Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Joanna's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Saturday, March 26th, 2011
9:05 pm	yup. my hot chocolate DEFINATELY needs some alcohol. Sadly, no alcohol... (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
3:41 pm	Blech. Stayed up way too late last night chatting. Tired today. Still looking at the list of chores I had wanted to get done. It's almost 4pm. And the only things I've managed to knock off the list are the easy ones. Like take youngest to tumbling. Get groceries. Pick up eldest from school. And.... that's all. I need a time turner so I could get a nap and still get all my chores done! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, March 6th, 2011
8:02 pm	Hello out there LJ world. I'm still here, despite the best efforts of some nasty virus. On Friday, the 25th of February, I was slammed by some sort of nasty virus. It was bad enough that when dearest came home from work Friday night at 5:30, he took one look at me and told me I was going to bed. I felt so bad, I didn't argue at all. I just told the kids good-night, and went upstairs and straight to bed. I slept all friday night, most of Saturday, all of Saturday night, most of Sunday, all of Sunday night, most of Monday, all of Monday night and woke somewhere on Tuesday just in time to take the youngest to his weekly Tuesday tumbling class. Then I went home and slept all Tuesday afternoon until it was time to get the oldest from school. Wednesday I was feeling better, in that I can at least *remember* parts of wednesday. I've been feeling so sick and tired, that I literally can't even think about knitting or needlepoint or anything like that. As most of you already know, when I sit in the evenings I like to have something for my hands to do or I get antsy. So to be so tired that I can't even think about it, that means I'm pretty ill. I've gotten to the point today, nine/ten days after onset of illness, that I can *think* about my knitting. But I haven't even gotten to the point of picking it up just yet. The mere *thought* of knitting exhausts me. Some friends went to Joe's Crab Shack today for lunch and we, as a family, joined them. It was nice to see friends and be social. I was out of the house for about 90 minutes. And it wiped me out so badly that I came home and pretty much fell into a sleep so deep that it probably could be classified as something close to unconsciousness! I woke briefly at about 6 pm for dinner and putting the kids to bed. It's now 8pm and I'm about done. I'm going to take all my meds, let them settle for the 30 minutes and then I'm going back to bed. The doctor says it's just a really, really, REALLY bad cold. And I can tell I'm getting better, but man! I'm ready to be over it! Apparently another few days and I'll be back to my normal self. (or as normal as I can *get*! lol ) But until then, I'm enjoying going to bed at 8 and sleeping until 6:30am. (normally I get up earlier, but it's just not been happening this past week!) Hope everyone out there is doing well! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, February 6th, 2011
11:47 am	It's February here in Indiana. We've had an ice storm, we have snow on top of the still-here ice. And the weather is supposed to bring us even more snow in the next day or so. I know that the ice and snow are causing problems for some people. I know it makes it slippery and dangerous out. But for me... Well. I *like* the snow. I like to see snow on the ground when it is cold out. For me, to have no snow when it is cold seems like a good waste of a cold day. It's also dreary. All the trees are dormant, the grass is brown, the sky is usually cloudy and grey. It all looks depressing. But the moment you sprinkle snow all over, everything starts looking beautiful and ethereal. I think snow is very beautiful, even when I'm digging out my van for the millionth time. You can find something beautiful but still have it be a pain. It is annoying to have to wait for the roads to be cleared. But learning to enjoy the enforced waiting time is good practice for many things in life. Learning how to wait patiently is a hard one. This winter feels like winter. There's been a good amount of snow. I rather like the snow. I think it's beautiful. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
11:14 am	I must admit that I am a big fan of The Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I admire her writing. Her wit and views on life are written so candidly and wryly that I can't help but feel as though I know her personally. I can't, of course, just know her from her writing. But it does seem to feel that way. She updates her blog approximately three times a week. But it's not on a regular schedule. So I find myself checking frequently to see if there is anything new posted yet. I am amazed at the fact that she takes time to knit. This sounds like a silly statement, yet it's true. I find it hard to justify sitting down and knitting for even a little bit each day. I don't know if it's because I feel I need to be doing other 'more important' things She also seems to knit fairly quickly too. I am a fairly competent knitter. I'm not exquisitely quick, but I can knit fairly well. This fact of my inability to sit myself down and actually *do* the knitting is what is amusing me this week. Last winter, I knitted myself some slippers and some socks. (okay, by "some" I mean one pair of each, this not-sitting is not a new phenomenon) I love wearing them over my cotton socks. They kept my feet warm. Indiana is sort of cold in the winter. Also, we have hard wood floors on the main level of the house. This means the floors do tend to get cold. And though I am a fan of rugs, I've not gotten any replacements after I had to throw away the old living room rug four years ago. I wore my one pair of slippers and my one pair of socks until they got holes in them. I am not very interested in learning to darn things. In this regard, I have decided that I like Mrs. Pearl-McPhee's approach to darning. She said that she holds the offending object over a trash can and says something like "Darn! Darn! Darn!" whereupon she then deposits said object into the trash. I haven't yet utilized this method, but it is entirely possible that is due to the fact that I have no idea where I put the socks or the slippers. So I can't fix the holes or throw them away. Either way, my feet are cold this year. I have some lovely lavender yarn that I want to knit into a pair of slippers or socks for myself so my feet stopping being cold. And yet, I haven't even begun them. My feet began to feel the cold back when it started getting cold in the fall, about September or October. I pulled out the yarn, and the appropriate needles. So far they've just sat there on the end table. It is now mid-way through January. In that time, I've completed three baby blankets, stitched together a felt Advent calendar, and all the pieces to it. I've also mostly completed another set of cross-stitched Christmas Tree ornaments. I've begun another baby blanket, and I've begun a scarf for one of my boys. But my slippers or socks for myself? Not yet. My feet are still cold, and I keep remarking to my husband that my feet are cold and I really should knit those things up for myself. Even now, when I have some time, I find myself sitting and writing. In a moment, I'm going to put the laptop down and pick up a craft project. And though I'd like for it to be the slippers or socks in the lovely lavender yarn. It will more likely be the newest blanket or the cross stitch Christmas Ornaments. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
4:39 pm	I still exist! Hi All! Sorry I've been too busy to write much lately. My oldest started Kindergarten (as I blogged about earlier) and my youngest started pre-school. In addition to all the new routines added, I also was finally able to have that knee surgery I've been needing. In case it's news to anyone, let me make quick re-cap. I slipped and fell on the stairs last Dec,(2009). I injured my knee, but nothing earth (or knee)-shattering. The torn ligament healed just fine on its' own. I got all my strength and flexibility back in a reasonable amount of time. I was just still in continual and extreme pain. It got worse when I walked, so by the end of a day it was horrible. The sports medicine doc was great. I've seen him before, and I know that he is very knowledgeable about these things. So when he decides he's gone as far as he can, he has no ego problems in referring me to the surgeon. He evaluated everything and came to the conclusion that it was probably some torn cartilage still in the knee that the scans hadn't picked up and that physical exercises won't fix, so he referred me to a surgeon to get the knee looked at arthroscopically and trim the torn cartilage. Surgeon #1 was an idiot. He decided it was a nerve damage problem, so he referred me to a knee doc that specializes in the chronic pain and the nerves of the knee. The nerve doc quickly and clearly ruled that out and sent me back to the surgeon. The surgeon literally REFUSED to treat! So I found surgeon #2. (as a general rule, surgeons are very gifted, very smart individuals who also happen to be raging a$$holes.) So surgeon #2 is icky in that regard, but he looked at my scans, attempted to treat the swelling with a prescription anti-inflammatory which sadly had no effect, but he at least believed that I had a problem. But getting him to agree to do the scope which the original sports doc said I needed was difficult. Surgeon #2 and I finally had a showdown after he told me that maybe at my age I should just learn to live with my limitations. I'm only in my mid-thirties! I'm not 100 years old! Live with being unable to exercise, dance, fence, hike, swim or even walk further then a couple hundred feet? I think not. I pretty much argued him into scoping my knee to check for the torn cartilage that my sports med doc was pretty certain was there. So I had the knee scope last tuesday and surprise! there was some torn cartilage in the knee that just needed trimmed up. I'm not certain *why* the surgeon was so surprised, but there it is. Sadly, it's not like we were avoiding doing anything because it was a difficult thing or anything like that. The whole procedure only took about 20-30 minutes. And here I am on restrictions while my knee finishes healing. It still hurts horribly,horribly badly. What is said about knee surgeries being painful is not exaggerating at all. And having to do the exercises to keep my knee healing properly is a new type of pain. But I can already tell that this is a _different_ kind of pain. It feels like the kind that *will* heal and get better. So I am happy that this will finally be finished. I injured my knee just as my last post-op restrictions were ending, (the two tummy surgeries I had last year in June and September) So it overall means that I haven't been able to do any of my fencing, exercising, or dancing that I like to do since last may! In about three weeks, I'll be walking normally again. In about 11 weeks, I'll be able to start dancing and going to the gym without restrictions. In another five months and three weeks, my knee should be back to full strength and then I'll be able to get back to fencing! I'm starting to feel better just knowing that soon! soon! I'll be able to get back to the active things I love to do as hobbies. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 30th, 2010
