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As promsied Miz Shoes has posted about the dress we found while shopping last weekend. I’ll let you go see for yourself, as far as I’m concerned there are truly no words. Just remember what you are looking at is the print on the fabric ... not a crocheted dress. Fiber artists and fashionista’s beware, you are about to be offended at a very deep level!
I was cleaning off the camera disk and found this photo I took a few days ago. One of Mackenzie’s favorite ‘toys’ is a cardboard tube, in this case a wrapping paper core, but she’s also happy with paper towel rolls too. It was a difficult photo to take, because when I got down on her level she just couldn’t resist the urge to crawl toward me and swab my head with her big pink tongue, heh.
Poor D. He spent the entire weekend building and installing software on his new computer, and several more hours trying to get Windows to play nice with a conflicting program. Once it was up he celebrated by visiting one of his favorite sites and downloading wallpaper, and then spent some time playing the game. Monday morning he turned it on to find it completely corrupted by a virus and he had to start over ... it is still not up. If you guessed that he didn’t install the virus protection program first, you’d be right. Like I said, poor D.
He and I took off of work yesterday to drive to Tampa and have his car worked on. It is about to go out of warranty and one of the power windows failed. Normally this trip is pleasant, if a little boring, due to all the waiting. Yesterday was somewhat less, though that was mostly my fault, or rather the fault of the medication I’m taking. I’m feeling a little puny, as my grandmother would say. Nothing that can’t be easily ignored, but still rather ‘blech’. Given all the possible side effect listed on the antibiotic I’m really not surprised. I’m going to give it a couple more days, but if it persists I’ll be seeing if he can change the choice of drugs. I have to go back next week for some blood tests anyway – just the annual stuff (ie: cholesterol, glucose, etc.). Saturday I’ve got to go to a local lab for the biggies: sed rate, cardiac crp and three others that I can’t read (do they teach doctors to write illegibly?). Basically tests for infection, inflamation and possible heart problems (see Greenie, he’s being thorough- heh). I should have all the answers in two weeks, when I go back for a progress check.
Hopefully I’ll get it all under control (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) before the big road trip. I can’t believe we’re less than 30 days from driving to Wisconsin to visit D’s folks. I am suddenly feeling a little stressed about it as there are hundreds of little things to get done before then. Not to mention that we have no plans ... none. Not a single hotel reservation even, and being controlling a planner, that flips me out! But I’m trying to keep my anxiety to a minimum and think instead of all the neat places we hope to visit: House on the rock, Madison, The Dells, and more that he’s mentioned and I’ve forgotten. And, if we get our timing right, we’ll be stopping in Atlanta, GA to visit my brother (and if I’m very, very, lucky the Georgia Aquarium).
Till then, I’ll just try to control plan the things I can: pet care, plant care, hurricane prep, yard care, house cleaning, plus arrangements at work (two weeks is a long time) and a bazillion other things I’ve certainly forgotten. Best of all I’ve made arrangements to borrow a lap-top, and, providing I can find wireless access, I’ll be taking you all along for the ride.
Caution!!! Gross photo below. Most of you just scrolled down, but at least this way you can’t say you weren’t warned. Yes, those are my legs, my poor red, mostly fat but slightly swollen, legs, and they are the reason for today’s doctor visit. Happily, he didn’t even lean a millimeter toward heart failure, rather he announced that I have a bacterial infection in the skin. A fairly nasty one based on the heat coming off of the red places, that is caused by / and causes poor circulation. Basically the blood vessels there are stewing in their own waste which is leaking out of them ... gross eh? Weight is a factor, though he is happy with my loss so far, but so is the fact that I ‘tuck’ when I sit. If I’m in an office chair, which I usually am, my legs are usually bent beneath the chair so my feet rest on the roller spokes. I do it with my left leg when I drive (notice which one is worse?). I do it when I sew, and wonder why my ankles swell - duh! I’m hoping he’s right, because I honestly couldn’t be happier to have an infection. There is concern though that the infection will break through the skin, resulting in a large and painful ulcer.
The solution? A round of antibiotics, two rounds of an anti-inflammatory, a cushion for my chair that prevents me from ‘tucking’, a stool under my desk to put my feet up on*, and EEEEK, support hose. He assures me that support hose are no longer the hideous orange things my grandmother wore. I do not know how I managed to keep my jaw from dropping when he announced that they are $30 a pair! It’s a good thing my dating days seem to be done, I can’t imagine there’s a large population looking for women who wear support hose!
