improved.

Think I've almost nipped this damn cold in the bud! I'm still not 100%, but I actually got outside in the fresh air for a bit with the dogs at a dog park.

I don't know how I managed to stick to the no wheat, no dairy, no sugar thing during all of this (did I mention I put down the caffeine, too??)....but I did.

Hardly can say I'm feeling better, though *bwahahaha*. I've been so sick, I'd never notice!



Going to bed early. I'm going to try going to the zen center tomorrow.

improving.

Better than yesterday, but not by much.

Still sick. Would probably be feeling better, but I had to venture out today and get some fresh produce before MyFavoriteKid (and me!) gets scurvy. It really wore me out.

I cancelled teaching knitting at the senior center, and I let my co-dance teacher take care of class tonight.

Off to bed in hopes tomorrow is even better!

deathbed

This cold is kicking. My. Ass. !

I was so sure I'd gone over the hump, but woke up thismorning feeling even worse.
Happily, I was able to be flat most of the day, and TheMostImportantGuy showedup tonight with some homeopathic cold medicine that seems to be working better than anything else I have tried.

This cold has me feeling more gimped-out than my disability does!

-----
Sent from my iPad

trainwreck.

I'm a mess. I was so stuffed up last night, then when I tried to get horizontal, my head almost exploded. I took one of the pseudoephedrine tablets TheMostImportantGuy had picked up over the weekend for himself, and that turned out to be the worst idea ever. I haven't taken that stuff in well over 10 years, and I knew it did something else besides unblock my sinuses....I knew it either wired me out or put me to sleep.

I was aiming for put me to sleep.

Well, I was wrong. I was up almost the entire night clenching my teeth.

At least I could breathe through my nose.



As an added bonus today, I needed to replace a tire on my wheelchair that completely blew apart. It took a 45-minute drive each way, plus a 90-minute wait in the shop because they usually only work by appointment. They squeezed me in.


Sorry so whiny.
Just tired and sick and cranky :-(

I failed to dodge TheMostImportantGuy's nose-blowing stream o' germs, and now today, I have his cold. Seems all the lysol-ing of the remote controls and TheBagOfDeath (a paper sack we use to deposit used and deadly facial tissue) was all for naught.

*pout*

Serious pout, actually....because unlike him, it's not the weekend, it's Monday, and where he was able to veg-out all weekend in bed, I have TheDrill to contend with. Also unlike him, I have no one bringing me steaming hot bowls of soup (in fact, I had fed him all of the homemade soup I had left in the house, too!)

Since I had to be out of the house today, I made a stop at the market, and I just whacked out a huge pot of organic chicken soup. I have to say, I make a mean chicken soup. Almost as mean as my mom's, except it's missing matzo balls (even if I could make them, they have wheat *more pouting*).

So off I go, sipping my version of chicken soup, sipping some herbal tea, and hopefully getting to relax into an early bedtime.

weekend successes & failures

A couple big hits this weekend. And one giant flop.

In the hit side of the score box....


Red pepper-potato dip with crudites. I can't find a link for to recipe for you because it's from the brand spankin' new Sunset Magazine (Oct 2011). Super yummy. The first time we ate it, it was still warm, because the potatoes were still warm from boiling. The second time we ate it, it was chilled. Loved it both ways. My only adjustment would be to use less garlic. I believe the recipe was spot on, but my garlic cloves were huge, and I didn't adjust down to the average sized clove. I kind of figured why not though. TheMostImportantGuy was battling a cold, so I figured the more garlic the better...partially because it's good for you, and partially because he was so stuffed up, he could barely taste things!

Next super yummy thing I whipped up was Grilled Herbed Tofu with Avocado Cream, and hey look...there's even a link to it.

If you ever need to make something for a vegetarian, this was super delicious and fast. If you aren't vegetarian, make the sauce anyhow. It would be awesome on fish or chicken, or even as a dip.
The leftovers even held up well overnight (which is what you are seeing in the photo, actually). The trick with storing an avocado sauce overnight is to make sure no air gets to it. I just threw the tofu into a container, spooned the sauce on top, but instead of topping it with a lid, I used plastic wrap pressed into the container, right on top of the sauce. A bit of the sauce sticks to the wrap when you remove it, but whatever...that sauce stays green.

