A FUTZINGDAY PLAN...

Today is a chair day, so as soon as I pack my snack bag and pull on my crazy pants...I'm off.  I'm praying for a good session, since Jersey Boy and I have plans for a Date Night at the Notre Dame basketball game tonight.

Tomorrow, after my morning walk, I am going to try to go into the cube room studio and stay there until I come out with a Spring basket.  I promised myself that I would play with Red Velvet Cake until the end of February, and here we are already.  But I think the majority of the day will need to be spent on cleaning and re-organizing, since things are just all willy nilly in there and stacked to the ceiling.

My painting things will be put away until tools arrive.  I found some very affordable beginner options on the Etsy and ordered them with my pin money forthwith.  They are all coming from outside the US, so I am going to practice patience until they get here (she says optimistically).

So that's the plan, Dearies!  I hope your very own Futzingdays are simply wonderful! Come tell me all about them!

MY DOTTING INSPIRATION

In case you're wondering about my dot painting obsession...the artist holding the mug above is called Kerry Park.  Kerry is a Canadian artist...a 2015 kidney transplant recipient...and my new hero obsession.  Her artistic handle is The Dotted Turtle, and I simply cannot get enough of her gorgeous work.

(Plus, there's the whole kidney inspiration thing!)

Another incredible artist I've enjoyed is Travelling Kindness Rocks.  Here you can join a pattern club with proceeds going to various charities across the world.

What can I say?  I'm hooked!

CRAFT NIGHT GONE AWRY...

I gave it my very best shot, but methinks I better spend tomorrow on the YouTube viewing more tutorials.  I also think I need to wait for the proper dotting tools to get here....the wooden dowels from the Michaels just weren't right somehow.

But it is very relaxing, and I can see myself doing more of this as a nice break from needle and thread.

Nothing else to report, Dearies.  Quiet...nothing new.

Hope you're swell and will come tell me all about it!

BIG GIRL POP TARTS

I stocked up at the Costco yesterday and put these in the cart instead of the Pop Tarts.

And these:

And finally:

That should be enough to get me through tomorrow.  

The weekend is upon us!  Hope yours is swell ans that you'll come tell me all about it!

UP AT THE HEINEY CRACK OF DAWN...

...and on my way to the train station to retrieve my Jersey Boy!  I missed him terribly, but am proud that I was able to semi-function as a fully-formed semi-adult in his absence.  

(I was getting a little worried that I had lost my fiercely independent side and had become incapable of supervising myself, but I managed to get myself to and fro quite nicely thankyouverymuch.)

Lots of appointments today while Rich naps a bit, and then one more Chair Time session until the weekend!  I would love to tell you that they are getting easier and easier, but as soon as I do that I crash again...so let's just say I am hanging in there as best I can.

I have, however, found several pounds that I had lost, so it's back to the grindstone in that regard. I suspect that it is due to my appetite roaring back with a vengeance, but the truth is that Pop Tarts are probably not the best snack choice for a fifty-one year old portly spinster.  I'll make a few tweeks here and there with the help of my dietician and get my fanny around the block every now and then and all will be well.

So that's it for a Thursday in Hoosierville, Dearies!  I hope you are swell and that your needles are flying.  If they are...come tell me all about it!  If they aren't...come tell me all about that too!

A VERY GOOD STITCHY WEEKEND

I really am enjoying this piece, so I think I will continue on until the end if the month with it.  If you would have told me early in my stitchy career that I would become so completely monogamous, I would have thought you were nuts.  Remember the 300-pound hummingbird that used to flit from project to project?

(There are days when I really do miss her.)

Today is You Know What, so once my little snack bag is packed...off I go.  I take the same thing every time...a Vitamin water, pop tarts, veggie straws, and trail mix.  I also put my iPad, chap stick, headphones, and tissues in there, but alas, no stitching.  There's just no way to stitch while in the chair, but if there are any fellow warriors out there who have figured it out...I'm all ears!

Three more sleeps until my Jersey Boy is home again.  I miss him terribly, but think a few days of alone time was good for me. It reassured me that I can still function (kind if) but that having a mate to function with is swell too.

That's it for a cloudy Monday, Dearies. The Chicken Sisters were up and out early this morning. I thought I heard them say something about a breakfast buffet at the senior center, but methinks that was code for "a day at the racetrack betting the ponies".