*I tried for a note allowing me to put them on the desk. Dr. P. does not find me funny.
I’ve successfully finished my class today and although I feel like my brain is bleeding out my ears I still enjoyed it. In fact, part of me wishes that I had Excel at home so I could be trying out a few of the new tricks I learned right now.
Sunday, however, was a different story—in other words no bleeding brains, just fun, chatter and laughter. Oh, and a maragherita - heh. I drove up to Sarasota to meet with Miz Shoes, the RLA and their friend Star. I did everything wrong getting there, from getting stuck in traffic on the interstate to breaking my gps - and not bringing the printed directions with me. When it was all said and done I was fully thirty minutes late (well past the ‘1 ish’ we had planned) and certainly not likely to make a good impression. Happily, I brough bribes in the form of tote bags full of goodies and I was quickly forgiven. Ok, the bags had nothing to do with it, Miz Shoes is just nice that way (don’t tell anyone I let her secret out). We had great burgers and conversation interrupted only by a rather buxom and innebreated woman who wanted to know if we “were blogging this” and had we found our missing person (me). Miz Shoes says she has alwasy attratced such folks. I figure she’s got easy access to free entertainment - heh.
Then we went shopping, and entertained ourselves by finding the most hideous articles of clothing you can imagine. We found so many we ran out of appropriate adjectives and resorted to grunts and gags. One dress in particular amazed us so much that Miz Shoes took a photo. Knitters, fiber artists, and fashionistas beware! This one is a multi-tasking monstrosity! When she posts it I’ll be sure to share a link.
All in all it was a fine way to spend a rainy Sunday, and totally worth shaving my legs for. Thanks for the invite Miz shoes! It was a blast.
Tomorrow I’m off to the doctor, to begin the process of discerning what is going on with my legs. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Yesterday was a whirlwind of activities, everything from a hair cut, to homemade lasagna with my dad and step-mom, and D to celebrate his birthday, to yard work and detailing my truck. But one of the nicest things I did was to wade through my ‘rose garden’, just before a storm and collect tiny blooms from each of the plants to make this little bouquet. The center pink rose is ‘my grandmother’s rose’; a gift from the Tribe when she died, as is the tiny orange one below it. The varigated red is called ‘4th of July’, and the varigated pink ‘Soaring Spirits’, a commerative rose for the victims of 9-11. My little garden isn’t much, and the plants are stunted and often poorly, its just too damn hot here. But every once and a while they have flowers for me.
You know those days that just don’t go anything like you expected they would? Well, that was yesterday. I expected to mow through some serious paperwork and get ahead on next week’s end of month. Instead, most of my morning was spent with a cell phone sales person, setting up our new account and building ‘call lists’ in the new phones. Then my dad called and asked me to hitch up the trailer and go pick up a new refrigerator because his had died.
The trailer and I have a love hate relationship. I love that I have the ability to tow it and back it into any space - often on the first try. I hate worrying about things on the trailer; are they tied down well? Will it turn over on this turn? Is that ass-hat behind me going to park his Humvee in the trailer? Luckily the only incident in the delivery process was the location of the warehouse; smack in the middle of every rail-road track Fort Myers has. It was one slow, teeth grinding trip but the refrigerator did arrive in one piece and upright!
The next hurdle, of course, was disassembling removing the old unit, which obviously was meant to live out all of its days (working or not) in my dad’s kitchen. It’s not hugely wider that the door it had to go through ... oh, no. It’s a maddening 1/4” too wide. To add to the difficulty the door is out of plumb, so that the fridge had to be tipped forward slightly to go squarely through the door. A tough job for two people, especially if one of them has zero upper body strength (me). But we managed.
The new unit came off the trailer ok, but the dead lift up the front steps was close to impossible. We had to remove the doors and drawer on it, but again we managed and it is now safely ensconced in its new spot, humming quietly to its self. By the time I got the trailer back to the shop it was 5pm, and time to go. I tore outta here, zipped home, grabbed a shower, and took D to dinner and a movie* for his birthday. It was a very full, and adventurous day!
On an unrelated note, I am positively awful when it comes to recognizing actors away from the role I know them in. Its like a word on the tip of my tongue, I know I should know them, but my brain just can’t make the connection. This is particularly true when the two roles are very different from each other. Case in point: I was watching ‘Stewart Little’** and Mr. Little said something. A little light went on in my brain, and I thought “I know that voice”, so I paid more attention to his scenes. And for once my brain came through ... “Oh my gawd! It’s House!” I screamed and fell into uncontrollable laughter. Gruff ole House in that squeeky clean role just cracked me up ... in fact, just thinking of it now still does!
