Two Weeks in a Row

I've actually posted on Tuesday, two weeks in a row. Yay me.

Wednesday was an all day retreat for work. I got some tatting done during the meetings; as usual it's my fidget-y habit. I got a bracelet done. It's in green and white thread with dark green beads. I've blocked it but not taken a picture yet.

I've also done some kumihimo with some faux leather cord mom picked up at a thrift shop. There's also some hemp cord. I've been looking at the cord but haven't decided which colors to use or pattern. There's at least 2 or 3 sizes of hemp thread. So I turned to some cotton cord. It's not fancy but it still looks nice; hey, I'm using packing string but you'd be surprised how well it turns out.

I was supposed to go see Mom this weekend, but the storms or something gave me a headache. I didn't get much done. Ditto Sunday. I got laundry done, at least.

I'm going to try and go see Mom this weekend instead. I'd really like to take care of her car, but it's 'someone to drive me there, help me jumpstart it, and then follow me home.' And that's not easy.

CD had to miss a couple classes last week. One of his tires went flat and his spare was low. So it was off to the shop to get the tire replaced. At least the spare was only low and didn't need to be replaced, too. On the other hand, the zipper of the cover for the spare tire had more or less welded or something. He had to cut it off. He had to buy a new cover. He got one that uses elastic instead. Maybe it will last better. The zipper only lasted like 10 years.

Yesterday, there was a frog drowner as I waited for the bus. It started raining as I left work and came down hard as I waited. It was still raining when I got off the bus, but not as hard. Today, the exact same thing happened, but it only spitting when I got off the bus today. At least I had my emergency umbrella. One poor woman yesterday did not have an umbrella and she was wearing a white shirt. Another woman was wearing white pants. I heard her wringing out her summer sweater, and I heard splashing. Poor woman. 

I do have some pictures. So, are thistles edible?

More plants (tomatoes and peppers and herbs and some big-leaf plant)

Thanksgiving and other stuff

For US-type people, Thursday is Thanksgiving. I have noted which stores will be open on Thursday, because I will NOT be shopping at any of them this holiday season. This is a bit hypocritical of me because I am going out to eat on Thursday. I am thankful for the staff who are making my meal possible.

Last Thursday, I had a 'fun' migraine; my head did not really hurt but I suddenly lost half my field of vision. Thankfully (there's that word again), Excedrine migraine took care of which. I am especially thankful because I was out to eat before gaming and driving with half your field of vision gone seems like a really bad idea.

I went to see Mom this past weekend. I saw something shocking; I saw gas for less than $2/gallon. I'll pause while you recover from the shock. We did a little shopping (I needed some electrical tape) but mostly we worked on organizing her yarn stash. Considering she mostly 'inherits' yarn, her stash is quite large.

Here's something cool; a huge archive of American (US I think) folk and blues music available online for free. Here's the story about it.

I had a dental appointment on Monday, so the only tatting I've really done are the little 1-ring, 5 -picot flowers. Strings of them. My mouth is still a trifle sore.

flowers, late blooming

sunset

sunset and autumn leaves

just outside my office

On Friday, as I was walking home in the dark, I managed to miss the sidewalk. It was on a downslope and not only did I fall down, my shoulder/teardrop purse tried to flip over my head. My hair got caught, but luckily I was with someone and she untangled my hair so I could move. I scraped up my knee and my iPad popped right out of the hardshell/keyboard case. On the bright side, it fell on my notebook and only cracked one corner of the screen. I didn't rip my pants either. I'm still a tiny bit sore, though.

And in other news, I've broken 21000 words in my Nanowrimo. But writing meetings are hard.

Whoops! I forgot

Sorry, I forgot to write and post my blog post on Tuesday. I remembered two days later. To be fair, I woke up Monday with a horrible migraine. I took some painkillers, they didn't work so I called in sick. I took some more painkillers and slept away the worst of my migraine. I finally felt up to having a light on about mid-afternoon. I didn't turn on the tv until about 6 or 7 pm, I just couldn't stand the light or noise until then.