Hope your day (and the week ahead) are full of fun and love and laughter. Come tell me all about it!

HEN HOUSE...

It's just me and the Chicken Sisters here at CS2.  My Jersey Boy is away on business, and I am left to my own devices, which includes a lot of my old bachelorette behavior like sitting around in my pj's stitching all day:

It occurs to me that my recent obsession with dot mandalas must be related somehow to my love and obsession with this piece.  Is it the perfect symmetry?  The movement from inside to outside?  The colors?

The more I think about it, the more I realize how much I appreciate the control my stitching gives me.  My life has been so topsy turvy for such a long time now, that I think I have come to crave the one place where I get to be in the driver's seat.  And, the fact that the pathway is well-ordered and neat and tidy (and pretty, too!) makes me appreciate it even more.

(Hmm....methinks I have just sprouted my next Needlepoint Now column.)

So the Chicken Sisters are back in position this morning, sleeping off last night's revelries:

I came home from dialysis to them shooing a pair of gentlemen callers down the back stairs and the remnants of what looked like quite a party littering the entire living room floor. I would have thought the old girls too mature for such behavior...but this is Spinster World we're talking about, and God knows anything can happen.

I have yet to view any Olympics (!), so my plan is to watch the Opening Ceremonies and then catch up on as much as I can over the next few days.  Rich will be away until Thursday, so it would seem I have plenty of time in between BuzzyBeepy dates and chicken parties.

Here's hoping that your very own coop is fluffed and feathered with all of the things you love!  Happy Saturday!  Come tell me all about it!

I'M OFFICIALLY OBSESSED

The darn Pinterest has done it again.  There I was...minding my own business looking at pretty pictures of stitching and cute puppies and whatnot...when BAM!

Dot painting.

Dot painting mandalas.

Where'd I put those Michael's coupons?!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

ALMOST THERE...

SATURDAY, SATURDAY...BLISS

Rich is at pickleball, so I am under the magic blanket with my damn good, the morning paper, and the Olympics on the TeeVee.  We missed the Opening Ceremonies last night because I was snoozing off and on after my harrowing day, and Rich was trying to figure out the plot of some crazy show on the Starz.

Today will be a quiet recovery day, so after I get my wits about me I plan on stitching stitching stitching!

FRIDAY, FRIDAY...IN WHICH I'VE GOT THIS

Snowmageddon, indeed. I made it through the tundra and into the dialysis center by the use of sheer will.  I drove slowly and carefully, channelled my inner big girl, and thought happy thoughts the entire nerve-wracking time.

Only two patients called off, but almost all of the techs and nurses decided to stay home.  My tech today is a bit frazzled, but cheery and determined, so I'm good.  I'm in patient mode, but doing my part to entertain the troops with my pink socks, PopTarts, and crazy leggings.

(What can I say?  I am really good at creating comfort for myself, and those three items have kind of become my battle provisions.  I set my chair up in a certain way, snack on the same stuff, and wear a uniform.)

(Whatever works...right?)

Jersey Boy is home shivering under his couch blanket...marveling at the snow.  I tried to explain that this was actually pretty normal a few years ago, and that we seem to have gotten a bit spolied with mild winters lately, but he seemed more worried about how I was gong to drive myself to and fro today.

(Can I tell you a secret about him?)

(He is a TERRIBLE driver.)

(Yes...he is the love of my life and my dream come true and everything I've ever wanted and a complete re-incarnation of both Stewey and my dad, but the man. cannot. drive.)

(But that's our secret, OK?)

So I'm hooked up, cozy and comfy, and enjoying the pretty view:

Sorry you can't see anything but...white, but that's pretty much what's out there today.  Lots and lots of white.  Methinks the snow brush will come in handy when it's time to go home.

That's the report for a Friday, Dearies.  I'm hoping and praying for a calm and peaceful run today...so far, so good!

Hope your day is swell and that you are warm and safe and dry. Come tell me all about it!

THURSDAY, THURSDAY...ON WHICH WE HAVE PONDERINGS

Whew!  What a busy day!

I started at the Salon Nouveau, where I got my toes and fingers painted a lovely shade of hot pinky red called Ecstasy.

Hmmm.