* We saw ‘Cars’ and absolutely loved it. A definite must see!
** Sorta watching really, I like having things I’ve see a zillion times going in the back ground. And yes, I’m a sap - ok, I admit it, I love kid’s shows!
Wow! It’s amazing how far behind two days away can put you ... proof that time waits for no one! Here’s what has happened:
• Dan at Chucklehut posted a lovely photo of his handsome son with the two softies I made for him ... I feel famous ... here’s the post, and here’s the photo. Drop him a late happy father’s day while you are there ... he just celebrated his first!
• I received a lovely package from the Stripey Tiger herself, packed full of Aussie goodness. I posted at Our Tribe site if you want to see photos and see all the pretty things she sent me. Thanks again, Stripey, it is all so great!
• I so loved my Excel class that I am seriously considering taking the ten week Excel or Word expert course. Much of it is far more in depth than I’d probably ever use. I’d be taking it solely for the joy of learning something new (my high school self just turned over in her grave).
• Brad at Almost Lucid posted photos of his beautiful daughter with two softies I sent her, one is technically for her little brother, but I’m betting from the photo’s that they’ll both be living in her room, hehe. Be sure when you visit to read his PitBull post, the blurb about ‘every day being father’s day’ is just lovely.
• And finally, I got an email this weekend from the talented Miz Shoes. It seems she’s going to be in my neck of the woods next week and was kind enough to think of me and ask if I’d like to meet up with her. I fired off a ‘hell yeah!’ so fast she probably thinks I’m a bit strange. Worse, once I sent it I realized that I don’t own a single pair of shoes I consider ‘cool’ enough to meet here in ... darn, forced shoe shopping, oh the pain, lol.
Class went well, the instructor is a great teacher, and the class is packed with interesting folks. There are twelve of us, nine women and three men, whose ages range from maybe 25 to 90, though the majority are in the 40’s. Skill levels are extraordinarily varied, one lady was lost pretty much all the way through—there were moments when I wondered if she’d ever seen a computer. The man sitting next to me (swooningly handsome) obviously has some experience with the program, as he gets bored and takes off on his own. A few of the ladies are also, as they had solitaire up on their computers whenever the instructor stopped and aided the dingy chick in the front row. I’m somewhere in the middle, and learned quite a bit how to do what I already do, but in the most efficient manner.
As an added bonus there is a culinary school at the Vo-Tech, so lunch was a choice of roasted lamb, chicken stuffed with apple, a pork stew, chicken fritters, and pesto crusted flounder. There was a huge and lovely variety of veggies, rice, bean salad, red cabbage salad, ceasar salad with a pretty toasted parmesean ‘cracker’. And, oh my, the desserts, chocolate cake with chocolate mousse, ice cream bomb, peanut butter truffle torte. I abstained from dessert, but let me tell you it wasn’t easy! Best of all, my lunch of flounder, red potatoes, bean salad and cauliflower was $4.50! And better still, anyone can walk in off the street and have lunch on a weekday! I may have stumbled into one of the area’s best kept secrets!
I probably wont be around tomorrow as I have class again, and then have to rush off to the dentist for round three .. blech!
Even after spending the entire day at work on Saturday I managed to get thirteen hats into production and finish them on Sunday morning. You can see Greenie wearing one here. I finally managed to get a an understanding of how they needed to go together to make them neat, sturdy, and less mind boggeling to me. I believe I did them in about five hours ... 30-45 min a hat is way better than the two and a half hours it was taking. I will probably be making one for myself, they just seem perfect for keeping paint out of your hair.
You may have noticed that I’m blogging extra early today, that’s because I’m off to school. I am taking a class today and tomorrow at a local Vo-Tech. Nothing exciting, just on a compter program called Excel (spread sheets). I expect to be a little bored today, as this is the beginner’s class and I do have a working knowledge of the program, albiet a small one. I must say, I haven’t been to school in 15 years, and it feels a little strange. I’ll let you know this afternoon how it goes.
The lovely Georgia let me know today that her Backtack Bunny did arrive safely after all, in fact it has been there for almost a week – WHEW!
