Catching Up with Project Life

My dh and I are back to coughing and feeling a bit of a relapse of whatever it was/is we have. I think we both did too much too soon. That may be why some of my Christmas decorations are still downstairs waiting to go up ...or back to the attic for another year. Fortunately, there are only a few things about but enough to make the house look untidy.

Thus this page is sadly still appropriate.

 

I do hope you're feeling better than we are and that your December starts of with peace and calm. A month to celebrate all the joy in our lives.

Rainy Day, Sleepy Day, Sick Days

I am still dog sitting in Virginia, but it hasn't been the greatest of days.

The dog is fine but I'm not. The day my family left, I came down with a wicked sore throat and many aches and pains. I sure didn't feel like exploring the wondrous shops and stores that always seem so tempting when I am on the other side of the Potomac. Couch and bed sounded perfect.

I did manage to go to one of the Asian markets and get myself some food but that was about it. Of course once I had food, I no longer had the energy to cook it. Fortunately, I had brought some leftovers from home with me. I certainly haven't starved, and I rarely even lose any weight when I get sick.

I have managed to read two books so far - Bangkok Days, Lawrence Osborne. Pretty much a sleaze read but nice to have a walk down the sois of a city I used to live in. Live in. Not barhop in. I started Deborah Tannen's You're wearing THAT? but stopped because I found it depressing to think how many meta messages we send and receive without knowing it. I usually enjoy Tannen's books but I think this one will have to be for later.  I guess I've only read one book. I also started and decided to pass on Schrödinger's Ball by Adam Felber. With a fever, I thought I didn't need any hallucinatory reading. My mind isn't all there as it is right now. Finally, I started and think I'll enjoy Thomas Kennedy's Falling Sideways.  The chapters are short which helps when I'm never sure how much mental energy I'll have.

Back from a run to the Giant grocery i.e Redbox because being sick always means movies for me. I brought the old 17" MacBookPro which is still great for Netflix and Redbox. I've seen "Hereafter" and "Then She Found Me". Liked them both but preferred the latter even tho I felt like Helen Hunt was deep into anorexia. Colin Firth...ah yes. Next up is 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ah I miss those books...a LOT. Bring on the popcorn! Maybe "The Fighter" tonight or maybe not. The dog doesn't care, he just sleeps!

All Sick on the Eastern Front

Nothing much happening chez nous except two sick people trying to feel better. Somehow today, after a visit to the doctor, an xray of my shoulder, and a stop at Target for a prescription, I feel even worse than yesterday. I do know I have 1. bronchitis and 2. a frozen shoulder.

The over the counter meds I had taken mad me feel better but were raising my blood pressure. The cough syrup the doctor suggested seemed to make me cough all the more. Fortunately, I slept sound through the night, on the downstairs sofabed and now at 9 a.m. would just like to go back to my real bed and sleep for the rest of the day. I just might.

Love the Mail

Ok, so a lotta days are just bits of junk, including the semi-junk as endless catalogs of vacations cruises, trips etc.fall through the mail slot. Once in a while there is one that gets my attention and subsequently our dollars as there's a trip we want to take. Usually though, I get these right into the recycling since I have a LOT of them already squirreled away for collage projects. I've tried to find a group on Freecycle who'd want them but no luck so far.


But there are other kinds of mail. There are Swap-bot postcards, there are magazines (oh the decadent feeling of a magazine for me!), and there are things ordered. Like external hard drives that are re-entering the mail world unfortunately. Enlargements ordered and waiting to go into the scrapbooks.


And then there are things won. There was a hint of this Sunday. Sometimes I just savor these, and try to find a special time to open them up. (I also then realize I haven't notified the sender that I've rec'd the item and feel terrible. Hanging head in shame...) Janet who blogs at Me and My Art picked me as the winner of an Art Journal. I have never been quite clear if a journal that is 'decorated' is the final creation or is to be used in writing afterward. Janet said I could do whatever I wanted. I know that ...but what do most Art Journalers think? Do you make it as a journal OF art, or is it an Art journal that is designed to be used for word journaling afterwards? Is there any consensus? Does it really matter a rat's ass???


