Sewing and sleeping

I got up before 7:30. I put out the recyclables. I took a shower and got dressed while Chris was at PT. I skyped my new tapping buddy and we did as much tapping as skype would allow. Most of the time the quality was fine, but towards the end, the call got dropped over and over. I watered the plants and ate some seed crackers. I grabbed the extra garbage bags and walked to Kelly’s house. She pointed out the wasp nests in the bushes in her front yard. Then she cut my hair as we talked. A man came in a truck to spray the nests and remove them. We went out the back. She dropped me off at my house on her way to the FFTC. I checked e-mail and ate some sweet potato. I read that a certain dentist said sea salt was bad for you because it pulled electrons from your body. I filled out the forms to mail a package which I did not have a box for. Then I picked up the quilts that needed binding and walked to the chapel. No one was there at first. But then Myra came and then Linda. I worked on binding while Myra helped Linda. Chris stopped by to tell me there was no mail. He said he would pick up a priority mail box for me and leave it at our quarters. QOV broke up after 1. Myra and I ran into Paul on the way home. He said we were cleared for moving the classes to the second floor of Housing. We would have storage and some funding. The only problem was that we would not be able to have classes during some of the exercises. Then she and I walked home. My stomach was kicking again. I made and ate breakfast anyway. I could not find the priority mail box that Chris promised. I called his office but there was no answer. I looked on Pinterest for inspiration for adding decoration to my green top, but I decided it wasn’t worth it. The bleach stain was in a bad place. I got out some markers to recolor it, but they were not the right green. I got very sleepy. So I went outside to walk around and water the small pots again. It wasn’t hot but it was very windy and they were drying out. I sat on the front porch, sleepy. After a while I went in and laid on the bed. I must have fallen asleep. I heard Chris come in the front door so I got up. He asked if I had decided not to go to class. I realized it was 6:25, so I threw on shoes and grabbed the car keys. I drove to the FFTC and walked to the chapel. I saw Suzanne leave with her daughter to get a snack. No one was in the room, so I turned on the lights. Myra came, and then Linda, and later Nela and Princess and Suzanne. I helped Princess with her pouch project. Myra helped the others with their bag, and costume projects. I held Aubry so her mother could sew. We started packing up on time, but stayed talking while Princess swept the room. Then Nela and Myra walked home, even though I offered them a ride. I drove home and backed into our usual space. I took the quilts inside and then realized that I hadn’t brought my shoulder bag in. So I went out to get it. I drank some water with magnesium in it. Then we watched an episode of Lois and Clark that was TBC (to be continued). But Chris went to bed, leaving the next episode for tomorrow night. I stayed up to clear some e-mail and post to my blog.
* this is a picture from the tailor shop yesterday *

Looking for inspiration

I got up before 7:30 to get dressed and fix my hair. Chris was out running, but came back to take a shower and go to work early. I watered the potted plants. I signed into Facebook to meet a new tapping buddy. We finally connected on Skype but he was in the middle of something so we agreed to reschedule. I folded some of the laundry. I put new items in my Swanson basket, but did not have enough for free shipping yet. I watered the rest of the plants. I read e-mail and did today’s puzzle. I ate the last of my seed crackers looking out the window. When the pesticide man came by, I indicated that he should not spray the tomato plants. He nodded so I guess he understood. I did some tapping, then left for yoga. No one came but Myra. So we did it together with her leading. We talked to Suzanne after class. I walked home and had my chocolate shake for lunch. Chris came home. There was no mail. He ate the last of his bread for lunch. I made bread and seed crackers. I tried arrangements of a green swag on my green shirt to hide the bleach stains, but I did not find a satisfactory arrangement. I looked for inspiration on Pinterest. Jane called. She had found a tailor shop by the stadium and wanted me to come see it. I threw on some shoes and headed out to meet her at Admiral Yi circle. She called on the way to say the proprietor would pick me up at the gate. When I got there, she was waiting and ushered me to his car. He drove down the street to his shop. I could have walked but this was faster. He showed me his assortment of fabrics. I picked something that I thought Chris would like and asked for a quote, with Jane’s help. We also discussed how much fabric was needed in case we bought fabric in Busan, which has a larger selection. It was more expensive than what we had heard about in Busan but Chris might want the convenience of fittings in Chinhae. Then the man drove us back to the base. Jane and I went to the little market. She bought cucumbers. We looked at the figs, but the package was too big for either of us to eat. Jane went to the bus stop and