9:46 am	August 30th, 2010 It sounds like an innocent enough day, and it is, I suppose. However, today is throwing me for a loop. I was expecting something like this, but yet I was also simultaneously unprepared for all of this. As most of you know, Boo started Kindergarten a week and a half ago. It's an all day program, and I've had a week and a half to get adjusted to the routine of dropping him off in the morning and picking him up in the afternoons. What is so hard about today? My youngest, Bink, started 3/4 year old preschool. He won't be four until mid-October, so he's not the oldest or the youngest in his class. I did the math and discovered a remarkable fact about my life. This is the first time since Boo was born, about five and a half years ago, that I do not have a child with me every single moment of the day, barring any special ahead of time occasional moments. Now, Bink's pre-K is only three half-days a week. But that's three mornings where both my boys are off in the care of non-family members. That's three mornings a week that I now need to find things to occupy my time. Are there things that I need to get done that are easier to get done when I don't have to worry about the kid-factor? Of course there are. But I have just spent the past 5+ years of my life learning how to do all of those things WITH one or both of the kids by my side. It doesn't help that I remember the miscarriage from two years ago. If I had carried to term, I'd have a third child now, who would be about 18months old. Or if I had carried the most recent to term I'd be having a baby in about November. All my life, my dream was for four children of my own. Three would have done ok too, but four was the dream. The two wonderful, delightful, amazing sons I do have are my joy and I take great awe in watching them grow. I just miss the third who tried to begin, and the fourth who tried to begin, but for whatever reason I miscarried both. I'm getting to the point where I am too old, my body is too broken, for me to try any more. And I am grieving the loss of my "other" two children. The roomful, the carful, the lifeful of four siblings bouncing and tumbling through my home and my heart. I know the chaos that multiple children in one household bring, and I wanted that. I wanted that full-to-the-bursting-seams kind of house. The silence of my three mornings a week is currently stretching before me like an exersize in extended pain. Yes, I know there are things I can do. I know many different ways I will be able to occupy my time. I know I can now exercise, run errands, go to the doctor (by myeslf!), go to the dentist, go clothes shopping, get to the library, work on the house. Tons of things that I konw I can do to use my time wisely. And I know that in a few weeks I will be used to this new routine, and I know that in a month or so I will have learned to love my time alone. But for today, today, the silence in my home, makes me cry. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
1:34 pm	Hi World! Haven't posted in a while! We just got back from a wonderful time at Yellowstone National Park. We also made some pit stops at Grand Tetons National Park and Craters of the Moon National Park and Preserve. The scenery out there was awesomely, gloriously, insanely wonderful! I had never been to that part of the country. Dearest had been when he was a child with his parents and his brother. His Brother also came with us for part of the trip. We rented a recreational vehicle for the trip. (RV or Motorhome, whatever you want to call it!) As I said, scenery was gorgeous! RV? apparently a deathtrap. We rented it in Boise, Idaho and drove through Craters of the Moon and Grand Teton on the way to Yellowstone. Through some mountains. And the RV apparently had essentially no brakes. *shudders* The really, really, really nice mechanics at the Old Faithful Service (Garage? Station?) worked really hard at getting us back on the road in a safe vehicle. The brakes were so bad that the mechanics told us that the RV shouldn't have been on the road 500 miles ago! The RV also didn't have a working smoke detector, the fuse for the carbon monoxide detector was completely *missing* from the fuse panel, and Dearest thinks there might have been a propane gas leak in the vehicle itself. When I dig out the name of the company we rented from, I'll post it so people know to avoid that company. Later on, I'll also post more details from the trip, but first! I need to go take Boo to the store to get his school uniforms. He starts Kindergarten in one week! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