(Too racy for this portly old spinster?)

From there I stopped in to see my eye doctor at the Wal-Marts to have a look at my eye, but I was informed that he is no longer there and has retired.

Jimminy Crickets.

(Wonder if it was something I said?)

Then I hit a drive through for a quick lunch (nope...not gonna even talk about it), and then it was on to the lab for some quirky labwork that has to be done at the lab and not dialysis.  It was there that I overheard everbody talking about the snowmageddon that's headed our way, so I broke out in a cold sweat, got the labs drawn, and drove a thousand miles an hour to my therapist appointment.

(Well, maybe not a thousand miles an hour exactly...more like a warp speed 35.)

I was three minutes late and thought about having a nervous breakdown right there, since Dr. Leslye would be the perfect person to fix it, but we just chatted instead.  As usual, she just shook her head and asked me if I thought maybe a sedative would be a good idea?

(Apparently, despite my very best attempts to hide it, I am still a nervous and complete mess.)

When my hour was up I left Dr. Leslye, called my Jersey Boy on the car phone thingie and told him I would be home in a minute, but that I was going to stop at the Martins to get some coffee creamer.

Needless to say...me not being in a grocery store for a few months, combined with the feeling of impending doom, and coupled with me just wanting to hybernate all weekend...resulted in a lot more than coffee creamer.

But there will be a good dinner tonight followed by cake!

If life were normal, I'd put my jams on, break out the stitchy basket, and watch the snow fly and not worry about it.  As a matter of fact, I seem to remember looking forward to snow storms, so that I could just hunker down with Stewey and the fireplace and enjoy it.

But guess what?

I have to figure out how to get to dialysis tomorrow.

It was a little nerve wracking to be told "Just wait and see what happens in the morning" by my nurse, but I suppose that there really is nothing to do but that very thing. After all...I'm not the only dialysis patient on the planet.

(Just the most needy, it seems.)

OK...I'm off to the kitchen to prepare dinner.  Stuffed pork chops, asparagus, and roasted potatoes...followed by a golden butter cake with chocolate frosting.

I'm determined to stitch tonight, if for no other reason it will calm me down.  Maybe I'll pop my headphones on and watch a little Flosstube too, just for extra good measure.

Happy Thursday, Dearies!  Hope it was swell and that you'll come tell me all about it!

WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY...IN WHICH WE ARE CLEAN AND SLEEPY

Buzzy, Beepy, and Midge are doing their thing today, and I am a little miserable.  The insertion of the needles did not go as planned, so now my entire arm is smarting a bit.  We're hoping it calms down and that I can tolerate it since the pressures are good and we're running at full speed.

A little stitching last night, but I forgot to take a pic...phooey.

I've also implemented a new rule for myself, and that's "No more Facebook" unless it pertains to this thing of ours.  I made the mistake of watching a video last night that got me all up in my head, thus resulting in a poor night's sleep.  So nothing non-stitchy related from here on out.

Rich decided to work from home today, so I get to drive myself to and from the chair, which is actually a huge relief.  What can I say? I'm a much better driver than I am a passenger...especially in inclement weather.

So that's it for today, Dearies.  Clean and sleepy and hooked up to a dialysis machine.

Hope your Futzingday is swell and that you'll come tell me all about it!

TUESDAY TUESDAY

Absolutely nothing to report today, Dearies.

Zip.  Zilch.  Nada.

I came home from dialysis, made dinner, ate dinner, and promptly fell asleep in the Happy Chair with my project in hand.  We started watching a movie, but I think I was out before the opening credits had finished.

Today I am hungover, which is quite normal apparently, so for the next few minutes I'm just going to get my wits about me, read the paper, attempt the puzzles, and then get on with the day.  My eye is much much better thanks to drops and me keeping my hands away from my face, and I have taken your good advice and ditched the bargain tissues until such time as I need them occasionally rather than every four and a half seconds.

I am, however, happy to report that it really was just a good old fashioned head cold, and that my decision to say "No, thank you" to the arsenal of antiobiotics and whatnot that the team wanted to throw at me was the right one.  The last thing I need to do right now is develop a resistance to things that will eventually save me...right?

All in all, nothing to complain about in these here parts.  Jersey Boy has left for the office, I am doing a little laundry and enjoying the quiet, and the sun looks like it wants to shine on the newly fallen snow.  

