SPINSTERCATION...DAY ONE

Rich left on the train bound for New Jersey last night, so today was all about getting ready for Spinstercation. First up...a re-stock of the fruit bowl and fridge with healthy provisions:

Next...a gathering of all of the newspapers and magazines that need to be read:

And finally...the assembly of a Fall stitching basket:

CS2 is nice and tidy, the plants are all watered, and I'm scrubbed clean and properly moisturized and ready to settle in with clean pj's and lots of iced lemon water. I've been bingeing Succession on the TeeVee, so methinks I'll finish it and look for something else to lay eyeballs on tomorrow.

Speaking of...tomorrow I will see my BeanTeam and hope to have a good report. I'm happy that my glucose level is down to 112 from a high of 140, and my creatinine is at 1.2, which is the best post-transplant level I've had!  My little bout of the blecks is, I'm convinced, Crohn's related, so for now, I'm going to continue hydrating, resting, and focusing on getting some exercise each day.

That's the report for the day, Dearies! Hopefully I'll have some good stitchy progress to share soon and a good report from Dr Yaqub!

AN APOLOGY

I apologize for the post about Ozzy Osbourne leaving the US because "it's too crazy". I posted a snarky jokey sarcastic jerky comment without knowing the context of the whole story. Apparently, Ozzy is leaving the US because of the horrific problem we have here with gun violence.

You know what? There's just nothing funny about that, and me being ignorant of the context is unforgivable and was just plain dumb on my part.

I'm sorry.

ELEVEN MONTHS

 

YOWSA

It was a doozy, but was mercifully short. I was ready to head for the clubhouse (which I presume is the safest place here in the complex), but Rich was completely non-plussed and decided to watch the action from the balcony.

I'm still quite draggy, but I'm forcing myself to do at least one or two things each day. Yesterday I finally went through my stitchy things and selected my next project:

As soon as I get my one or two things done today, I'm going to settle myself in with this beauty, fill up my sippy cup with my cold brew and protein, refresh my ice water, and get stitching.

What's up with you?

BAKED ALASKA ALMOST FEE NEE

The weekend wasn't a complete loss. I managed to finish the stitching on:

Baked Alaska

Dessert Series from Glendon Place

28ct Picture This Plus linen

Dinky Dyes silk 

Started April 15, 2020

(The beading will take place shortly, but I have a few things I'd like to play with first.)

I also did my nails with Perfectly Paisley wraps:

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get it together a little bit more, and accomplish a few little things here and there. 

How was your weekend?

DAMN

 

Lima will have to hang in there until I can get my act together and feel better. Going back to bed now.

STILL COMING ALONG...

Only one small corner to go on Baked Alaska, and then I think she'll take a nice long rest before getting tarted up with beads. I think this piece was exactly what I needed to get through my usual August stitching doldrums. Whenever I take a little trip down memory lane, it seems that this time of year has always been rather skimpy in the production department, so it feels good to have broken that spell.

We are venturing over to Lima, Ohio for the weekend...my hometown. Plans are in place to go to the Wapakoneta High School football game to see my goddaughter's husband in his coaching action, and I've promised Rich that we will stop for lunch at the Kewpee on our way into town. 

(Wapak is just south of Lima and is the birthplace of astronaut Neil Armstrong, and the Kewpee is a burger joint that is a Lima favorite.)

Today is all about trying to snap out of some awful dark funk that has been hanging over me. I know it's probably tied to meds and such, but I can't seem to get the big black dog to heal. It came on rather suddenly, but I feel like I'm wearing a hat that is just a few sizes too small. Given my druthers, I would rather just stay in bed until it passes, but since I'm already spending entirely too much time there, I suppose I need to straighten my britches and pull ip my socks and just get on with it already.

(Remind me, though, to write a chapter in my book about the awful trap of guilt and shame that washes over you when you're a kidney recipient and have absolutely everything you could possibly want and/or need, and more blessings and wonderful things in your life than you can count, and yet you still have dark days.)

Enough.

Mary Poppins might have left the building for a minute, but that doesn't mean one needs to wallow. Onward we go, Dearies! There's laundry to splosh, tables to tidy, and outfits to be selected for the Grand Adventure! We'll be on our way tomorrow after labwork, so I will wish you a Happy Weekend now, and beg you to come tell me all about life in your corner of the world!

SUNDAY PLAN

 

BACK TO BASICS

Saturday night Mass at the Basilica fixes everything that's wrong with me.

DON'T YOU THINK THAT DAISIES ARE THE FRIENDLIEST FLOWER?

 

THE SCHLUMPADINKS TO END ALL SCHLUMPADINKS

Hi Dearies.