***By the way, thanks to all who are posting or emailing me links to websites that can help me with the food stuff! I am so thankful!!! Keep 'em coming! Please!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for the big fail this weekend.

I haven't been knitting much, but this weekend I pulled out my fall sweater project...because I'd really like to wear it while it is fall, for crying out loud.

I got it out, refreshed myself as to where I was in the pattern, and between Saturday and Sunday (and all the cooking, laundry, and helping out sick Boyfriend)....the sweater doubled in length.



And I was getting so excited, and then I saw a big fat mistake (which actually ended up being two mistakes, upon closer inspection).

And all my progress became this:



*sigh*

Well, I'm going to get back to it and see if I can catch myself up to where I was.

snapless saturday

MyFavoriteKid is off with his dad for the weekend.

TheMostImportantGuy has been in bed with a horrible cold all day.

I went to the zen center this morning.
Then I spent the rest of the day in the kitchen cooking up some awesome goodness so I could stuff my fridge with yummy foods that I can eat right now. I made some amazing rock star goodies, and...

I didn't take a pic of anything I plated, because I was so excited that I tasted everything before I thought to grab a camera! DUH


Wellp, I made enough of everything to last a couple of days, so I will try again tomorrow.

ohhh, but that aint the half of it!

In addition to kicking the caffeine, I also am not eating wheat, dairy, or sugar.



Which basically has me eating AIR.



More on all this soon. Right now I just have to go de-crabbify my attitude. LOL
aye aye aye

because i'm just to tired today

All I have worth sharing. There it is.

I went sans caffeine today, and I'm exhausted.
And a little crabby.

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Sent from my iPad

the kind of clean no one else sees

With all the work going on at the new house, the existing house (where I still happen to live most the time) has suffered.

I am doing a spring cleaning. In fall.

The kind of cleaning that you work at real hard, but no one else sees. Like going into cupboards and getting rid of all the expired foods or medicines. Or getting rid of those undies with the not-so-elastic-elastic. Or tossing out that shampoo that I didn't really like, but couldn't seem to toss out the day I decided I didn't like it (stupid LOL).

So it's the sort of cleaning you can spend all day doing, and you get a real sense of accomplishment, but then you close the doors to the cupboards and it doesn't look like you've done a damn thing, or like you've spent the day lounging on the couch eating bonbons or something.

I guess I could just go running around the house opening and closing things to make myself feel better!!

many parts a-smilin'

I'm not sure which part of me finds this video so pleasing...
the dancer in me?
the renovating/remodeling chick in me?
or is it that it touches the gal in me that sees herself growing old with her guy...?

Whatever.
It really tickles my fancy :-)



(sometimes blogger in certain browsers cuts off a portion of the screen, so here's a link to the video instead)

the blog is 6

Hard to believe....


....that I've been blah-blah-blah-ing for 6 years!

done done and done

We had one last box o' magnet. MyFK wanted to replace it with a desk. He wanted to be able to sit at an actual desk, in his own bedroom, rather than going into the den to study.

Fair enough.

And easy enough....because even though I helped with the classic IKEA cartoon directions, MyFK did most of the handiwork required for the assembly. He even played around with my power screwdriver/drill tool.

But.
With all of the IKEA cabinets I had put together at the new house, I have now officially had it with assembling IKEA furniture. For awhile, anyhow.

Probably a good long while, though!

snaps on saturday

Dressing the windows in the craftroom.











The old cotton & lace curtains were a find online.
The glass panels were made by a lady who turns old glass dishes into "stained glass". What's cool about them is that because they are dishes, they aren't flat. They have depth to them, too.
LOVE!

another football game

This time I remembered my knitting (and I got I spent time before going to the game figuring out where I'd left of the last time I set it down).

Except it's really hard to shake pom-poms and knit.

First sings of fall....




First signs of warm soup....