I walked toward home. I stopped by the chapel to take pics of my iron and caddy to post for a class. I surprised the chapel secretary who thought she had turned the lights off. On the way home, Kelly passed me. I asked her if she needed yellow trash bags and told her I needed a hair cut. She said to come tomorrow morning. Continuing my walk home, I was hailed by Myra. So I walked down to the quad. She showed me the garden areas where she had pulled out all the dead tomato plants. I picked some vine off the tree. It had smelly flowers and I hoped it would be a deterrent to critters who would snack on my plants. Daniele showed up with groceries. We talked some more about what would be good to plant next year. Then I went home and made breakfast for supper. I read e-mail for a while then called Chris at 7:15 to see if he had forgotten to come home. I looked for more inspiration for my green top on Pinterest. I added up items for the iron caddy kit and came up with a price. Chris came home at 9. I looked up directions to the fabric market for the admiral’s wife. Then there was more looking for inspiration. That could have gone on all night. I stopped to write to my blog. I was followed by a centipede so I made sure he went up in flames. I posted to my blog and went to bed.
* Any suggestions? *

A day at home

I got up while Chris was at PT. I swished while using the dust mop on all the non-carpeted floors. That usually rounds up a centipede or two but I did not get any today. I drank a quart of lemon water. I deleted the first round of e-mail and answered one. I did my exercises and drybrushed. I boiled water for coffee. I tapped and meditated. I cleaned the sink. Beverly started texting me on Facebook so I spent some time with her. Chris came home for lunch. He brought packages from the post office. He also had a pork roast from the commissary, which he put in the oven for the afternoon. I planted my lettuce in the red dishes like before, but I put them on top of the concrete fence posts so that nothing could get them. I also planted the peas that had germinated on the window sill. I needed some of the small pots the zinnia seedlings were in, so I planted some of them in the front flowerbed. Then I went in. The smell of something burning made me nauseous. I wondered if there was something other than pork in the oven. I put away the items that came in the mail. I called and talked to Myra. I posted notices to Facebook community page about the sewing class and yoga. Then I went to Housing to request the centipede spray after all because Chris said so. I put some of the stickers that I bought in Masan on the wall above the mantle. They didn’t really go with the old décor, but there wasn’t enough to take the old ones down. I updated my Pinterest page with items I have made recently. Some I did not have good pics of. I watched videos on how to dress apple shapes to hide the tummies. I took notes on the clothing item designs. I worked today’s puzzle. I made up supplements for the week. Then I made breakfast. Chris came home and took the pork out of the oven. I had Chris take pics of me wearing the items I wanted to add to my Pinterest page. Then I ate breakfast, and later some pork. I looked for something to mix and melt chocolate in on the stove, like a double boiler with a spout, but no luck. It was hard to believe, but there was nothing better than the serving bowl on a pot that I usually use. We watched an episode of Lois and Clark. Then I posted to my blog and went to bed.
* these are my peas sprouting outdoors. It looks like 100% germination, but short. Inside, about half sprouted and they were a lot taller. *