Do you ever have a day when the minutes just kind of blur themselves all into one another, and before you know it, it's nighttime and you're heading to bed?

That seems to be my world lately. I am just an enormous lump of...inertia.

I feel like I'm trying to move through jello underwater. Nothing is easy, crisp, full of vim, interesting, or exciting. Breathing in and out is about as much activity as I want to contemplate, and the idea of holding my head upright or carrying on a conversation feels like a challenge as daunting as a marathon.

The best part of this weird state is that my tiny little brain feels perfectly happy and peaceful and full of gratitude. I don't feel depressed or sad or angry or frustrated or worrisome or anything else, for that matter....I'm just...

Still.

I went to the pool yesterday, but instead of sploshing about like my hair was on fire, I felt perfectly happy to just float and look at the beautiful blue sky and the big fat white puffy clouds. There were a few birds chirping, and in the far distance I could hear neighborhood kids playing, and overall it was very very peaceful.

So if everything in my head is cheerful and watching butterflies, how come the rest of me wants to do nothing more strenuous than hold a book?

I'm re-reading Don Quixote, and there is a large part of me that's starting to think it might be just fine to be a batshit crazy spinster who has this marvelously interesting life behind her eyeballs, wears a pot on her head and thinks it's a helmet, and who travels the world in search of imaginary adventures.

Hmmmm. Maybe I'm onto something.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue my schlumpadink here in Hoosierville with impunity and lots of ice water. Please don't fret if it's more stock memes and art than long blathering for now. I'm schlumpadinking...it's a process.

 

 

THURSDAY SPINSTER BLISS

 

The minute Rich leaves for the golfing course, I am going to dive face-first into this stack of papers and my beloved Baked Alaska. I did have a very productive day yesterday, and stitched a bit while watching the Phillies, but it feels like forever since I've turned off the TeeVee, TURNED OFF THIS HERE IPAD THINGIE, and just enjoyed some peace and quiet.

I'm seriously considering grounding myself from all social medias for the duration of August, since I find myself losing hours and hours scrolling through pictures of stitching and stitchy posts, and then entirely too many ads for old lady bras and new information about the Kardashians.

So, please don't be alarmed if the only place you find me is here, Dearies. I'm goin' old school for a minute.

That's it for a Thursday from a sunny and lovely Hoosierville. I hope this finds you well and safe and happy. Cone tell me all about it!

 

HEADING OFF TO A NEW WEEK!

Good morning, Dearies!

For reasons beyond my understanding, I am awake, showered, caffeinated, and ready for the day. My sleeping time has been sporadic and troubled lately, but that is a known side effect of my meds, so I deal with it by remembering that I have the luxury of napping during the day, and I get on with it.

Today, I will make a visit to the lovely Ms Gordanna, who will look closely at my face and then wrangle my eyebrows into submission. I've been trying very hard to get my complexion in order, and I found Gordanna at the dermatologist's office (of all places). With any luck, I'll resemble a human woman by the time she's done with me, and not the feral creature that peers out from the mirror each day.

Laundry today, with lots of stitching and paperwork and bill-paying, I think. I have to sort through all of my meds and get refills updated and ordered, and then sit in my chair shaking my head over the cost of it all. Who would have ever thought that my "luxury splurge" purchases would be medicine? 😳

Happy Monday to one and all! I hope that your weekend was everything you wanted it to be, and that the week ahead will be full of adventures!

 

IN WHICH A PROTEIN SHAKE TRIED TO KILL ME

 

So I got the bright idea last week to replace my afternoon cold brew with a protein shake. During my research, I discovered that Premier Protein would be the best choice for me, and lo and behold, they make a flavor called Cafe' Latte.

Perfect!

We needed a few things from the Targets, so I added a four pack of them to the basket, hit the "Deliver Today" button, and within a few hours I was enjoying a nice cold healthy protein shake instead of my delicious, but nutritionally deficient cold brew.

Boy....did I get sick.

I honestly figured it was just a simple case of good old fashioned food poisoning, because I spent a LOT of time examining our bathroom floor tiles, as well as closely inspecting the very good job of disinfecting the cleaning lady is doing on the fixtures in there.

By the grace of God, I forced myself to continually drink lots of water and Vitamin Water and Gatorade, so despite being so ill, I never dehydrated. I still felt awful, and honestly thought it was never going to end, but I knew I was doing everything I could to protect Belly Bean.

(That's my new name for my new kidney, by the way. It came to me when I got an ad for Jelly Belly jelly beans on my iPad thingie. Since my new bean is in the front, I decided to name him Belly Bean...or BB for short.)

(BB was my nickname for my little puppytot nephew, Bosco, too. He gave me so much joy and so many giggles over the years, I figured the homage' was perfect.)