Was totally winging it, and also using up stuff from the fridge.
(all organic--woohoo!) Olive Oil ~ Yellow onion ~ Leeks ~ Celery ~ Carrot ~ Thyme ~ Garlic ~ Vegetable Broth ~ Water ~ San Marzano Tomatoes/Crushed ~ Butternut Squash ~ Northern White Beans ~ Broccolini ~ Lacinato Kale ~ S & P....topped with a smidge of parmesean cheese.

Mmmmmmmmm.

layers, baby...layers

Ok, so here's a revisit of what the bedroom at the new house looked like the last time I showed you.

We're still not done...there's a different lamp going on the other side of the bedroom that is still in it's box, and I am just throwing the finishing stitches on a green throw pillow for the bed made out of a sweater I felted, too.
But we've added a couple of touches, and here it is, as of today...


Here's a close-up of that old lamp I found. I love it because the base lights up separately (or together) with the actual lamp itself.

I dragged it with me to the store in all it's rickety glory, and I tried shade after shade on it. The very last shade in the store is the one I ended up liking. It's a chocolate brown with some gold streaks on it, and it looked ridiculously gawdy on the shelf. It looks great, and even better when it's lit.

And I love the texture on the glass of the lamp....which is somewhat mirrored in the bedding.

I wanted the bed to look like a business suit, but with some "girly" to it. Sort of like when a chick wears her man's business shirt around the house like nightshirt the next morning.
That feeling ;-)

With the shape of the lamp and the stitching on the white bedding, I was really trying to bring in some round curvy details to contrast against the squareness of the bed, not to mention the pinstripes on the navy duvet cover. Same idea with the wall mirror, which has a round beveled detail on it.

Here's the green glass I've been collecting for the other side of the room. It's on dresser that came from TheMostImportantGuy's family.

We actually are the type of folks that light candles and burn incense in the bedroom, so this isn't just a decoration for us. It's all functional. I think I might change out the sand I put inside of the glasses, though. There were lots of shades of sand to choose from at the big box craft store, and I went with the white...but I think it might need something darker. The white is kinda taking away from the glass, I think. The craft store also sold bags full of little green chips of tumbled glass. I might go that route instead.

That little dresser scarf there we actually found for $5 at Walgreens. It's an actual scarf. For around your neck. Not for your dresser. But whatever. Hahaha.




The nightstand was a splurge, but I adore it. It's sturdy as all get out and should last a lifetime. It's a modern spin on an old travel trunk, but they really focused on the details. The trim on the trunk is leather and wood and they used really nice upholstery tacks. The drawers are lined with some sort of fabric, and they open and close whisper quiet. Even though the thing is new, it just feels timeless to me, and that's why I don't mind dropping a wad on something like this. I also feel like it could work in other places around the house if we ever felt like mixing things up.

The flowers on it are fake, believe it or not. I prefer real flowers, but being that I'm only at this house on the weekends at this point, I couldn't be bothered....and how sad to always come for the weekend and arrive to last week's dead flowers?! Besides, these look deceptively real! They were also on the clearance rack ;-) Under six bucks.

The little books on the nightstand are actually fake little boxes that look like books, and they are there so that I have a place to toss my rings and watch into at night. Also scored at 60% off at the same big box craft store.

The chair was another splurge and not only do I have a mad hot crush on that chair, but I also have a funny story that goes with it...so I'll do another post about that sometime soon. The throw on it was also a sale find (I think ten bucks?)....and I love that it also has some round shapes to it, not to mention it is very soft and cozy. It will be used as a blanket, not just as decor.

So mission accomplished so far....we saved on some things so we could splurge on others, we've mixed old and new, mixed businessman with girly-girl...and so far it's feeling like a calming sexy little corner of the house.


There's a few more things going on in the room....like the whole other side of it, for example, but that's still "under construction".
One wall at a time!! LOL.

f student

Ya' know, I went and saw that new doc that I'm so excited about working with on August 30th, and I booked the follow-up to see him 3 weeks later (Sep 20) to discuss the results of that "very special" lab test kit he sent me home with.

If you recall, the test involved taking samples of things created when performing "very special" bodily functions. The test was set up to involve taking samples for 3 days, and then shipping it off to the lab in a pre-paid Fed-Ex box. The instructions said that the kit had to be returned within 4 days of the last sample.