Our new hot water heater was installed last week. It took about 5 hours. I immediately hurried to work and just missed the bus. Since I had an hour before the next one would arrive, I dropped off some things (the stuff from last Tuesday) at Goodwill. Of course, the next bus was late.

Saturday was supposed to be another session of Wardens of the Reborn Forge, but one of the players was out and another player had guests. The other player brought his guests and rather than have them sit around, potentially bored, CD ran We Be Goblins, Too instead. 

Sunday, the Triangle Tatters met. There were 14 of us at the meeting. I showed a couple people something about tatting with beads and my bead spinner. I loaded some beads for another bracelet. L (of Something Under the Bed fame) brought a selection of her books and I found one I really want. It has bracelet patterns.

I decided I didn't really like the iPad Air, I wanted a regular iPad. Of course, I didn't find out the Apple store didn't actually have any, in stock or online, until after I'd returned the Air. I'm not happy about that. I guess I'll try Edward McKay, etc to find one. In the meantime, I have no camera or camera-like object, unless I pull out my 35mm. And I have no ebooks, except on my laptop.

I've gotten quite a bit done on my edging; it's more than 24" long now. But I made a mistake and I'm trying to open a ring and it's being stubborn.

The heat is supposed to break soon. I'm sick and tired of the head after ~2 weeks of heat indexes around 100F.

I WON!

I won a TotusMel bracelet from Choklit. I'm squee'ing I'm so happy. I missed her announcement so she contacted me on Twitter. Wasn't that nice of Choklit?

Yes, I still have my migraine. Thank goodness for pain medication. I still have the headache, but unlike years ago when my only option was extra strength acetimoophen, or a relative, I am not curled in a ball in darkened room, whimpering. Yes, I have done that. My pillow hurt, it was that bad.

TIAS Day 5 & not much else

Here is Day 5 of Jane's TIAS














And here's Day 1 & 2, with Day 5 (which includes days 3 & 4)

Sign that your headache is actually a migraine. You take pain medication & your nausea disappears.

I'm off to Jacksonville, NC for a 3-day weekend. Family time. Don't have too much fun without me.

One More State Fair picture & wristlet photos

I did not want to post this picture until I talked to Anitra. For me, I don't post pictures of other people, identifiable ones anyway, without hearing from them.

 Here's one of the scarves that I made, both on & off the pocket knitter.

 

And here's the wristlets (see Friday's post), starting, begun and on my hand (I wanted to do this cool, left, center, right thing, but just couldn't figure out how).

They are a little small for me but they'll be perfect for my assistant. Or my niece. Both might get a pair.


More exciting health news. I found the sudafed that I had left from the last cold that I had. Turns out it's 'non-drowsy formula A', that 'A' for 'Awake.' As in, I got 4 hours of sleep & feel completely rested. Since I'm an 8 hour a night type person, you can see why that's a little weird. Although, to be fair, I might not have woken up at 2:30 am if it hadn't been for the migraine.

Migraine fun - not so much
A cold front moved in last Sunday, at about 11:12 pm. Guess how I know? Yep, steep drop in barometric pressure = I'se has a migraine. It took two hours for my Excedrine migraine to kick enough that I could put my head down on the pillow. Yes, my head hurt so much that the weight of it on a pillow was too much pressure.

Monday, I still had it, as well as less than 5 hours of sleep, but I was able to function. Thank you OTC migraine meds. I was stupid with pain and painblockers, but I was functioning, so I went to work. I woke up with morning, still with the headache. I am really tired of being in pain. But at least, it faded to a mere headache level pain.

After a couple days, I felt like I could pick up my tatting again. And promptly messed up a ring. Which I noticed after I made the subsequent chain. I retro-tatted & *successfully* opened the ring & corrected it. Yay me! I'm not on motif 6 of the 9 to the next corner.

Work was less than a thrill with the pain but I got through it.

Sorry for the interruption but lunch just arrived.