3:17 pm	Boxes We are getting the windows replaced at the end of this month. It's been long overdue, and will overall help with heating/cooling bills and help with re-sale values. But this means that the windows installers actually need to be able to REACH the windows. In the main part of the house, not so big a deal. The basement however... well... that's a whole other universe. Most folks have at least heard of the amount of boxes of stuff we keep in the basement. It is, indeed, rather daunting. But rather then just shove things out of the way, we are viewing this as an opportunity to actually clean out the basement. No, that was not a pig that just flew by your window, the temperature in Hades has not dropped significantly, nor has the world come to any sort of apocalyptical ending. I decided to begin with a project that I can do 95% all by myself. I am going through the storage totes of all my craft stuff. I am organizing and cleaning, and getting rid of things. Most of the past few years since the kids were born, the crafts stuff has been of the variety of "oh, it's piling up in the front room [again], I'll get a tote and put it 'away' downstairs." This approach has led to 31 plastic totes. Some of them aren't completely full because I have been going downstairs and getting things out to work on them over the years. But I didn't really have a grand organizational scheme. Things got lost. Sometimes I didn't even know that they were lost. Of course I would have had to have been able to even remember that I had the things in the first place... but that's a different topic entirely. Take sock yarn. A year or two ago, I got into knitting socks. I enjoy it, it's fun. I bought some sock yarn. Then I lost it in the myriad of totes. So I bought a little more. I had thought that this "Losing of the Sock Yarn" had happened only once. So far I have gone through about six totes. I've found four bags of sock yarn. This isn't too terribly bad, as each bag only had between 4-6 skeins of sock yarn, and you need 2 skeins for 1 pair of socks. But it does mean that I currently have enough sock yarn to knit socks for the next 3 years. Assuming I don't do any other projects. (Or learn to knit faster, which I *am* actively working on). All of these 31 totes are currently sitting in my front room. This means that nothing else can sit in the front room. I've gotten through about six of them, and that only leaves about 25 or so to go. The plan is to try and have everything sorted, tossed, or stored before the end of THIS week. If I can manage another six totes tonight, and keep to that schedule, I might make it. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
1:27 pm	Dooom! Well. Not really. :) Boo was wandering through the kitchen yesterday on his way to outside. He stopped, looked at something on the counter and asked me, "why does that can say 'Off'?" I looked around, he was reading the label on the can of "Off" brand bug repellant. I told him it was the bug spray. But... He's only just turned five in April. He's started reading. Doom! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
1:27 pm	Too cute My boys aren't old enough to watch any of the Star Wars movies or cartoons. But there is a Lego Star Wars video game out, and this has caused some t-shirts and such to have many of the characters on them. There are also some cool toys that the boys are old enough to play with. We have some of the little characters, they fit size-wise on some of the playsets the boys have. I've told them the "correct" names such as Han Solo, Princess Leia, etc. However, due to them being young, they haven't quite mastered Darth Vader. They know he's a bad guy, cause I told them that. But it's amusing hearing them play and talking about the evil "Dark Vader!" (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
3:58 pm	Woulda shoulda...don't wanna It's spring. Spring is a wonderful time. There is the picking out of new annual flowers, and planting them. There is working outside in the yard. And there is the spring cleaning to get the house all aired out and dusted after the cold house-closed-up winter months. I like spring. So why am I finding it so difficult to get started? I have The List of things I like to get done. It tends to include everything that needs to get done as well as all of the things I'd like to get done, but know that won't all get done. I need to weed all ten of the gardens. About half of them are easy to get done. The other five or so will take a little more effort, but not an outrageous amount. I need to wash the deck in preparation for sealing it. I need to purchase the plants and flowers for my deck boxes, and the kids' vegetable garden and get them all planted. I need to go through and sort out all the stuff in my house (no, literally, I want to go through it *all*) This includes needing to clean out the basement so that the window installer can actually install the new basement windows. I also have the usual daily chores that need done. Things that are important such as laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, making dinner, vacuuming, putting things away, cleaning the bathroom. And all I want to do is sit and knit. I know I should tackle some of my chores first before rewarding myself with knitting. So I haven't gone down into the basement to look at the yarn stash. I've been good about *not* starting anything yarn or craft related. But I also haven't done any of the cleaning/cooking/laundry/gardening/chore-type-stuff that I should be doing. Instead, I am