Not bad for a Tuesday, indeed!

MONDAY MONDAY

More Red Velvet Cake last night while trying not to pay attention to the game.  The Eagles were doing very well while I was making dinner, getting situated, etc., but the moment I started watching they started losing.  Figuring I was the cause of it all, I hid behind my project until they pulled it together and won the game.

You're welcome, Philadelphia.  You're welcome.

My Jersey Boy was very very happy and is convinced that the outcome last night is a harbinger of more good things to come this year.  His mantra has been "This is our year, Con", so I hope he's right.

Buzzy, Beepy, and Cousin Midge are visiting as I type this, so here's hoping that they all get along well today and that the session runs smoothly.  I'm going to catch up on some Flosstube and bad TeeVee for a bit and probably catch a snooze if I'm able.  We're pulling a lot of fluid today, so the main thing is that I don't want to crash.

That's it for me on a cold but sunny Monday, Dearies.  I hope yours is swell and that you'll come tell me all about it!

MUCH BETTER...

My crankitude this morning was caused by the discovery that I blew my eye again overnight.  This is the third or fourth time I've done this...broken a blood vessel in the white of my eye...and each time I do it, it scares me to death.

But I know exactly what happened this time.  My head cold really kicked in on Friday and Saturday, so I was constantly sneezing and blowing my nose and rubbing my eyes with the discount tissues from the Costco that are effective, but not soft.

Tomorrow I will ask the dialysis nurse to take a good look at it before administering heparin and I will call my eye doc to get in asap to make sure there's nothing more to it.

Rich and I enjoyed a quiet morning, and then I took a nice long nap in anticipation of going out to watch the Super Bowl.  But, because my Jersey Boy really is a Prince, we stayed home in our jammies instead and had simple leftovers.

Now I am going to get a little stitchy time in while the game continues on.

Hope things in your corner of the world are...super!

PPSSSSSSSTTTTTTT....

I get the leggings on the amazons and they are cheeeeeeeap  I think I paid less than $10 for them, which would make sense given my propensity to look for a bargain these days.  

I also wanted to clear up my wearing of the leggings in public.  I only do so with a top that completely and adequately covers both my heiney parts and my belly parts (sorry Anne, but my belly parts are name Quasimodo because they hang on my front like a gargoyle on a cathedral).  For dialysis, they allow me to sit without seams or zippers, etc getting uncomfortable on my jiggly bits after several hours.

(And yes...once I get a new kidney and am able to do so, I plan on finding a really good surgeon who can perform a front end realignment and allow me to see my toes again.)

(Will somebody please remind me to stop talking about my intimate secrets so much?  Methinks we've entered into the TMI zone and need to find our way out...toot sweet.)

(Where's Stewey when you need him?  This is the exact kind if thing that would have sent him into a rant if epic proportions.)

As for those of you who say "I could never wear that kind of thing"...trust me when I tell you that once you do you'll be hooked!  

Today and tomorrow will be spent in the Happy Chair or the big girl sleigh bed for sure.  My cold worsened overnight and I am determined not to let this thing get down in my chest.  So I'm pushing fluids...taking the Mucinex...resting....and sending JB out for chicken noodle soup later.  If I can get my eyes to stop watering I might try to stitch, but at the moment I am quite...drippy.

Happy Saturday, my Dearies!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

TOO MUCH?

In the waiting area of Fresenius...waiting for my chair time...

IN WHICH I BUY CLOTHES AND EAT A CHEESEBURGER

So who knew that the errands that Rich wanted to run included buying me some new jeans?  

Apparently, Mr. Blackwell over there is not happy with my go-to "outside" outfit of twenty-six year old jeans and a big top. (We won't even talk about my "inside" outfits). I thought I was doing a good job of hitching the jeans up with a rope and all...but apparently the fact that both of us could stand in them together and at the same time was a major fashion faux pas.

What can I say?  Clothes and clothes shopping are just not my thing.  Never have been.  I always blamed it on the fact that I'm a big girl and not at all good at finding the appropriate tent to cover my wobbly bits, but I really think it has to do with the fact that my lifestyle leans more to comfy than fashionable these days.

(Besides...who needs clothes when there are stitchy things to buy?!)