Weekend with Mom
I'm off to see Mom this weekend. I'll drive down tonight & come back on Sunday. I need to make certain that I have the things for her; chopsticks, video tape, etc.


I started this on Friday...you see how far I got.

Anyway, the visit would have gone pretty well; the traffic wasn't too icky and although I got there later than I planned, I made it before full dark. Saturday morning, over breakfast, I was bragging that I hardly ever get migraines anymore. Yeah, I know, mistake. Guess what hit me that afternoon. There went 4 hours, asleep, with something over my eyes as even the light coming through my eyelids was too much. At least I didn't reach the sound sensitive stage too.

Neat family stories: my mom's oldest sister went to lots of dances, with two dates every time. She had one date for the slow dances & another one for the fast ones. She taught Mom how to jitterbug.

Mom grew up in Havelock, NC; near Cherry Point. Somehow they got hold of a defective parachute and they (grandmother et al) made a skirt for that aunt from it. It had so many yards of fabric that they had to cover a leather belt to hold the fullness.

The first gift the man who would become her husband gave her was a rifle. He also taught her to shoot.

Mom loved her in-laws. Both families got along great. Dad's older sister is eerily similar to Mom's oldest sister & Dad's step-sister eerily reminiscent of the sister immediately older than mom (I mean, both married pharmacists, who both owned drugstores; both women helped their husband in the store on occasion, and both never left the house without looking like they'd just come out of a salon).

Had to start back too early on Sunday but I had a cushion of time to get gas. That turned out to only take half as long as I thought it would. So I had plenty of time to wash my hair before Sunday's activities (love my mom, hate the smell of cigarette smoke).

Gaming: We had a great time playing Shadowrun. Too bad Mike couldn't make it. He was suffering, both from illness and from massive guilt (for not making it). It was kind of funny, none of us really knew what we were doing. I was the only one who had even played 4th edition Shadowrun. I think the gm & I were the only ones who had read the rules. I found a great character dossier thing; too bad it looks like it's for 3rd edition. I may be able to use it anyway. I'm going to try.

The conversations were great, during & after. I love geek convo's. Where else can the talk range from the direct to DVD Wonderwoman cartoon to the casting of the Green Hornet movie, the success/failure of modern Pulp era movies, & the history of Charlie Chan. And that's just a sampling.

I did see the oddest tanline on Sunday. Older gent who obviously usually wears socks; from mid-calf down he was about as white as I am. Then toasty brown until just about his knees, then variable brown up to the hem of his shorts. It was kind of like a tan-line trainwreck. It was hard to pull your eyes away from the horror.

More Gaming: They were short of GM's at the local gamestore for Thursday's Living Forgotten Realms. So I volunteered to run. That gives me 2 days to read, research & know what I'm doing. Frankly, I'm okay with missing playing a game. LFR just doesn't grab me like LG or some of the other "living" campaigns have.

Tatting: I've been working a little on that new edging for my hankie. I should take a picture and post it. It's variegated brown & the pattern is from the same tatting book that I got the last edging from. If I get stuff done, I'll edit this post with the exact pattern & maybe a picture.

I also added the button for TattingChic's 50,000 visitor giveaway. I wasn't going to enter but I have a friend who'd like to learn and this would help her.

Rain, we have RAIN! Okay, so the temperature dropped the rest of the day. Surprisingly, the incoming pressure front did not give me a migraine. I am very pleasantly surprised, and pleased. On the other hand, I don't know whether to blame the weather, my dash down the hill to catch the bus yesterday, or just my own ill-health for the way my knees have been aching for the past day. Last night was agony. Today, it only hurts.

book: I read a little bit of Almost a Princess but didn't have time or hands for much reading (balancing a jacket, an umbrella & the book made it difficult while waiting for the bus).

tatting: I finally got the shuttles loaded but I had to pack last night & didn't get any tatting done. I got a little bit done tonight. I am about halfway through one snowflake from Sunderman's book.

gaming: My registration for Regulatorcon still isn't showing up. *sigh*

The rain cleared by lunch but it had gotten cold & windy. So when Julie came to meet me for lunch, we stayed in the building.

clothes: black tank top (covered when I buttoned shirt), black Origins shirt, black slacks, black belt, same watch, same hematite band, hair in a ponytail/bun with black/brown hairsticks, Celtic knot earrings & ring, flower band, triskele in triangle pendant, & black half-boots.

