5 st to the inch

So.

This has been the Year of Me. It is working out well. Even I can tell that the new meds are doing good.

I am down to an allergy shot every two weeks. I still wonder if all of this will work. It has cost me a lot, as insurance did not cover the tests, but it does cover the shots.  I would love to be able to smell again. Every once in awhile, my nose works and I can smell what I am cooking, or my hair conditioner, or random household odors. Not having a sense of smell is really an awful thing. Is this milk bad? Is this meat over the top? Did one of the dogs have a shit storm in the house? Do I stink? So whenever I can smell, it is wonderful. 

Otherwise, the new medz have really made a difference in everything. I am more alert and awake. I have been completing certain small organizational chores. I bought new black sandals, and I have clear lacquered my fingernails. The knitting on the entrelac sox proceed apace. 

I bought the Fall issue of Vogue Knitting, and my desire to create has been rekindled. ( For how long??) I don't want to question. I am thinking about advertising for a little knitting group that would meet at our local library. I miss being among other knitters. Figure I will talk to the library folks soon.

But really? It's good! What a wonderful thing to be able to say!

Soft and Hygenic

So. 

I don't remember when I last posted, but I have been doing ok transitioning to the new meds. Save for annoying Amputee to no end by a stupid remark I made on her blog. My anger was better served by ripping into a telemarketer that had been calling me for weeks, and already 4 times that day. The last call was at 8:30 in the evening, and I finally answered. He was trying to get me to switch my phone service to some "cheaper and better" provider. 

As an aside, can I say that I fell for this BS back in January, and I am still fighting with that company to have their monthly charge, which is still showing up on my phone bill, removed. I have filed 2 informal FCC complaints, which may do no good, but made me feel better. 

When I found out that this was a similar company, who had been calling about every day for weeks, I lost my top, and it felt so freaking good! I started with "Don't you ever, ever, ever call me again!!!" and then lots of swear words in a loud voice. Memories…..

And I haven't heard from that number again. I am also on Missouri's no-call list. 

Other news, as if you didn't know, the Midwest is suffering from the worst heat and drought since 1956. It's almost 7 pm, and it is still 102º outside. I went to city hall, a five block drive to pay my utility bill and pick up blue recycling bags, and by the time I got home, I was nauseated and weak. Sweetie took the Stalker Van to work today to make sure all was in order, so I could take it to Columbia Wednesday. Oh, yeah - guess I didn't tell y'all about the van breaking down a few weeks ago, on my way home from Columbia. It was 105º and at least I was able to coast to the shade of an overpass. Wrecker, heat, blah blah blah, home - finally. It turned out to be a simple problem, easily fixed by Sweetie, but I still refused to drive the van for awhile. Why drive the van? It's our only vehicle with air conditioning. 

If it weren't for air conditioning, I would be dead, and I don't want to die that way.

Fragrance Free

¡Hola! from the Great Midwest!

I finished the latest Wingspan shawl. I used an acrylic boucle yarn; unusual for me to not use a natural fiber, but I had it already and I think it worked well. Click to embiggen.

I ordered some colorful Regia sock yarn from WEBS, and have cast on the Entrelac Socks for Noro Kureyon which I found on Ravelry. I also ordered 480 yards of lace weight alpaca and silk, which may or may not grow up to be the Swallowtail Shawl.

Today was my weekly trip to Columbia to get my allergy shot. One more weekly visit to go, then it be bi-weekly. Today, it welted a bit - about the size of a silver dollar. (Does anyone even remember silver dollars anymore?) Also saw my wonderful therapist. She handed me the scrip that my head doctor had given her, for me to get started on Cymbalta. Stay tuned.

I also bought myself a half-dozen roses.

Sweetie and the kids, in their natural habitat.

Take one nightly for 7 days.

Spent the day in Columbia, getting the allergy shot that I totally forgot about on Tuesday, and buying groceries and whatnot. Took the big-ass van, because it has air conditioning and the temperature was over 100º again.

Almost made it home. But something, I am thinking the fuel pump or some item that controls fluid, broke, and I was left stranded on the interstate. Mercifully, I was able to coast to the shade of an overpass, but it was not fun. Thank goodness, again, for cell phones and credit cards. The wrecker driver brought me home and helped me get my groceries out, and then took the van to a service station. 

This is not what I need right now. Also, this is the third time in three years that the van has broken down and had to be towed. Maybe it's time for something different, ya think?However, I am home, and not dead or mangled or in jail, so, life is isn't total shit. 