wasting time on the internet, reading Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's blog http://www.yarnharlot.ca and wishing I had the energy to figure out how to integrate more knitting time into my life as she has been able to do. I drool over her completed projects and think to myself things along the lines of "hey, I could make that!" Sadly, I'm pretty certain that even if I were able to reorganize my life to allow for more knitting time, I don't think I knit nearly half as fast as she is able to do. I can understand this as a difference in abilities. I prefer to think of myself as meticulous. I am careful... Right it's only yarn desi, get over yourself! Knit with abandon! And I will... as soon as I do some of the chores on my list... as soon as I get done procrastinating ...eventually... (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
11:30 am	an amusing comparison of height ratios Or, wow, I didn't think the height difference through. Dearest and I needed an extension ladder for around the house. For things like cleaning out gutters, checking on the roof, etc. For the past nine and a half years that we've been here, we've been borrowing our neighbor's ladders. She has many, in many sizes, and was quite kind in letting us use them whenever we wanted as long as we put them away where they belonged when we were done. But now, things have changed, and so we needed a ladder or our very own. I realized this yesterday when it occured to me that it was time to clean out the gutters for the spring. We have put little screen/plastic protector things over them, so they don't get as clogged with leaves and stuff. It has reduced our gutter cleaning-out from once a week in the summer to only twice a year. I went to Lowe's yesterday to price ladders. They are more expensive then I realized, but over-all, it's an investment, and if I keep the thing for ten years, it's a good investment. As I was looking at all of the ladders, I noticed that they all indicated a weight limit on them. I suppose weight limits make sense, it just hadn't occured to me that a ladder might have them. But as I was looking, and doing the math, I realized that the extra $80 to get the heavy duty ladder was probably worth it. I also realized that I couldn't get the ladder yesterday as I had both of the boys with me, we had some other things we were buying, it was close to dinner, and it seemed better to go back the next day. Today I took Bink with me to Lowe's right after we dropped Boo off at school. We only bought the ladder. I marched right in, got an appropriate cart, scooted it down to the correct aisle, and maneuvered the ladder onto the cart. I put Bink on the cart so he wouldn't get lost. I glided my way out after paying, and rolled the cart right up to the van. I had had hopes of being able to slide the ladder inside, but as I approached the van it was easy to see that it would have to be placed up on the luggage rack. No problem! I had double checked that i had the tie downs in the van before I left home because I wasn't certain that the 20' extension ladder (10' when collapsed) would fit, and I knew I had them with me. I even had a blanket to protect the paint on the top of the van! I opened up the van and had Bink get strapped in so I didn't have to worry about him being hit by a car. Got out the blanket and laid it out on top of the van. Then I started getting the ladder up out of the cart. I was taking my time, not hurrying, making certain I had everything just so. My plan was to stand the ladder up, lean it against the back of the van, and then just slide it up. It was working perfectly... except... I hadn't done some math. It wasn't that I had made a mistake in my math, it was just that I hadn't thought about height ratios AT ALL. The neighbor's ladder is a 20 foot aluminum extension ladder. when collapsed, it is only 10 feet tall, and that's the size I wanted to buy. When I stand next to it, I am equal to at least half the height of the ladder since I am 5' 5" tall. This puts the pivot point about at my shoulder level, and fairly easy to control. It is also light weight due to the aluminum. Awkward for me to maneuveur a little, but not terribly hard or difficult or heavy. I purchased the heavy duty ladder. It's a fiberglass composite. Among other things it doesn't conduct electricity, it can handle a heavier load, and it's a pretty sort-of-red color. But it's also heavier then the same size aluminum ladder. It had taken me a moment to wrestle it onto the cart, but it was leaning up against the display, so I pretty much just had to lay it down on to the cart. I got out to the van. I began my wrestling match with the ladder. It seemed a lot LOT more heavy then the aluminum ladder, I began to question the wisdom of such a heavy ladder. I couldn't figure out why it seemed so unwieldy. And as I was levering it up to lean it against the van, I came face to face with the label on the ladder that read 24'. Surprise and Alarm... Blink...blink... I hadn't double checked when I grabbed the ladder. I was trying to buy the 20' but I apparently picked up the 24' ladder instead. An extra 4' of ladder is probably not a bad thing. It is the ladder I priced yesterday so the price was exactly what I had expected. (apparently yesterday I was oblivious as well) But when you take into account height ratios... a 24' ladder collapsed is 12' long. That's an extra two feet more