I started to feel better by Wednesday afternoon, but I was never able to figure out what the culprit was. Then, out of nowhere, I got an email telling me that they were letting me know that an item I had purchased recently had been recalled due to bacterial contamination, and that I should throw it away immediately and come in for a refund.

Guess what it was?

As I investigated further, the company that makes the shakes, as well as their supplier, and even the FDA issued statements saying they caught it early and nobody had gotten sick.

Um...nope.

I started researching the actual bacteria (cronobacter sakazakii) and that scared the bejeebers outta' me, so I put the iPad down, took a breath, scribbled a few notes, and spent yesterday on the phone with everybody so that they could verify lot numbers, etc and apologize profusely and send me a refund.

On Monday, I'll confirm that no further treatment is needed by my Bean Team, and then I'll probably just put the idea if protein shakes on the shelf for a minute. I am just so grateful that it wasn't worse, and I hope nobody else had to go through that.

See what happens when I try to get healthy, Dearies? The universe smites me on the nose and scares me back into being a portly, cold brew swigging, sun worshipping schlumpadink. You try this whole good clean living thing and it doesn't end well.

DietCokes, Virginia Slims, and cupcakes for everybody...on me!

JUST FOR YOU HERITAGE HALL...

FUTZINGDAY GONE AWRY

 

Well, the day didn't exactly flow as I thought it would, but I just went with it. The pool closed the moment I got my swimsuit on (not sure why, but I suspect it might have been something on the weather radar they saw and didn't like). So I took a shower instead and sat down to watch some TeeVee and enjoy a damn good cold brew, and discovered that our Congresswoman had been killed in a car crash.

Please don't ask me about whether or not I was a fan of hers politically, or whether I agreed with her voting record, etc. What I would rather say is that she was a true South Bend girl who was beloved by many. She worked this district faithfully, and never wavered from what she thought was right, and she was very clear about her beliefs and agenda from the get go. I admired that tremendously...a person that stood by her convictions and told you right up front what they stood for.

The storms blew in with a vengeance, so I sat and stitched while Rich enjoyed a cigar out on the balcony and I worried about the lightning.

Before I go, I need to clarify that I DID NOT EAT THE SNACK PLATE. An astute observer emailed me and said "Do you think you don't feel well because you ate all of that crap on that snack plate?" To which I replied "Thank you for your concern, but I promise you I had rice cakes and cottage cheese instead."

So there.

I am making much better choices in the food department, Dearies, and have even learned how to adjust meals based on other meals in the day....if I know we're having something calorie-laden for dinner, I'll opt for a lighter breakfast/lunch, etc and so on and suchforth. I'm also trying to pay attention to carb consumption, ramp up the protein, and be super diligent with my water.

My recent labwork indicates that Belly Bean must like my efforts, since my glucose has dropped ten points and my creatinine level is back to post transplant levels, so WOOHOOs all around!

I'm going to get my second cup of damn good and then get some papers read and laundry sploshed before trying the pool again today. Please be well today, Dearies and come tell me all about your corner of the world!

DO THEY ALL DO THIS?

 

I love this man. I really do. But for a spinster who grew up in a house with a dad that said "Close the door!" point seven seconds after you'd opened it...

Eye yai yai.

It's time for me to don my swimming things and go splosh around for a bit. I haven't felt particularly great the last few days (I am almost 97% sure it's the heat), so some floating will do me good, I think.

Stitching and lounging for the rest of the day. If you are similarly inclined, I hope you enjoy it as much as I'm planning to!

TUESDAY

 

SNACK PLATE

 

I STILL HAVE MORE ISSUES THAN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

I absolutely loved this set's design, but the application was completely fraught. Lumps, bumps, and eventually a major failure of adhesion. (I might not have swiped enough alcohol across the surface of my nails in preparation, or I just could have received a dud.)

Never fear...a trip back to the table, and we're right back on track. I'm not crazy about this set, but they're on and staying on for the week and that's that.

The weekend was quiet and lovely. After our adventures on Friday, we ate carefully on Saturday. The apartment complex has a big grill (that I've never used), so we took chicken breasts down to the pool with us and cooked them while we enjoyed a refreshing dip.

(I am happy to report that the grill is kept perfectly clean by the residents here, so there's no need to admonish me for risking contamination, Betty.)

Yesterday was more of the same...quiet and uneventful. Rich went to the golf course over in LaPorte for a few hours, and I futzed around in pajamas before heading to bed with my book. (I'm re-reding Don Quixote and loving every moment of it.)

We're up and moving like a three-toed sloth today, Dearies, but hopefully the day will unfold as it will. I hope you are well and safe and bearing up and that life in your corner of the world is wonderful!