Simple. No???

No.

I was given the kit on that Tuesday (in the afternoon, and my ship had already sailed that day, if ya' know what I mean). I suppose I could have done the test Wed-Thu-Fri...but I wasn't entirely sure if Fed-Ex would do a pick up Saturday, and then there was the Labor Day weekend involved, and well....there's yer 4-days. By my math, if I did Wed-Thu-Fri, that meant that I would have done the last sample on a Friday, Fed-Ex would pick up on Tuesday, and if all went well, it's 4-days....but if there is any delay with the package or Fed-Ex, it's a waste (pardon the pun)....and I'd have to the whole test over again.

So I decide to the the test Sun-Mon-Tue to go out Wed and get to the lab on Thu. Makes sense. Simple. No???

No.


I do the test on Sunday, but on Monday, I open up my little zip lockbaggy o' hazardous goodies for the day, including that lovely little paper french-fry boat, and everything in the bag is soaked. Apparently, the lid on the vial where I was supposed to deposit my "very special" bodily goop had not been seated properly, and the vial was leaking.

The kit's included instructions state that if any amount of liquid from the vial is spilled, discontinue the test immediately---the results will be incorrect. It says to call the 800 number for the company who makes the kits and they will send out another vial.

I call. They are closed. Of course they are. It's Monday, and it's Labor Day weekend. I leave a message, they of course, they do not return my call Tuesday morning....because they are probably dealing with an extra day's worth of backed up samples (another pun). I call the lab a second time Tuesday afternoon and they tell me it would be faster if I just went back to the doctor's office. Which I do. Even though it's a 45 minute drive. Each direction.

I get the kit home, and look it over so I can be prepared for the next day's events (I'd already missed Tuesday's boat entirely)....and that is when I realize that I have the wrong kit. This new kit comes with extra special things like medicine droppers and instructions to take the medicine I was prescribed (?) on the morning of the first test.

I call the doctor's office, but now it's so late in the day, they are closed. They call me back Wednesday morning, but only after I have now missed Wednesday's ship as well.

*sigh*

The MistressOfTheKits at the doctor's office says I can use the kit I was given, because it actually IS the correct one...THAT THEY HAD GIVEN ME THE WRONG KIT IN THE FIRST PLACE (??!!!) because it was all they had on hand. This new kit is does more extensive testing, but this new kit involves taking a laxative on the first day (yay me), which of course, I don't have AND...

...with all of these delays....the test results will now not be back in time for my follow-up appointment! My appointment is now moved out to October 4th.

*sigh* (again)

On Thursday, I go buy the laxative crap (I know, I'm so punny), after Thursday's ship has now sailed, of course. I decide I dont want to do a test involving a laxative on Friday because I'm going to be at a football game, nor do I want to do it on Saturday when I will be driving an hour and a half each way to get to the niece's birthday party. I'm already having to bump the damn follow-up appointment out anyhow, so I decide to take the test Sun-Mon-Tue (ie today) and I have Fed-Ex pick it up upon completion.

Which I do.
*phew*

Meanwhile, the stupid rash is driving me nuts because I had to stop the medication I normally take to tame the symptoms, because they couldn't be in my system for the test or they would skew results.
AND...I've also been reading all of the material the doctor sent me home with, and I have so many questions (that I can't really ask until October now), that it's making me a little jumpy.


The point of this story, is that I managed to get an F on my poo test.
Incomplete. Late. Poor work habits. All that.
And bad citizenship, too.

Leave it to me to pull that off LOLOL

hitchhiker

I stopped by an art gallery this morning to pick up the prints that we ordered at that show we went to a few weeks ago. The show ended yesterday, so all three artists were there this morning collecting their wares, including our friend (and handyman) who makes the wooden robot sculptures.

He sent me home with one as a housewarming gift :-)

saturation.

I've watched a little bit too much tv this afternoon....

...all 9/11 10th year stuff, and primarily a couple of shows on the history channel that were either compilations of amateur video taken that day, or shows focused on listening to audio files of first responders or phone calls made by people that were trapped in the towers that had left on voicemail messages on answering machines.