So today I thought I would have the day to myself and unveil my gift. Alas, dh is home with a appointment at the doctor later today. Yes, yes, the best laid plans of mice and women often get waylaid. And yes, I 'should' be more sympathetic but I'm a rotten woman sometimes.

So come back tomorrow and see what's up! Wordless Wednesday will be a picture tale.

Comfort Food

Yes, it's comfort food time. I can certainly tell when I'm not feeling up to par. I lose my appetite. That is really strange for me. And that time has come. I don't get sick often but the red flag is not being hungry but knowing I need to eat. I try to stick to some protein at these times but sometimes that doesn't work. I then feel nauseous as I did this morning when I had some hard boiled eggs.

The blahs are time for my comfort foods. We all have them. My one dear friend is a mashed potato person. That would feel like serious punishment to me. So what DO I want? No red licorice right now. It's been one day with a staple that always makes me feel good, tunafish, rice and mushroom soup. White and bland. How do you make this, you ask? or maybe you don't ask but it is simple and it is a good comfort dish. One can tuna fish, preferably in oil mixed in a saucepan with one can cream of mushroom soup. NO liquid. Heat and pour over some rice. Nowadays you can even get precooked rice. I saw it the other day in the store! But I usually try to freeze a portion or two of rice ..just in case. Zap it in the micro and Bob's your uncle.

Other dishes for the blahs for me include one even worse. The Chef's ravioli, straight from the can. Cold or rather room temperature. Best eaten sitting down so the telltale signs aren't on the front of whatever I'm wearing.


But today I went all out. Ramen. I even had some fresh shrimp to add something real to the chemicals/noodles combo. I was never a starving student, but I was a harried government worker, and those noodles were always fast. Somehow the seasoning seems blander these days. I ate these while reading about making fresh bread and other goodies late at night. The whole idea made me want to take a nap. So I think I will.

Prayers Requested for Bekah

Our granddaughter has just been diagnosed with aplastic anemia and is waiting to see if her little brother can be a bone marrow donor. Fortunately, these two children have little or no fear and take it more in stride than their family. Bekah is getting regular blood transfusions now and we hear she is still her happy self.

On my Desk...September 3

Not so much today. Well, that means it looks like it looked Monday night. For all my good intentions, birthday afternoon had me reeeeally sick.

(Thank you all for the birthday wishes!)

I am so unused to barfing that I was shocked. Suddenly sitting at the computer, I felt terribly hot and dizzy...burning up in fact...but thought ok, the room gets really hot in the afternoon. I went downstairs, turned on the a/c and nearly passed out. So here I am, throwing up/and lying on the kitchen floor and bless the dear cat, he decides to walk round the kitchen and do some sympathy barfing. I didn't have the energy to crawl over to the phone, and get my husband out of his office. (Does this mean I should start carrying my cell on my hip? I think not...)

I put it down to some shrimp I ate for lunch that my head told me were probably a bit past their time, though they tasted great. (Listen to your head Maureen!!!) Add a good tasting sample of cheesecake for a Saturday party/dinner, and oh my. After my stomach emptied, and my temperature dropped, I was mostly comatose all afternoon and evening. One step above napping but not totally present. Dormant, even tho I had dvds of MI-5 series 4 and 5 to watch!!!

One good thing...I had had a 3pm haircut appointment that was canceled cause the stylist was ill. Had it not been canceled, I would have been driving there when my stomach called it quits. Better the compost bin than the inside of my car....

And finally...on the desk... to be finished, are a couple of art bits to get into the mail this week. I'm more in the mood to clean up and clean out but they should be a priority. I've lost the enthusiasm for that collage but maybe it will come back.

More desks? and less sickness? Check the "On my desk" button which will take you to Kirsty's list of players. Or just jump to Kootoyoo .

On my desk...April 16

Not a lot today...I got sick from a lunch out yesterday and am feeling, as my Nana used to say, quite punk today.

But these are items I worked on Sunday at our Artist Way group's Studio Day. They are out to finish up this week, and I thought it would happen yesterday. Instead after 'losing my cookies' I slept and slept and slept. In fact, that is what I plan to do right now.