Let me review the rules we were following before I show you the finished rabbit:
-Finished object* should be no more than 20cm tall (about 7.5 inches)
-Colors to be black and white with a one addition color not to exceed 20% of the finished piece
-Should include 5 buttons
-Should have the recipient’s initial
So here’s the finished bunny. She is made from my own pattern, mostly because I have a thing for overlong ears and I didn’t want to change Hilary’s pattern, that she so nicely provided for the Backtackers. Bunny’s buttons are in obvious spots, eyes, nose (doncha just love the little heart), tail and one on her ear bow. I’m most proud of where the initial is.
See it.
No? How ‘bout a little closer.
There ya go. I used upper and lowercase ‘G’s’ and created a pattern with the one allowed color. I printed it with a color printer on some special ‘fabric paper’ and used it to line her ears and for her tail (sorry no pic). Overall I’m pleased with her, and the pattern I devised, though I do think the feet need some work. I’ve made some since without feet, and though they don’t stand on their own they are still cute. Once again Backtack was hair pulling, stressful, worrisome and marvelous fun! Thanks to my maker Duff for my lovely kitty, and to Georgia for loving her bunny so, and mostly to the fine moderators of Backtack, Nicole and Alison for all their hard (unpaid) work and patience! Once again ladies, Well Done!
Ok, I’m at work this fine Saturday morning, trying to catch up on all that didnt get finished during the week - while it’s quiet and interruptions are at a minimum, and I’d better get back to it. Besides the ole iPod just hit ‘Ziggy Stardust’ and I gotta go sing! Again, a fine weekend to you all!
*A rarity around her eh?
Jussi teased me mightily yesterday by putting a photo of new fabric on her blog. It bothered me so much that I had to stop at the fabric store on the way home. Actually that is Greenie’s fault, I needed elastic for her hats. I made the mistake of allowing myself to browse through the fabric, and of course I found some suitable for the bag I am hoping to make for myself. Funny, isn’t it how I always seem to get to the fabric store on pay day - hee.
So here’s what I found, moving clockwise: big green flowers = main body of bag, small print on cream = accents, pocket(?), bag closure, blue cotton print = bag lining, solid moss / olive green = straps, bag bottom, accents (?). Right now that is the only plan I have, got no plan, got no ideas, I’m just going to let it ride and see what happens. How’s that for a ‘comfort zone’ challenge?!?
I wish you all a wonderful and relaxing weekend!
The smell of burning tooth hit my olfactory nerves and sparked a memory. I thought of the “Bill Cosby Himself” show and the portion of it specifically related to dentists.
“Smoboke! Smoboke! There is smoboke combing obut u’ba mmby moubuth!”
I got tickled, and the dentist, a self proclaimed chicken, mistook the crinkling of the corners of my eyes as a flash of pain and instantly stopped what he was doing to ask if I was ok. I rudely answered with a question; had he ever seen the show? I could tell he grinned behind his mask.
“I was with three other dentists when I saw that, we laughed so hard we nearly peed ourselves!”
I had another little giggle when he pulled out the ‘caulking gun’ (for making the impression).
“No,” he said, “Don’t be thinking how excited the boyfriend will be, I’m not caulking it shut.”
Folks, I have finally found a dentist I can love!
It was a pretty uneventful visit, and this one was to be the worst of the three. I can already tell I will be sore when the numbness wears off but given that each shot took well over three minutes to administer, I don’t expect to feel my face again ‘till next Thursday. Seriously, my right eye-ball is numb.
I’m pretty happy it’s gone so well, I had put this appointment off for a few years. Partially because I didn’t like my last dentist, but mostly because I’m not a big fan of doctors in general. Once, my grandfather complained of occasional chest pain and my uncle asked if he’d seen a doctor. His response? “Why would I do that, he might tell me I’m sick!” I used to think that was a silly response, but the older I get the more I lean toward his philosophy. For me to make a trip to the doctor something has to be falling off. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I have to make so many doctor’s visits a year, or just a better understanding of my own mortality that has turned me chicken, but either way I generally put it off way too long.
Lately I’ve been worried about my health, specifically my heart. Several years ago my second rheumatologist (the first lost his licence for fondling little old ladies) noted the ugly red places on my shins and said they were just part of scleroderma and I’d just have to get used to them. My current rheumatologist didn’t agree and suggested that next time I see my general practioner that I should mention that I have ‘pitting edema’ in my legs, that’s been 6 or 8 months ago. In the last few weeks that condition has gotten worse, and my legs have become very tender.
