get a video of it to put on his website.  The second time was to take the machine back.  I rearranged a bit while we were there but not much.  Bill's friend that has been sharing the booth with us for stuff to big to put in his own booth is ending his booth on the 31st, and we'll expand the contents of our booth then.  The 31st is Saturday, he and his wife were there when we were the 2nd time (that's when we got Otter after her shift at work) and they were taking some of their stuff out now.  Otter and I are going to a local flea market on Saturday, we'll probably go by the booth store as well and see if they've gotten their stuff out of our booth.  Then we'll spread our stuff out just a bit, but we'll do a full-scale rearrange of our booth on Sunday.

 

When we have a holiday and everybody is off, we usually have a bigger than normal breakfast.  Otter doesn't have to work tomorrow, so since we'll all be home she's requested Monkey Bread for breakfast.  We went to Wallyworld after picking Otter up from work today, and I bought what we call "cheap biscuits" and chopped pecans.  Bill is not a fan of Wallyworld, but he was a good boy and behaved himself today!  :)  But I bought him potato salad, so he's happy.  I was going to make homemade potato salad to have with our buffalo burgers tomorrow, but I never quite got around to it.

 

Otter was supposed to work for 4 hours yesterday, but she woke up with a migraine headache herself.  Her migraines follow a different pattern than mine, for one thing she usually throws up and yesterday was no exception.  She wound up calling in and going back to bed -where she stayed nearly all day long.  I checked on her a couple of times, she was asleep most of the time but she did emerge about 7:00 last night.  She got up for a couple of hours, she had some bread and a sprite and she felt much better.  She went to bed early and felt much better this morning.  Except for the ever-present allergies, that is.

 

Frasier, my fluffy puppy, has been shedding like crazy the last few days.  He does this every year when it gets warm.  I took him outside and brushed the bejeebers out of him.  It looks like a tribble farm in the back yard and he looks much bettr, very sleek.  But there is still a cloud of fur coming off of him so he may have another session with the brush in his future - which he loves, by the way.  Maggie Moo likes to get brushed out as well, but she's smooth-coated so she doesn't shed much.  Unlike Fluffbutt Frasier!

Guess I'd Better...

Post something here.  It's been a few days.  Froggy will get on me if I don't - of course, she may get on me anyway!

 

Today is a migraine day.  I think this is the third one of the year, I average 3 or 4 per year normally.  It started about 12:45, the flashing lights were short but that sometimes means that the headache will make up for it in either intensity or duration.  It's tolerable at the moment, but it's still there.  So, I'm thinking duration instead of intensity - given the choice, I think I'd rather have intensity and get it over with fast.  Maybe!

 

I have been mega-caffeinated, I took a migraine pill which contains aspirin, Tylenol and lots of caffeine.  I also had a diet coke for the caffeine in it.  But caffeine is a big help when it comes to migraines.  It helps all headaches, but it's recommended for migraines.  The upshot is that I've been unable to sit still for hours!  I came home at about 1:15, when the flashers were gone and the pain was starting.  I managed to stay on the couch with the lights off, but only because I discovered that yes - I can crochet with a migraine!  It was either that or yank all my hair out because I could NOT be still.  Thanks to the caffeine!

 

J (Otter's boyfriend) went a sci-fi convention in Dallas last weekend.  He's not a huge ST fan (she's working on that and getting results), but he still stood in a long line (and the cost for this one was probably not cheap) and got her an autograph he knew she'd love:

DATA!

She's going to frame it.

 

J earned a MASSIVE amount of brownie points with this one, by the way.  :)

Gee Thanks, Bill!!!

For sharing the bug with me.  NOT!

 

I didn't even attempt to go in today, which is what I told Younger Boss yesterday.  I told him that I'd let him know about Friday but at this point I'm pretty sure I'll be staying home tomorrow.  I have had a horrible sinus headache since I woke up this morning, I took Motrin for it and rested for about an hour and a half after Bill left for work.  Of course, the fact that I also had a migraine on top of everything else this morning hasn't helped!

 

Bill went in, Monday was a holiday and without a doctor's excuse he wouldn't be paid for Monday.  He probably could have waited until tomorrow or Monday and turned in the excuse then, but his employer can't always get simple things straight so he decided to attempt going in and turning the excuse in to his boss today.  His boss is not the problem, upper management is where the issues usually are.  But at any rate, after he'd been there about an hour I think his boss got tired of hearing him attempt to cough up a lung and didn't even blink an eye when Bill told him he was heading back home.  The cough medication causes drowsiness, so Bill didn't take it before he left this morning.  He did take it pretty much as soon as he got home, however.  His cough is better, but it's still pretty bad.  I'm so glad that I went to the doctor as soon as I started feeling the URI symptoms and don't have to deal with the bronchitis.  I've had it before and it is NOT fun, and asthma just makes it worse so I don't wait.