The one that didn't get away

I got up after Chris left for church. I read e-mail. I showered and put on my new green dress. I ate some seed crackers and the chocolate shake. Chris came home and noted that it was raining. I put on my shoes and he drove me to church. I sat with Jane. She liked my dress. So did others during the passing of the peace. The organist asked me to make her the same dress but in a different color. The sermon was about dealing with stress and what Jesus did. After the service, Chris picked us up. He drove Jane and I to the Korean church and found a place to park. We went inside and sat in the foyer until their service was over. We were among the first to go into the fellowship hall for lunch. They were serving kimchi, rice and a soybean soup. On the table were plates of flavored rice cakes. The lunch was tasty. Then we all got in the car and Chris drove us to the five-day market. Normally I would not go in the rain, but Jane was going to go and since Chris was willing to drive, it wasn’t so bad. Well, it could have been worse. We slogged through the market until I found the place where I get old kimchi. Jane was kind enough to ask for it. Then on the way back, we bought peaches. I wanted figs too, but we did not see any. Then Jane pointed out a man selling Asian pears for a really good price. I did not think we could use that many, but it is easier to go along with whatever she says. We passed the plant place and I bought a flat of lettuce seedlings. Chris asked if I wanted something for the slugs to eat with their beer. Ha. Ha. Jane walked to the bus stop and we went to our car and drove home. Chris dropped me off with the food and went to work. I put the food away. I read e-mail. One article on agriculture said you have to learn to read the weeds: the kind of weeds growing in your garden tell you what the soil needs. I walked outside with the grocery list and Chris drove up to get me. We went to the commissary. It was freezing in there. Chris introduced me to someone whose name I no longer remember. But he came for the exercise and will be leaving soon. As Chris got in line to check out, John asked me when we are having yoga again and I said I would speak to Myra. Then Chris and I took our groceries home. We put them away. I made and ate breakfast. I read about 10 uses for white glue. One of them is to make Flubber. It uses a cup of glue and a tsp of borax (among other things). In the comments section, there was a discussion of the potential harm of the borax, esp if the kids put it in their mouths? What about the glue? I took a break from e-mail to tweak the green dress to improve the fit. I fixed a pocket on one of Chris’ shirts. I sewed the side seams on purple floral dress. Chris went jogging. While I was marking a new sewing line on the center seams, I got bit by a small centipede. I had thought they were too small to be a problem, but now I know better. I put some healing salve on it. I scooped it up with a piece of paper and lit it on fire. Chris came home and rested on the floor. I found another centipede running away from him, and I slapped it with a shoe. I added bust darts to the purple floral dress. I altered the shoulder seams to eliminate a gap at the arm hole. I took a tuck across the back to eliminate excess fabric there. We watched two episodes of Lois and Clark. Chris went to bed. I deleted some e-mail and wrote my blog post for today before going to bed.
* I gave him a Viking funeral *

Shopping in Masan

I was up late last night looking for photos online of that dress I saw in the new Ghostbusters movie. I could not find it. I went to bed and put sleep salve on my feet. I slept fine and late. I got up and dressed to water the potted plants. Since it rained yesterday, the others were on their own. I read e-mail. I did two different meditations. I made and ate breakfast, then listened to an audio until Chris reminded me that it was almost time to meet Myra. He gave me cash. I put on my shoes and went to Myra’s place. Nela was just arriving. When Myra came out, we walked to the ATM for Myra to get cash. Then we walked out the front gate and to the CU to put money on our bus cards. Then we walked to the bus stop. After waiting for a long time, we caught the bus to the Masan fish market but turned the opposite way and explored a $ store. Then we made our way down the main drag in the market. We spent too much time trying on clothes at one shop. I bought one top there, but the others did not buy anything because he upped the price after they made their decision. Then Myra and Nela looked at shoes. I happened to see a pair that would go with the fabric I bought for the Navy ball, and they fit, so I bought them We looked for the underground consignment market. On the way, Nela decided to buy another backpack just like the one she had, only in blue this time. I ducked out to buy kimbap since I was hungry. We shopped for hair bows and a hair band, then I stood outside eating my kimbap until they were finished looking around. We found the underground market under a nearby building. We looked at used clothing, and tried on garments in several places. I bought a sequin top since it was only $5. There were some new boutiques there, but they were expensive. We found our way back to the main street. We went back to the $ store to get stuff we saw earlier but did not want to carry around. The lady rolled up my sheets of wall stickers and tied the roll, but did not put them in a bag. We proceeded to the bus stop. We did not wait long but it was 6:30 already. We arrived in Chinhae after 7. We walked back to base. Myra and Nela went to Duffy’s to get food for their families. I went home to find that Chris made me a plate of bison and rice. At my request, he also filled my water container with lemon water for me to drink. I ate while reading e-mail. Then I ate the last peach. I finished yesterday’s puzzle and worked today’s puzzle. I jotted notes for my blog. Then I tweezed my eyebrows. Chris helped with the gray strands. We watched the rest of Ghostbusters and one episode of Lois and Clark. I stayed up to blog while Chris went to bed. I used my camera to take photos of the pics on my phone, then downloaded them to my laptop. I look forward to going to bed.
* Which pair of these shoes is going to the ball? *