then I am used to dealing with, and it's a lot heavier because of the fiberglass. Next to a 12' height, my height of 5' 5" isn't even close to being the nice 50% ratio that I am used to. This puts the pivot point at the middle of the ladder about a half a foot above my head. I about catapulted myself over the van until I realized I had to change my ladder tactics. Sure, I've helped folks move 12' long ladder before, so it wasn't a big deal. But I really think I would have been a little more aware and not quite so oblivious. After a few comical moments where I tried desperately to not bash the ladder into the van, and maintain enough control so that I didn't become an identified flying object, I managed to lean it up against the back of the van lined up with the blanket. I slid the ladder up fairly simply, threaded a tie down around and through the rungs and over the sides. I buckled it down quite securely. A very nice older gentleman drove up as I was just about done and offered me a cable tie-down (ziptie) that was large enough to go around the ladder and the luggage rack. I almost refused him when he offered, but that little voice in the back of my head said I should accept the help. So I thanked him, and I used it to tie down the back of the ladder as a secondary to the rachet tie down. I drove home, unloaded the ladder without any incident. (unless you count the 15 minutes it took me to find my utility knife and change the blade so I could cut the donated ziptie) Really, I've changed blades on utility knives for years. It's not difficult, but it still took me ten minutes. I guess my brain hasn't returned yet from vacation. I don't mind learning about ratios of ladders compared to my height, and trust me, I won't forget the lesson to check the height of the ladder before you pick it up. I just wish that sometimes the lessons that life throws at me about it didn't have to occur in the middle of a Lowe's parking lot with a very interested audience. :) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
9:59 am	Life. It's interesting. There are times it takes forever for five minutes to pass, then one day you turn around and your oldest child is 5 years old! You read that correctly, friends. Boo is 5 years old now. I have started signing him up for kindergarten for this fall. He also hit a growth spurt and is close to 44 inches tall. He is still complaining about the lack of chemistry labs in his preschool class. I've started doing some kitchen chemistry with him. Vinegar and baking soda volcanoes, that sort of thing. It's helped. But he is convinced that chemistry will begin in kindergarten. I've explained to him that it won't happen until later, but... i'm not certain he believes me yet. Bink is getting bigger also. He's now 3 1/2 years old. He's a quick study. Whatever older brother does, Bink wants to do too, mostly. They do have some different interests, but some stuff is very similar and they are still playing well together most of the time. Dearest is still traveling M-F for work. He hates being away from the boys, but is loving the job, so it is balancing out ok for right now. I'm going to go see the ortho-surgeon about the knee injury from the beginning of the year. It's still painful, and the regular doc is thinking that there might be some microscopic tears that were too small for the scans to catch that might need cleaned up. If that is the case, it's a knee surgery for me whee! :) I had actually hoped to make it through 2010 *without* having to have any surgeries. If needed, this one will be arthroscopic to just put a scope in and clean out the floating bits of cartilage that are in the way. It would only be a 3-6 week recovery. I'm trying to put a positive spin on this. I'm also going to assume that if I need this surgery that it will take me 6-8 weeks to feel all better. That way, if it takes less time, I will get to be pleasantly surprised! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, March 13th, 2010
9:12 pm	you are lightcyan #E0FFFF Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is very low - you have better things to do than jump headfirst into every little project. You make sure your actions are going to really accomplish something before you start because you hate wasting energy making everyone else think you're working. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation. the spacefem.com html color quiz (Comment on this)
Friday, February 19th, 2010
10:57 am	HI all! Sorry I've been mia here lately. Life, as usual, gets busy sometimes. But! My second niece has made her wonderful appearance! She came about five days earlier then they had scheduled her for (scheduled c-section). So she was born on the 10th instead of the 15th. She is teeny tiny, at least as compared to my boys when they were born. She is 6lbs 4oz. Her name is Eileen Ella. She has beautiful blue eyes. And she is just as cute as a button! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, January 29th, 2010