 

I've been parked on the couch, I made myself a nest.  Frasier was my shadow earlier, he got up every time I did and took every step I did.  He followed me around and stood right beside me, staring at me until I went back to the couch.  Then, he mostly leaned on me and managed to get his head underneath my hand for ear scratches.  When he wasn't getting petted, he was leaning on my legs and making it impossible for me to get up.  Mama's boy took care of me!  I'm drinking as much water as I can, so I have to get up frequently. :)  Otter went to Wallyworld earlier and filled up a the cart with yogurt for me.  She also got more cranberry juice, she's going to start increasing her vitamin C for the next several days.  She drinks a lot of cranberry juice anyway, but she's going to be chugging it for the near future!

 

I've had so much chicken soup the last few days that I expect to grow feathers at any time.  I have several containers in the freezer and a large container in the deep freeze.  It is good and it does help, but we're kind of tired of it now.

 

Otter works tomorrow afternoon, I will probably take her.  If Bill goes in tomorrow, he'll drive the impala since it's more comfortable than the El Camino - he still hasn't been able to find the one, small part the White Lightning needs to be able to roll the driver's side window down.  Otter can take my car, and does sometimes, but I'm thinking that I'll be ready to get out of the house for a little while by then.  I won't go far, we'll go to the post office before I drop her off and she'll run in to check the box for me.  If I need anything from the grocery store, I'll get it then.  Her store is in the same shopping center as our favorite non-Wally grocery store.

 

(Ok, I'm back now.  Had to run to the bathroom, I think that is trip # 542 for the day!)

 

I've had my feet propped up on the coffee table for a while.  I have the crocheted afghan over me and it's long enough on the sides that it still touches the floor.  Which means that I also have a beagle under the blanket!  When I got up just now, I knocked a pillow off the coffee table that was underneath my feet - and beaned the beagle!

 

My TEXAS Mother in law (also a redhead!) sent me the following.  My comments are after it.  (Attributed to Emma Kelly, although I have not checked her website so I don't know how safe it is.  But she is apparently one of Us, and that means that she has a lot more leeway than non-Reds have.)

 

10 Unbelievable Facts You Didn't Know About Redheads:

 

1. Natural red hair is harder to dye than other shades

Headstrong as it is, ginger hair holds its pigment much firmer than any other hair colour. If redheads desired to dye their hair to any other colour (why would you?), it would only have a noticeable difference after bleaching the hair beforehand. Otherwise, the colour won't take.Bleaching, of course, is just bad news for hair. Especially red hair, which is much more fragile than other shades anyway.

2. Redheads have less hair on their heads

In terms of total number of strands, gingers have far fewer atop their red heads than any other colour.On average, flame-haired beauties have 90,000 strands, compared to blondes with 110,000, and brunettes with 140,000.  They're not exactly going bald though, as each strand of natural ginger hair is much thicker, so the appearance is often that redheads have more hair in general.  These fewer but thicker strands make it easier to style, so be jealous.

3. Redheads don't go grey

Staying true to its stubborn stereotype, ginger hair retains its natural pigment a lot longer than other shades.  So there's no need to panic about going grey - red hair simply fades with age through a glorious spectrum of faded copper to rosy-blonde colours, then to silvery-white.

4. Red hair and blue eyes is the rarest combination in the world

The majority of natural redheads have brown eyes, with others likely to have hazel or green shades.  But like red hair, blue eye colour is a recessive trait, meaning that both parents must carry the gene for a child to be blessed with it. This makes those with red hair and blue eyes the rarest minority in the world, with only 1% having both.  So, each one is about as rare as a four-leaf clover.

5. They're more sensitive to thermal pain

Countless studies have looked into the genetics behind redheads claiming that they are more or less sensitive to pain.  Research shows that redheads are more sensitive to hot and cold pain, with their bodies able to change temperature much quicker. Also, in surgery, gingers might require approximately 20% more anaesthesia than other hair colours. The exact reason for this is unknown, but it is thought that a link to the mutated MC1R gene could be the culprit to its effectiveness.

6. The Romans kept redheaded slaves at a higher price

Those with fiery-coloured hair were held in high esteem in Roman art and culture. Thought to be strong and determined, they were more expensive than other slaves, and prisoners would even have their hair dyed to be displayed as trophies. Either that, or wigs of red hair were reportedly imported from northern Europe, for slaves to wear.

7. Russia means 'Land of Reds'

Translating to mean 'Land of Reds', Russia boasts a high density of gingers located in its Kazan region, at over 10% redheads, a similar density to Scotland and Ireland.