Really amazing to watch.
Wasn't exactly tummy settling tv viewing either, though.

So I'm capping off my evening by watching/listening to the Mahler/Symphony No.2 Resurrection concert being broadcast tonight on PBS...

....also in honor of 9/11. But on a more digestible note.

snaps on saturday

Niece's birthday party today...

where the hell did the week go???!

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

Didn't we just do this???



Game number two. Very exciting. Right down to the end. Nail-biter.
But we lost :-(

The jumping jack lady was there, though!


I did bring a hat and a blanket, and I did have a warmer jacket this time (I bought a team hoodie).

I did bring my knitting this time, too....except I brought the sweater I haven't touched in 3+ weeks, and I couldn't figure out where the hell I was in the pattern, so I ate a hot dog instead.

Another home game next Friday, so I'm going to need to get back on track by then and get jamming on this thing. It's a fall sweater. And I should probably try to finish the damn thing before spring!

things i find funny

Found on the greeting card aisle....

vintage me.

Have I shown this one yet??


I do believe this is a photo of me earning my way into (or proving my worth within) the "Whole Lobster Club" (a family tradition).

I definitely know how to handle a whole lobster ;-)
I remember in culinary school watching my classmates struggle to get the meat out in one piece in order to make a fancy presentation, and I was like, "noooooooooo problemmmmm. I have me some madz lobstah skillz."
;-)

I'm not entirely sure that I am correct on this, but I believe this photo was taken on a trip to visit my mom's family on the east coast (Boston area), and I think we might even be sitting on an outdoor patio of one my mom's favorite restaurants.

the green glass cometh

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been on the hunt for a few more pieces made of green glass to put into the bedroom at the new house. This one arrived in today's mail.


(not it's final resting place....that's my bathroom at the current house)

I'm not entirely sure this thing was intended to hold a candle. It sort of seems like it would make an awesome presentation for a giant shrimp cocktail or somethign LOL.....but at our house, it will be a candle holder. Until we get bored and do something else with it. For now it will go on the family dresser that TheMostImportantGuy inherited a couple of weekends ago. I have also scored a lovely tall green glass vase and a short little green glass dansko jar that is sort of in the shape of an ink-well. Next time I get over there and artfully arrange things I will take a nice photo.

Because our weekends have been so busy working on the house, I haven't had as much time to go to flea markets or garage sales as I would like to for these sorts of things. I have been popping into the occasional thrift shop and have also stopped a few times at a local consignment shop that has some rockbottom deals, but this particular piece you see above (as well as several others I have scored recently), I found trolling while trolling etsy.....one of my favorite, and most dangerous, places on the internet ;-)

best and worst

worst: not finishing up all of our painting projects at the new house this weekend

best: we didn't finish because we took a break from all the hard work to finally go see a movie (it's been months. months and months. (so long, actually, that TheMostImportantGuy have put our heads together and we still can't even remember what it was was we last saw LOL)



We did get quite a bit of stuff done around the new house this weekend, though....and it's feeling more "lived in" and cozy.

What did you do this weekend?

before and after

Not the best shots, but it's late, and I was just heading off to bed when I realized I hadn't posted yet tonight. I hope I haven't shown these before, because it seems like I may have!

Here's a before and after shot of "the carriage house" (the in-law apartment upstairs from the detached garage behind the hew house). They aren't taken from the same perspective, unfortunately. The "before" was taken from about where the kitchen is, looking towards the entry...while the "after" was taken from the entry looking into the apartment.

The floors are the original wood, refinished...amazing.

-----
Sent from my iPad

snaps on saturday

progress in the craftroom (smelllllll the possibilities!)

Pardon the black splotch in the bottom right corner. seems I need a new camera :-(

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Sent from my iPad

Even though I'm a baseball fan, I've never been much into football. That's probably going to have to shift some, as tonight was the first (of what will be many, I suppose) High School Football games for me.
Not because MyFavoriteKid plays football.
Because he's in the marching band.



By the way....first home game of the season, and our team won 72-0 ( wha?!!!)