10:33 am	Just a whiny post. So. As most of you all know, I managed to slip on the stairs a few weeks ago and landed quite firmly on the stairs. Luckily, I did not tumble all the way to the bottom, as Dearest was ahead of me on the way down. He heard my flailing,turned, and stopped me from tumbling down the rest of the stairs. (The first words out of his mouth still crack me up though, he stops me, then asks me "What are you doing?" ) I waited about two weeks for the bruises and bumps to heal, but my right knee just didn't seem to feel any better at all with time. In fact, it began to feel worse. So I went to the Dr. (nice guy, love him to pieces, really knows his stuff, so I trust his opinion) He sent me for an MRI. The MRI came back with nothing majorly broken, just a mildly ripped thing (I can't remember if I ripped the tendon or the ligament, either way, one of those soft things that holds your whole body together) So I'm being sent to just physical therapy (yay! NO surgery) I start the therapy today. They'll fit me for a brace (which will really help with stability and pain and such) But I am having a nagging feeling that the MRI was wrong. I think there is something more damaged then what the scan showed. So I am anxious that the first appointment is going to be incredibly painful. I'm also worried that if there is more damage then they thought that begining the therapy will make it worse. I will, of course, discuss these concerns with my therapist as soon as I meet him/her. I just find it odd, because usually medical stuff doesn't tend to worry me a whole lot when it's something straightfoward like this. I mean, we know how it happened, we know it's injured, we know that none of the bones are broken. So what's got me so worried? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, January 11th, 2010
9:52 am	This Monday is yucky. I want a refund. To begin with, I got to bed later then usual last night. Around 1am. So I am tired. And I had a 7:30am doctor's appointment to get my knee checked out, it's still bothering me. And Dearest had a 7am flight for work, so he had to get up and leave really early. I managed to get up on time, because Dearest called me. I got the kids some sandwiches for breakfast, and got them up and dressed. I remembered to grab Boo's school work so we could do that before the dr saw me, and have it done in time for school today. Right. The van won't start. Something's horribly wrong with it. The check engine light came on a few days ago, dearest had it checked out at a car parts store and the verdict was it could wait. But now the van won't start at all. Dearest *was* working on the radio last night, I don't know what he was doing, but I had a thought that maybe he accidentally ran the battery down. I don't know, but getting the car battery jumped is something I can do by myself, I don't like doing the battery jump thing, but it's something I know how to 'fix'. But I really don't like doing it. Wait! Dearest's car is still here. Ok. I'll just move the car seats into Dearest's car. It is here because we knew that the van had been acting flaky and we made certain I had at least one vehicle working. I move Bink's seat first. Right, Dearest's car is older, so it doesn't have the nifty-keen easy car seat LATCH system. You have to secure the seats with the seatbelt. No problem! People have done it that way for years! Except... the seat belt won't lock. You are supposed to be able to pull the seatbelt all the way out, which engages the lock, click the seatbelt in place through the car seat, then let the excess belt retract. And viola! the carseat is held safely in place. I wrestle with this (it's 7:15 am in January, in the dark, in 18 degree weather) I can't get it to lock no matter what I do. I just am unable to get the seat placed securely in the car. The seatbelt just won't lock no matter what I do. So no problem, the carseats come with a locking clip for just such an occasion. It's a heavy-duty metal clip that you clip into the appropriate place on the seatbelt. You tighten everything down, then slide the clip into the seatbelt latch. The place where the belt loops through. The metal clip essentially locks the seatbelt in place so it won't slide. Except... I'm not strong enough to get the clip to slide into position. I try every trick the book tells me. I just don't have the hand strength. I cannot get the car seat in safely. This is a point I WILL NOT budge on. I will not compromise on the safety of my children for any reason. Fine. I'll try jumping the van's battery and see if I can get it to start. Except. The van is parked with it's front end facing, and two feet away from, the side of the house. The white saturn (aka The Cat Food Car) is the closest car. I'm uncertain, but the cables actually span the distance (yay 12' jumper cables!) Except. The white car won't start. We probably haven't moved it since before Christmas. It won't start. Ok. I'll have to come up with a new plan. Now how do I get the stationwagon close enough to jump the van? The station wagon still works but with the tree and the house and the yard, the closest I can get the wagon to the van is about 24 feet. I know! I'll put the van in neutral, push it back a few feet, then I will be able to drive the wagon up at right angles and I'll be able to get it to work!. Except. Normally, on a flat surface like that, I can at least get it to move a little, it is on wheels after all. But the snow is packed up behind the wheels of the van. Now, the *van* could drive right over it. *I* do not have enough power to move the van over the speed bump the snow is causing (because, no, we haven't had a chance to shovel the drive yet). Fine. I know! I'll try pushing the white saturn! It's lighter, and doesn't have as much snow behind it... yeah, no, that doesn't work either. okay. New plan! (It's