I have a post from Saturday, I'll insert it later.

FE had their 20th Anniversary sale yesterday. I spent too much money. What a shock. I got a neato navy Battle of the Planets t-shirt for $5 and some old gaming books. I also picked up a couple manga to try.

Since a migraine woke me at 6 am, I took a nap after we got back home (we also stopped to buy candy for Wednesday). I woke to watch the end of Thirteenth Warrior. Then we watched Heartbreak Ridge but I went to bed soon after we started watching Midsummer Night's Dream.

books: I read the 7th volume of Her Majesty's Dog.

Donating platelets tomorrow. Whee!

tatting: almost halfway done now, I'm on the 20-something teardrop bead.

clothes: yesterday I wore my brown Hal-O-Scream shirt, jeans & white sneakers. I was going to wear brown loafers but my socks were too thick. Today (Autumn has finally arrived), black ankle shoe/boots (that I need to take to be re-soled, I want to do that on the way home), black jeans, burgundy knit shirt, heavy grey long-sleeved knit shirt, & Celtic knotwork jewelry.

I think that I finally got enough sleep last night. I think. I had a headache bad enough that only migraine meds toned it down, I don't know why. I tried to call Mom last night but for some reason my cell phone didn't charge on Sunday. So I had to plug it in last night. No charge=no call. That will be fun to explain to Mom tonight.

tatting: I started the Workbasket database. I think I'm going to need 2 of them. One will be a straight list of issues & the other will have what's in them, at least briefly.

books: I bought & read The Mirror Prince. It's a very good fantasy novel. The premise is that there was a war in the lands of the Riders (aka Faerie) and the Prince that lost got exiled to the Shadowlands (ie our world). Unfortunately, part of the Banishment removed the Prince's memories, so he's been living as a human all this time. Over & over. Now though, it's almost the end of the Banishment & someone (or someones) are after the Prince. Only the first few chapters take place in our world, the rest is all in the Lands. The writer did a good job of world-building. I think I'll keep an eye out for the next book by Violette Malan (it does not look like it has any connection to the Mirror Prince). I tried to read Newton's Cannon but just couldn't get into it.

tv: We watched Bones and Ninja Warrior. I listened to an episode of Pop-Up Video; it was one I'd seen before so I didn't watch it.

clothes: ~slippers, black slacks, green Harrington Steading shirt, moss agate bead bracelet, clip watch, green amber ring, flower band, hematite band, green amber necklace & post earrings. My hair is up in a ponytail/bun held by 2 chopsticks, black with a band of tan & black ink painting wrapped around the ends.

Migraine's still here. It's a residual background pain that never quite goes away. But then, a multi-day headache is one of the symptoms that distinguishes a migraine from a garden variety headache.

I don't know if it's the heat or the headache but I took a nap yesterday after I got home from work. I went to bed about half an hour early & then tried to sleep through my alarm clock. Not counting the nap, I had about 9 hours of sleep.

reading: I just couldn't face anything that requires real thought; so I'm re-reading something quasi-light - Penelope & Prince Charming. It's a Regency with a definite twist. He's the finally out of exile prince of Nvengaria (exiled by his own tyrant/madman of a father) & she's the long-lost Nvengarian princess that he must marry to fulfill the prophecy (or the head of the Council of Dukes will have him executed). Of course, the Duke is sending assassins to kill him anyway. There's some drama, some magic (mostly subtle - no fireballs), and definitely some sex.
Supper last night cost about $6, not including the sodas. The meat was a fairly cheap cut at about $3, the marinade (which softened & moistened the meat amazingly well) was about $1, and the package of mashed potatoes was about $1. I think we may have that meal more often. Wednesday night was spaghetti; another fairly inexpensive meal.