Cinnamon good for brain health

As I got into bed last night, I rubbed my new sleep salve on my feet. It must have worked because I fell asleep in a reasonable time. I woke up hearing Chris talking this morning on his computer and went back to sleep. I woke up again when he was at PT. I got up to water the plants. The sky was overcast. I deleted the first round of e-mail for the day. I did the usual two meditations. One is coming to an end soon. I ate some seed crackers and then the chocolate shake mix. I added cinnamon to my shake after reading that it helps with memory loss. I sprayed my hair with diluted vinegar to help it lay flat. I laid down and fell asleep. I woke up about noon. Chris came home for lunch. I found another tiny centipede. I wrapped it in a tissue and took it out back. I lit it on fire. The tissue did not burn well so I had to get a piece of paper to wrap it in. Then I was sure the critter wasn’t coming back. I tied off all the thread ends on the dress with the twin needle stitching. The phone rang: it was Housing asking if I wanted pesticide sprayed around my house. I told them no. They asked if I was only canceling this month, or if I wanted to cancel every month, and I said cancel every month. I cut arcs from the leftovers of the green knit fabric to make a decoration on my green shirt to hide the bleach stains. But I needed to concentrate on the Navy ball dress. I decided the pattern of the last dress was ok on me, so the next step was to try it in a woven fabric because that’s what I bought for the ball. Since the pattern pieces were cut from sheets of paper taped together, I traced them on large sheets of packing paper and cut out new pieces. Since the pattern is sized for knits, I turned the pieces to a 45 degree angle on the woven fabric before cutting. Hopefully that will give them enough stretch that I can pull the dress over my head. I stopped about 6 to make breakfast. Chris came home and made himself supper. Then we left for the movie. I put on pants because Chris said it was cool outside and it was. It hadn’t been so cool in months. We walked to the theatre and paid for admission. There is no one to take tickets at the entrance so I don’t know how they stop people from just sitting in without paying. We sat in the third row. We saw the new Ghostbusters movie. It was good, but not as good as the very first one. One of the ladies looks like one of my friends from Huntsville. Also there was a scene where Erin is banging on the window of a restaurant trying to get the mayor’s attention. The dress of the lady sitting on his left (what I could see of it) seemed just right for the Navy ball but I needed a better look. As we walked home, I told Chris I wanted to see the first movie again, with the music turned up loudly. Chris made a bowl of popcorn and we turned on the movie. When the music played, I got up and danced. I took my top off because it was so hot. During their meeting with the mayor, Skype sounded. Chris answered while I put my shirt back on. It was my sister calling. I asked Chris to open the windows to get some fresh air. I talked to Faye for an hour. I showed her the fabric I worked with today and the fabric for the ball gown. Then I posted to my blog and went to bed.
* On the way back from taking this pic, I found two more centipedes:( *

Going-away dinner

I got up before Chris left for work. I drank a quart of water. I watered all the plants, noting that some of the peas had sprouted already. I drank another quart of water because my lips were dry. I deleted the first round of e-mail. I responded to some. I listened to an audio. I did two meditations. I tapped for a lady here on post for quite some time. I hoped to hear that it did some good. I swept the floors and found another centipede that looked like a bit of thread with feet. I wrapped it in a tissue and took it out back to light on fire. The tissue did not burn well. So I put some coconut oil on it and then it burned well enough. There was no yoga today so I did my exercises and made breakfast early. As I was eating it, Chris came home for lunch. There was no mail. I had cleared out all the e-mail and was ready to listen to an audio, but did not want to inconvenience Chris. So I sat on the bed to tap, waiting for him to leave. He came back there and… was late getting back to work. I took a cold shower. I got dressed and put Epsom salts in two containers. I walked to The Foot Shop for my weekly massage. I got massage #3 today, which is full back of body massage. The lady took it easy on me today. After I paid, I walked around the corner to the Chinese place. There was a lady in there getting a foot massage. The massager called for someone to help me, but apparently there was no one available. So I headed back toward base. I called Myra to see what the plan was for taking Karon out to supper. I decided to take a small detour and go to the quilt shop. We don’t go there because it is expensive and not much selection. But I wanted to ask about quilt groups in the area. My phone app was not up to the job. So finally I called Jane. I explained what I wanted and handed the phone to the lady in charge. They talked for a while. When I got my phone back, Jane explained that the lady shows groups of ladies how to sew every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 to 12. There was no charge but one must buy the fabric from the store. The store was full of small purses, mostly shades of grey which looked like wool. Nothing I would want to make. But she gave me her card and I said I would tell my friends. Then I walked back to base. Chris was not home yet. I checked e-mail again while listening to the audio which was almost 2 hours long. I ate some supper and flattened some boxes for recycling. Chris came home not long before it ended. He made himself supper. Myra called to say she was going over to Nela’s with some hot peppers. So I put on my shoes and walked out. I noted that the seedlings needed a second watering so I gave it to them. Then I went down the hill. I met her and we walked over. Nela accepted the peppers and the three of us walked back to the quad. Karon was there, having walked back from a foot massage. We all walked out the front gate to a new chicken restaurant. Myra ordered two baskets of chicken for our table, and two glasses of Sprite and two glasses of water. We sat and talked for hours. It must have been about 10 when we paid and left. We walked back to base and stood by the quad. We were all covered in sweat. Myra left first to go to the bathroom. Then Nela asked us to walk her home. So we did, and then returned to the quad. Karon and I talked until almost 11 and then we each went home. When I got back, the indoor temp seemed to be freezing, but it was 80. Chris was in bed. I drank several cups of water with magnesium. Then I sat down to write my blog. I transferred some pics from my phone to the camera. I posted and went to bed.
* Karon is leaving for the states tomorrow. *