now 8:15am. I have long since missed my doctor's appointment, and we are fast approaching the time we need to leave to get Boo to school on -time. School start's at 9am, we need to leave by 8:40) I will drive the stationwagon through the yard to right angles to the van. And park *in* my flower garden. Because, in my quest to get something to work I have discovered that I do have two pairs of jumper cables. So I clip them all together, and I now have 24' of cables! I manage to drape them appropriately so they don't get stuck in anything or trail in the snow. Then, I hook the wagon to the van. I start the wagon. I wait.... I start the van! um. no. not working. I wait a little more. I start the van! um. Still no. Still not working. The van just isn't going to start. I turn off the station wagon. I unhook all the jumper cables. I resecure the car seats into the van. I put the stationwagon back where it belongs. I close all three car hoods. I put the jumper cables back in the appropriate cars. I close everything up. I give up. Boo will just not go to school today. He is understandably disappointed. He really likes going to preschool. I call the dealer. They can look at the car on Wednesday. Fine. I have it towed NOW. The nice tow-truck guy shows up at 9:30 as I'm writing about all of this. I quite happily give him the key. This is no longer MY problem. But I want a refund on THIS monday. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
10:26 am	It is 9 degrees out today. nine... I know it's January. I know I live where it gets cold. I know it's winter. But still! To have it be only nine degrees out when you are sick is just like pouring salt on an open paper cut! I already don't feel well (stupid flu). To have the house be chilly on top of that is just pure mean! I suppose I could accept the whole nine degrees thing if we had a light dusting of snow to make everything look pretty. But there isn't really any snow left so speak of. Everything is in the drab browns and greys of winter. I think I'm going to go try and dig some bright colored yarn out of my yarn stash to start a pretty bright scarf or hat. blech. stupid flu. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
7:03 pm	Little boys in vests and ties Dearest has the time and desire to rejoin the church choir. The one that sings for the 5pm Saturday mass. This is wonderful to be able to do this, but it is a little hard on timing for bedtime for the boys. Boo and Bink usually need to be IN bed at 7pm. Church runs for an hour 5-6. Now, normally the boys eat between 5 and 5:30pm, so on a saturday church night we have to eat a little bit early, hope they don't get hungry during church, and then hurry home for a big snack before bed. Tonight was the first time in a long while that I've had to handle the boys by myself at church. They both wanted to wear their church clothes, which consists of a dress shirt, dress pants, a vest and a tie. I thought that was fine. It was a tad bit overdressed for a Saturday church service where most people are in jeans and sweatshirts, but I like dressing up too. So I'm going to encourage it as long as they are willing to do it. When we picked out these outfits the boys both liked the same one, so they are mirror images of each other, they look absolutely adorable. We got to church about 5 minutes late, so Daddy was already over in the choir area. As I scanned the church, the only seats I could immediately see were in the third row from the front. I grasped my courage, and their hands, and calmly walked to those places. For the most part, the boys behaved beautifully. They (mostly) sat during the sitting parts, they (mostly) stood during the standing parts, they kind of knelt at the kneeling parts. Boo only fell off the kneelers once. Bink only bopped his head on the loud wooden seat twice. And they managed all this sitting, standing and kneeling without the usual diaper bag of books and quiet toys for distractions, since Mommy didn't have time to throw one together. Towards the end of church, during one of the kneeling parts, Bink suddenly dove underneath the pew exclaiming about something there! I tried in vain to get him out, but he persisted in grabbing the item that had so excited him. He twisted and squirmed in my hands. So, rather then subject the whole church to a Bink scream (which can hit octaves not present in the normal human and is quite painful) I allowed him to grab his precious object. He got ahold of it, promptly turned to me and deposited it in my hand with great ceremony and all seriousness. I was now the proud owner of a dead fly. I sincerely thanked him, as the poor lady behind us tried to stifle her laughter. How she managed I'm not quite certain, but it must have been a heroic effort on her part. I managed to not break into laughter myself, but I'm not certain how. He was so cute and serious. I wasn't quite certain what exactly to do with it in the middle of church. But saying eww, yuck just wasn't going to work, he was so proud of his find I just couldn't bring myself to crush him in any way. Just thinking about it now causes me to giggle almost uncontrollably. When Bink wasn't looking I brushed it back onto the floor. Church ended about ten minutes later. Without any huge meltdowns or screaming fits. All in all, except for the dead fly, it was a pretty good attempt at church. Even in the third row from the front. (Comment on this)