weather: It is still hot. Yesterday it hit 104F and it may get that hot again today. Blech.

clothes: today I'm wearing a dress that I picked up at a yard sale & have never worn before. Pear-shaped women should not wear tube dresses, even ones with ties. However, add an Empire waistline tunic over it & it is transformed. The dress is sleeveless, not-quite-scooped neck, mid-calf length with side slits to above the knee and is watercolor blue, aqua & navy with a hem of cream & black flowers reaching to the waist (scattered watercolor flowers with streaks of black for leaves & stems). Over it, I'm wearing a navy cotton gauze v-necked (to the waistband), Empire waistline tunic. I've added navy loafers, lapis earrings & ring, fem/dancer ring, hematite band, 3 women pendant & braided hair to complete the outfit. Jessica, one of my coworkers, was vastly impressed with the dress/tunic combo.

Still have the migraine.

sight of the day: tiny little black ants, very busy. The actual ant hill (I think) was about 20" long, along a crack in the sidewalk. But the trail of lots of busy little ants was another 9 feet, all along the same crack in the sidewalk. And when I say lots, I don't mean a half dozen or so; I mean a nigh unto solid trail of ants & the hilltop was so active it looked like it was moving. Tres bizarre.

And bright yellow bird with black wings, frightened from the planter at work.

tv: Women of Ninja Warrior 2 (3 women made it past stage 1 this time & 2 even made it to stage 3); X-Play, and Pop-up Video.

read: It's Witch Fire not Witch Hunt, and the question mark was The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. I also read the 2nd volume of Canon. Last night I read The Quantum Connection and part of Four Forges. This morning I'm re-reading Born in Death.

clothes: black & white skirt, black shoes, white polo, moonstone jewelry

Head still hurts but no nausea and less pain. Still carrying purse; too much effort to carry larger bag.

Good Trinic*con. Bought art & shirts. Ran games. Played games (LG only). Reed died again, twice (only 1 delay death to save her once). Started Caskishar.

Read yesterday. No computer. Hurts.
Witch Hunt, Not Quite a Lady & ?

weather: expecting 100F with heat index even higher. Orange ozone alert & rating 10 sun advisory.

Fire alarm at work; too hot to stay outside. Went to bookstore & bought books. Not something that I needed to do.

clothes: black shoes, pink skirt, white shirt, dragon jewelry.

Great weekend. Lousy Monday. Migraine. Nausea.

Migraine woke me up this morning. So I took my migraine pills, otc, and sat down to read. I want to straighten out my PDA issues but knew that trying to do anything on the computer while I have a migraine is just asking for trouble. The pain has faded to just a headache now and since we leave in an hour, I don't have much time to make it worse.

books: Something in the Water & Family Vault by Charlotte MacLeod & Wizard in Absentia. All three are re-reads & the 1st two are mysteries. I was weeding through my books (decided to sell all my Anita Blake books; it's not like I'm following that series any more) and suddenly caught the mood to re-read Wizard. Bought a number of Charlotte MacLeod books at the used bookstore; re-read Vault yesterday & Water today. Today I read Bilbao Looking Glass.

PDA: Am I cursed or something? I'm running the install (again) & I've reached the registration point. I get the 'checking for internet connection' & it stops. I get the 'not responding' & it won't even let me cancel. It looks like the only solution is to shut off the laptop & try again later.

tatting: got a little more edging done; maybe 2 or 3 repeats. wound some variegated purple on another shuttle; probably more butterflies.

movie: went to see the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movie last night. I don't understand the bad reviews. It had a lot of plot & some really good action/fight scenes.

Ran into Garrett & ate supper with him at 5 Guys. I probably talked too much, as usual.

Gaming today, Rosemary's game. Her internet is out (*&%$* Earthlink) & has been since Wednesday.

I had more post but accidentally wiped it out. Oh well.