Online research suggests causes ranging from ‘just because’ to heart failure. Being from a long line of ‘worriers’ and ‘doom sayers’ I jumped right to heart problems, and I’ve lost a fair amount of sleep over it. Today, though, I made an appointment to have it checked out. I can’t say I feel any better about it, mostly because I have pretty good idea about the barrage of tests he’s going to require, and the related expense. But, I know it has to be done, and probably should have been done years ago. I’m holding pretty tight to the fact that I had a chest x-ray on my last rheumatologist visit (he is interested in lung condition) and that those are read by an x-ray tech, who would have noted any other anomalies – or, that’s what I’m hoping. At least now I can loose sleep over the doctor’s visit in two weeks instead of believing I might have a heart attack any second 
* If you’ve never seen it, and like Bill, do yourself a favor and watch it. He covers everything from parenting, to dentists to getting drunk, and it is seriously funny! In fact, I am wondering how it is possible that I don’t own this DVD.
I have about ten minutes in the mornings between my walk and my shower, that I use to check my e-mail and watch a little of the morning news. Normally there are only one or two e-mails, and those are generally junk, but this morning I had a lovely e-mail from Mr. Chucklehut himself, and even better, it came complete with photos*! Of what? Why, of Mr. Chucklehut Jr, who is quite possibly one of the cutest kids ever and two softies I pawned off on him. The best thing about sending little gifties around the world (other than the giving, of course) is getting to see them at play, especially in little hands. Thanks, Chuckles, you made my day.
In other softie news, the Backtack Outstanding List is getting shorter by the minute and I am still on it. I feel like rounding-up all the people I’ve done swaps with and organizing a letter writing campaign to prove that I’m really not a schmuck! In truth, it is sad that they even have to have a list like that, its just so easy to follow the rules. There isn’t a thing I can do, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it freaks me out a little that all those crafters, over a hundred of them, will think I’m a cheater who gets but doesn’t give. *sigh* Oh well, time will tell.
I think in the near future I’ll be working some more on the bunny pattern, making some refinements and posting the pattern over at Dragonfly Designs. I just really like the shape, and am especially fond of the overlong ears. When the bunnies are small, like the one for Backtack was, they are especially endearing. I do have to come up with better eyes though, buttons are cute but have to be removed to be safe for children. I have tried painting, it’s much safer, but I am nothing but heavy handed when it comes to a paint brush—Brad at Almost Lucid will have proof of that in a few days - har. Which leaves applique or embroidery, which equals ‘hand work’ – heavy handed does not adequately describe my handwork - heh. First though (yes, Greenie, after the hats) I think I’m going to make myself a bag. I don’t sew for myself very often, but my purse broke last week and this should be the perfect opportunity.
As a totally unrelated aside, my brilliant plan has worked. All this talk of replacing my computer, or *shudder* building my own has put a major bug up D’s butt. He’s been buried in computer magazines for a week now, checking out specs and custom builds. I expect by this weekend he’ll have the components for HIS new computer ordered and once they arrive I’ll be getting his old one, which I understand can make toast if you know how to ask it right. Clever girl aren’t I?
*I’m not convinced I have the right to share his photos here, but he did say he may post them on his site someday and I’ll be sure to link when he does. You can visit him for oodles of cuteness, and see the two softies I sent here and on the May 30 entry (scroll down - I still cant make the permalink work - grrr).
At work we are in the midst of ‘vacation hell’ and the resulting shorthandedness left me in the office by myself for several hours this morning. I locked the front door, so no one could sneak in while I was in the warehouse, and juggled the phone and a pile of paperwork. Though help returned I can’t say that the pile reduced itself overmuch. We are not overly busy, but the constant interruptions make it difficult to maintain any kind of pace (or train of thought). Long story short: someone should call D and advise him to be waiting at the door with a RC in his hand – in fact if you’d like to suggest he make dinner as well there is a frozen pizza on hand that I know he can tackle - heh.
And now for a little consumerism:
Have you tried RedRum (hehe - redrum, redrum, redrum) yet. All I can say is ‘yummmm’! I’m not generally a straight rum drinker, but this stuff is quite tasty all by itself and chilled. It also makes a fine rum punch, and I’m betting a great pina colada too. The Voodoo was also pretty tasty, but seemed too fine to mix with coke so I didn’t buy any. The lady passing out samples did not offer any Jolly Roger so I can’t pass judgement there.