(I'm a girl on a buget, kids....and have my priorities after all.)

I have categories of clothes...inside comfy, outside comfy, date night "acceptable with a coat over it", and dialysis clothes.  But my categories are, I've been gently told, more akin to that of a person who just doesn't have enough sense to know that she looks ridiculous rather than suburban chic, and that clothes that are more than twenty years old should probably be passed on (to the dust bin).

So now I have a sporty new pair of jeans that somewhat fit (I personally think they are entirely too tight, but nine people in the Targets assured me they were not) and a lovely new denim blouse that I can wear on its own or with something shiny underneath.

Thank you for your kind comments about me losing weight.  I am a bit stuck since starting dialysis, but am really working hard to get another hundred pounds off.  If I achieve this, my total weight loss (from my very highest) will be 260 pounds.

(Told you I was a big girl.)

(My highest, by the way was quite some time ago...the year 2000, to be exact.  Eighteen months of high dose prednisone and a propensity for eating racks and racks of ribs had something to do with that little episode, I'm sure.)

Anywhoose...the prednisone weight came off over the space of about three years, but then I stuck at a weight a hundred pounds higher than I am now.  What prompted the second round of weight loss was the transplant surgeon telling me to call him when I weighed "x".

So now I weigh a little less than "x", but want to keep going as well as I can so that when this is all over I will finally be the petite blinde triathlete I've always known was trapped in here.

After we bought the jeans, we headed out to dinner and I had a cheeseburger.  I realize that this seems to fly in the face of everything I just said above, but...it was a cheeseburger.  And I ate it with only one bun and a salad on top of it.

OK...maybe I THOUGHT about eating it with only one bun and a salad on top of it, but actually ate it with both buns and a side of truffle fries...but...baby steps, people.  Baby steps.

My cold is kicking my b-o-t-t-o-m today, but I am relieved to conclude that it just that -- a good old fashioned head cold and not the flu.  No fever, chills, body aches, etc.  Just a runny nose, watery eyes, and a froggy voice.  Hopefully it will all be over in a couple of days.

So that's the rather long-winded report for a snowy Friday, Dearies.  I hope you are heading into a weekend filled with everything your heart desires.  Please take good care and do something wonderful and kind for yourself.  When you do...come tell me all about it!

THE OFFICIAL SPINSTER STITCHER PLAN FOR A QUIET THURSDAY...

So here we are...it's February already!  Today is a bit dreary here in Hoosierville, but I have just had a fifteen hour sleep (!) in the big girl sleigh bed and now I'm in the Happy Chair for some fun.  My flu/cold is still hanging on, but seems to be getting a little better each day, thank God.  It turns out that I can take Mucinex, which has turned out to be really really helpful!

If I'm up to it, I might paw through some stash...or I might not.  Pulling Dinky Dyes silk through Picture This Plus linen is sooooo completely lovely that I just don't want to put it down.  It's pink and red, so I supposed it can be a Valentine piece, right?

Rich wants me to get out for "some fresh air", so I might take a ride with him as he runs some errands today.  I'm trying to convince him that I can get fresh air right here in the Happy Chair by opening a window, but he seems determined to get me moving a bit.  I suppose a little excursion won't kill me....besides, I might convince him to go for big salads for dinner from McCallister's. (What can I say? I'm a total sucker for a chopped salad and I am trying to lose another ten pounds this month.)

I watched the Flosstubes yesterday, and it got me through a particularly brutal session.  I've graduated to the largest needles possible and we're running the machine at full speed and pulling a fair bit of fluid off, so my poor body needs a minute (I think) to adjust.  But...Miss Vonna came to the resue and two of her videos were just what I needed to make it through.  My techs kept coming over to see what I was grinning at all day, and I tried to explain the complete joy this thing of ours brings me and how you all saved my life...but the tears came and I just looked like a boob, snotting all over my old lady sweatshirt with the zipper in the arm.

(Maybe I should just forget about trying to explain it to outsiders.  After all, if there are tens of thousands of us out here who get it, why worry about the ones who don't?)

So that's the state of the Spinster Union today, Dearies.  Quiet, calm, happy, peaceful, and hopefully full of some reading, stitching, and hand-holding with my Jersey Boy.  If I didn't know better, I'd think I'm off to a perfect Thursday!