Two new recipes

I woke up hearing Chris leave for PT. I thought I stayed in bed a long time, but it was only quarter after 7 when I got up to collate the recyclables and take them out to the curb. I read e-mail while Chris took his shower and then filled the water pitchers right afterward. I went out to check on the plants and water them. No further damage since yesterday. I meditated and tapped. I read e-mail and listened to an interview. I made and drank the chocolate shake. I got dressed and paused the audio. I picked up the fish quilt and walked to the chapel. I was a few minutes early. I sat down to work on the binding. The secretary told me that someone was coming to use the room at 1 so we should clean up before we leave. I was by myself for some time. Then Chun came by, to visit and to look at quilt magazines, but I hadn’t brought any. I promised to bring some next time. She stayed until 12:30. I stayed until 12:50, then folded the quilt and left. I walked home. I made and ate breakfast. I cleaned in the kitchen. I wanted to sweat, so I went outside to do yardwork. I clipped the edges of the lawn. I trimmed the bushes. I weeded some. But I did not sweat. Something bit me near my knee. Every so often it would sting like something was in there. When I came in, I put ¼ C beeswax in a pot to melt. I added coconut oil and olive oil. While it was melting, I made a new batch of spice mix. I took the oil and beeswax off of the heat. I found two small containers and labeled them ‘sleep salve’ and ‘healing salve’. I followed two essential oil recipes, adding the drops to each container. I only had a problem when I could not find the lemon essential oil. I was sure I had some, but could not find it anywhere. So I figured I could get it later and re-melt the salve. I divided the oil/beeswax mix between the two containers and mixed them with a spatula. It cooled too fast, but I think it mixed well enough. I put the containers in the bathroom. I rubbed a little healing salve on my bug bite. I did today’s puzzle while listening to an audio. Chris came home from work about 6. I changed my clothes. I watered the seedlings. Then I took the fish quilt and drove to the chapel. Myra was just walking up. When we walked in, Lianne was there with her children in the play room. As we greeted her, Kelly walked in with her three girls. So I flicked on the lights in the classroom. Kelly set up her machine and one of her daughters pulled out pieces of an apron to work on. Another daughter worked on a bag on one of Myra’s machines. The smallest one wanted to play so I had to find her some paper and markers. Suzanne came with her little girl who wrote on the whiteboard. Elizabeth came with Jadyn and they brought lots of fabric and a girls dress pattern. I showed him how to read the pattern and pick out the pieces he needed. He was making dresses for his little sisters. 8:30 seemed to come very quickly. They packed up and most left. Nela and Suzanne and Myra stayed to talk. We were sad to hear that Nela was pcsing all of a sudden. We discussed certain people on post who have lots of potential but are holding themselves back by constantly expressing negative attitudes. It was after 10 when the group broke up. I took Nela home and then dropped Myra off at her house. I parked near my house. Chris was still up, having gotten back from seeing a Tarzan movie. I checked e-mail and looked on Facebook for all the drama I keep hearing about, but I did not see it. I wrote my blog post for today and followed Chris to bed.
* too heavy to hold it's head up *