My favorite part of the night (besides MyFK in the half-time band thang, of course) was what happened every time the home team scored. There was this sprite older lady (70's? 80's?), who was a volunteer for the team, providing water and supplies for the team. Every time the team scored, she we go over to the cheerleading squad and make them participate with her in doing jumping jacks to match the score. She had no problem doing round after round after round, and even the cheerleaders were having a hard time keeping up with her. The audience participated (myself included....seated, though...arms only), and my arms will probably hurt tomorrow.

I learned a few things about football tonight (none of them having to do with the actual rules of the game, though LOL):

* don't forget a jacket next time.
* maybe even a blanket.
* don't forget the knitting next time, either.
* bring a thermos of hot liquid while yer at it, ding-dong

performing tonight

I'm doing a little dance performance tonight at the studio. We are wrapping up a 10 week series of classes that were designed to be "an incubator" or sorts so that each of us that make up class (students and teachers both) could create solos.

And of course, here we are, at the end of the 10 week series and I am just now blogging about it...
because I am just that sort of blogger. LOL *sigh*

Here's what I've been up to:

Several years ago, when I was working with Dandelion Dancetheater, Eric Kupers, the director and choreographer, created this very long movement phrase that he wanted us all to learn as he believed it was to be inserted into an evening long piece somewhere. He choreographed for a very specific piece of music by Sweet Honey And The Rock, and that's what we listed to when we learned it, but as rehearsal progressed, every week he'd spring new music on us. Sometimes it worked for me, a lot of times it didn't....and he actually preferred the more abstract music where, to me, the music didn't seem to match the movements. I often had to tune out the music to just keep the movement phrase moving.

And it drove me nuts.

At the time.

(it also never ended up in that show, after all that work...hahahaha)


As the years have gone by however, I've become enchanted with the idea of experimenting with this again. I don't remember all of the movement phrase, but I've cobbled together enough of what I do remember to make it work.....and then I have danced.....as an experiment only....and these are just a few of the many questions that have come up for me:

* When I am supposed to be doing something (in this case, repeating a movement phrase...but in life....say, folding the laundry or paying the bills) what pulls me off center?
* How do I do what I am supposed to do while the background and scenery change?
* How much do I let external forces shape or shift what it is I am supposed to be focused on doing?

It's been quite a fun experiment. What I've done, over the last couple of months of class, is to show up every week with different music that I have never danced to before, and then apply the movement phrase to it. I've done everything from TheSmiths and Smashing Pumpkins, to Diana Krall and KD Lang. I've danced to chanting from the zen center and to music I have never even heard at all because it came off of a free cd I picked up in a coffee shop.

A few unexpected things came up as I watched myself play with this, the big one being how interesting I can get embellishing things when I get bored with something repetitive. Even if I try real hard to keep it simple and basic and just doing what I'm supposed to be doing, once I get bored I want to fluff things up LOL. It's also interesting to note that the only times I have every gotten lost in the phrase and forgotten what came next (it's about 2 minutes long), it's always been to the music I would have expected to be the easiest to work with.

edited to add: One of the other things I discovered to be true for myself at this time (who knows, it might shift as I work long), is that one of the reasons its hard for me to do the repetitive "thing I am supposed to be doing" without allowing the outside influences to affect me, is because it sort of seems ridiculous to me to NOT to be allowed it to be affected. I feel like maybe the lesson learned here is that I can still do whatever it is that I am supposed to be doing without denying the reality the world is perhaps dancing to a different drummer ;-) And that it would be somewhat robotic and even outright ignorant to not allow my surroundings to affect how I am doing something.

Tonight, we are having an open house, and I am "performing" this in front of whoever shows up, but it's still not quite a performance. Once again, I will be dancing to music tonight that I've never worked with before this way (although it's music I love: Paranoid Android by Radiohead--I chose it for tonight because I really only have time for one track and it has a lot of radical shifts of mood to it). Some day I'd like to perform this again with an ipod full of who knows what and let the audience shuffle it around on me, and then see what happens LOL.

I'm totally not done exploring this.
I am pretty sure this is only phase one of...I dont know what....