I saw a psychiatrist the other week, and she has put me on a mood stabilizer to help me with the lows I drop into whenever my PTSD kicks in, (which I have due to my fabulous childhood.) At least now I know wtf I have, and a plan of action to get better. After 6-7 months of therapy, I can now mostly speak about my mother without weeping, and that's good. I am to journal my feelings and moods daily.

Right now, I feel like a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Naturally Flavored

Yes, I have become an infrequent blogger. Oops.

Generally, my life is so boring that I don't even care to comment upon it. 

My usual day is - sleep until 10 or 11. Scan the inner tubes for interesting crap, and become depressed over the lack thereof.

Either go back to sleep or make coffee and become moderately active. Load the dishwasher, or do some laundry. Collect the beer cans into the blue bags for recycling. Help Sweetie get off to work, sometimes with lunch, other times with enough cash for Taco Bell. 

Check Yahoo and Facebook. Play Cube Buster to loosen up, then a few games of multiplayer 8 ball pool. Then some Word Tornado, multiplayer scrabble on FB.

Have another few drinks and repeat.

It is so hot and dry here. Had the first rain in 2 or 3 weeks today, a gully washer with some small hail. Delightful to stand at the front door and watch it all come down. Glad, again, that I am not a farmer.

Went to the Friendship Spinners' retreat in mid-June. This is the arch Abbey. We all stayed in the building to the right. It was wonderful to see all my friends! I even spun a little of an angora-wool blend. I haven't spun since the mohair of last summer, which became a shawl for my dear friend Leslie. I am knitting another Wingspan shawl from Ravelry; my third. Happy and mindless knitting!

Watching Netflix, and other things on the inter webs. The new Sherlock Holmes, with Benedict Cumberbatch, set in modern day England. Have finished X Files. Have begun watching Breaking Bad, which Sweetie and I like whole bunches, having viewed the first 4 episodes. 

Finally, had a fun Sunday at High Hill at Gypsy Gatherings. There was the annual parade, with some excitement about horses and broken arms and such. Then, a fellow showed up, having played Frogger to get across the Interstate. We were the only shop open in town, and his radiator was in bad shape, and he was lucky to have found us and Sweetie, who actually had a clue. So Rusty, Leslie, Sweetie and I drank beer and helped the cute thang out. It turned out to be a fun evening! Bars Leak and cell phones saved the day. 

So there it is. My exciting life. 

Could be worse.

It's Shake 'n' Bake, and I helped!

Hola, Kindeys! Anyone remember those socks I started the same time I started therapy? It was sometime last fall, and I finished them last week. Don't remember what make of yarn it was, even, but I know I set out to make something a little different. Turns out that the only thing that is different is the rolled bit at the cuff. I used the shaped common heel with a finale of garter stitch.

One those were off the needles, I cast on a neat little shawl that is so easy-peasy, all garter stitch and no-wrap short rows! It is called Wingspan, and is a free download on Ravelry. I only had enough yarn to do 7 triangles wedges, but it is big enough to go 'round my shoulders with just the right amount of overlap to use a pin to keep closed. I like it a great deal and want to make another. (For scale, the tiles are 12" square.)

Next, I may cast on the Ethereal Triangular Shawl, also a free download on Ravelry. 

I have been taking a few drives and a few pictures. 

Except for my allergies, I am doing well. I don't know if is all the sunshine we are getting, but my mood has been up. Looking forward to seeing my Friendship Spinner buddies at their St. Meinreid Arch Abbey retreat in a couple of weeks. Both my therapist and my brain says that it would do me good.

Services Guide

Spring is here, and some days are almost July-like. I have been staying inside much of the time with the air conditioning on. Doctor's orders, along with no mowing at all. I had a bad asthma attack the last time I tried mowing, the worst in years, actually.

My recent blood work delighted me and my primary care giver! Cholesterol and blood pressure both are within normal ranges and my blood glucose is only slightly high. That med has been increased, but my new diet has done much of the work. I am eating better and I am feeling better, physically, and even mentally. A lot of stressful paperwork is behind me, too, and that makes me happier.

I have even been knitting a tiny bit. I have several skeins of lace weight yarn, and I am feeling the urge to just put away those never-ending socks and start on a shawl. Something complex, but not too. Maybe I will go through my files or check in on Ravelry to see what is out there. Again.

Sweetie and I plan to see Dark Shadows Sunday. That will be a pleasure, indeed!