8. 40% of Brits are 'Secret Gingers'

Extensive research conducted by BritainsDNA has found that more than 40% of the population carry the mutated MC1R gene that's responsible for red hair. Both parents must carry the gene to be able to spawn a ginger baby, which lies at 25% if they're not ginger themselves, but still carry the 'secret gene'.

9. Adolf Hitler reportedly banned ginger marriages

...For fear of 'deviant offspring'. Of course.

10. Gingers generate their own Vitamin D

Having pale skin may mean that redheads burn more easily when exposed to UV rays, but their paleness can serve as an advantage.  Redheads can't absorb sufficient Vitamin D due to low concentrations of eumelanin in their body. This may sound like bad news, but this lower melanin-concentration means that gingers can cleverly produce their own Vitamin D within their body when exposed to low light conditions.

 

 

OK, my take:  Most of this is stuff I've heard before so I already know about it - some from experience, especially # 2, 3 & 5.  I'd like to add a few things:  

 

11.  We bleed!  Frequently and lots at a time.

 

Re # 4:  I don't think that most redheads have brown eyes.  That is actually fairly rare, or at least I've seen very few of Us with brown eyes.  Most of us tend to have green or hazel eyes.  Hazel is a pale greyish brown color but it also has another main color - usually green or blue.  My eyes are green hazel, Otter's eyes are blue hazel and Bill's eyes are really more of a pale green than true hazel but I think his eyes are in the hazel spectrum.

 

Re # 3:  We do go grey.  But it's not usually like most of the population does.  We tend to go Calico!  Sometimes we will go to white but not usually grey.  Some of Us go piebald, which is similar to Calico.  But we seldom go completely grey, calico or piebald - there is usually quite a bit of red color still.

 

Re # 5:  DITTO DITTO DITTO!  Especially the part about needing more anesthesia.

 

One other thing:  Yes, the hair is a hint about the temper!  Especially when the Redhead in question is also a TEXAN and very much when the Redhead is female!  Remember RHTW, after all.

Carrier Monkeys

I like that phrase.  It's funny.

 

It's also appropriate.  Bill is home today, he still had tummy issues this morning so he stayed at home.  Otter was already off today, but her boss had asked her to call him this morning about extra hours today.  However, she woke up with really bad "allergy" symptoms this morning, so she was hoping that she wouldn't be needed.  Her boss wasn't in when she called, he is apparently still sick himself.  Otter isn't well, she is afraid that she might have the flu but she doesn't have the right symptoms.  She has something, but I don't think it's the flu and it's probably not "just" allergies either.  They didn't need her to go in, which is what she wanted, but she probably would have if she'd been asked.

 

And so do I!  I have had allergy issues for a while, but more the last couple of days.  I went to work this morning then realized that I had a sore throat - and had for a while.  I left shortly before noon, I did have a few errands and I decided to go ahead and get them done while I was still feeling decent enough.  I added in a stop at Sam's, and I bot several large cans of chicken broth because it is a chicken noodle soup day if there ever was one.  I went to the post office and to put a couple more things in the booth (didn't look like anything had been sold) and I stopped at the butcher shop for rib eye steaks for Sunday.

 

Otter and I were going to the flea market tomorrow, but we're thinking we will probably have to put that off until later.  We're still going to make monkey bread in the morning (appropriate now, don't you think?) but that was the planned breakfast for tomorrow before the comment about Carrier Monkeys.  We just won't head out the door after breakfast, but I won't be surprised if Otter goes back to bed and Bill takes a nap.  The dogs will probably nap as well, but that's a normal activity for them.

 

I had to go find Frasier just now.  Maggie Moo was happy to see me when I got home, but Frasier was nowhere to be seen.  After a couple of hours, I realized that I hadn't seen him at all.  Which got me concerned, he is an old dog and it is pretty cold.  He was ok, he was out in their yard - snoozing in a sunny spot.  He was quite happy to see me, he came inside and then he turned right back around and went back to his sunny spot!  He'll be in later, when he gets tired of napping in the sunshine.  Then he'll probably nap on their blankets.

 

Weather is the next subject.  It's cold.  It was 8 degrees when we got up this morning.  Eight!  Mighty cold.  But at least we don't have the ice & snow that Froggy has in the Austin area and that the San Antonio area has.  The news this morning showed reports from SA, people were abandoning their cars on the freeways because they were icy.  Texans ain't wimps, but we do know when it's smart not to do something.  But we are stubborn and sometimes it takes us a little bit to realize that maybe we shouldn't be attempting whatever it is!

 

Now, I'm going back to my migraine.  First one of the year.  I'd have preferred not to have to deal with it but it's not horrible.  I got Tylenol, aspirin and caffeine down as soon as the flashers started.  They didn't last long.  I have a bit of a headache but it's not that bad, considering that it is a migraine.