An educational tour

Chris got up early, took a shower and left. I thought he went running, but I found his running shoes when I got up. I put out the food waste container for pick up. I watered the planter of peas that were on the kitchen window sill. I was trying to put them in a plastic bag so they would not dry out when I dropped it. There was dirt and dried peas all over the floor. I got most of it back in the planter and swept up the rest. I put the planter back on the windowsill. I watered the plants outside. I checked e-mail on the desktop and did some tapping and meditation. I put ingredients in the bread machine and started it. That used up every bit of flour, so I put it on the list. While I was making breakfast, Myra called to discuss when we were meeting to walk over to the 606. The desktop needed rebooting to take advantage of some updates, so I set it in motion and turned on the laptop. I fired up the laptop and ate breakfast. I placed an order with Swansons using my new credit card. I just made the minimum for free shipping. I checked e-mail and did some tapping. I took a cold shower. Then I ironed the facing in place on my green dress. But it would not stay down, so I spray basted the facing in place. Then I put on the green dress. I did not want to get too dressed up, but the space inside the neckline needed to be filled. I used a necklace, and then I had to wear earrings too. I called Myra to tell her I was coming. I walked down the hill to Myra’s place. She joined me in walking to the 606. We were early so we waited: she inside with the AC and me on a bench just up the hill where I could sit. When the new admiral’s lunch group came back, I walked down to meet them. We were introduced to the admiral and his wife. Then we and his wife got in a van with Justin at the wheel. We went to the gym where we got a tour of CYP, the gym and pool, and the teen center. Then we parked at the chapel. We got a tour of the school. I got to see the room with the new instruments. And then we went to the chapel for a tour. From there, we went to the duplex next to mine. It was empty so she could see the basic layout and furnishings. Justin said his replacement would be moving in there. We got a tour of Housing as well. Then we went to the FFTC. We toured the post office and the third deck. Finally, we picked up a Ms. Kim who used to work with Dan Olsen. Justin drove us to a coffee shop near the ecological park. We went to the second floor. We ordered beverages and cinnamon rolls. Ms. Kim gave us handouts about do’s and don’ts in Korean culture. We stayed so long, chatting and enjoying the conversation, that there was no time for the scheduled trip to the five day market. I was looking forward to it and had money. We went back to base. The only ID that did not pass security belonged to the admiral’s wife. Apparently the new ID did not get registered in the system. But they let us on the base anyway, eventually. We parked back at the 606. We got out and in a minute or two, the admiral and Chris and several others came out. The admiral shook our hands and thanked us for keeping his wife company. She gave us her e-mail address. Then she hugged us and we walked to security where Myra picked up the car key from her husband’s office and drove me home. Did I mention it was a hot day? We sat in the car and talked for 5 minutes and then I got out and she drove home. I ate some cashews. I ate my daily serving of nuts and frozen blueberries. I watered the outdoor seedlings again. When Chris came home, I asked him to take my picture so I would have a pic of the dress. I wrote to the admiral’s wife so she would have my e-mail address. I tried to ‘friend’ her on Facebook, but that option was missing. I looked at e-mail and got hooked on tutorials on Pinterest. I saw the making of a glaze that looks like glass when it hardens. That is a very interesting look for a cake. I posted a reminder of sewing classes for tomorrow. When Chris was ready, we watched two episodes of Lois and Clark. He went to bed and I stayed up to blog.
* So, is this dress a keeper? *

Deer cafeteria

I heard my alarm go off. Chris got up to take a shower. I felt a small cramp in my stomach but it went away quickly. I watered the plants. I noted that half of the begonias were gone, without a trace. Eaten? Probably by the same critter that ate the pepper leaves behind the begonias. I must be running a cafeteria for deer. Menu includes hosta, tomato leaves, cucumber leaves, pepper leaves, sweet potato leaves, strawberry leaves, lettuce and now, begonias.
I did two meditations: the one from the 21 day weight loss challenge and the kirtan kriya. Nela called to see if I wanted to go to Changwon to walk around. I still wasn’t eating so I was not feeling energetic. I did my exercises and rebounded. I boiled water for coffee. I tapped and rested, listening to interviews from The Man Panel. Chris came home for lunch with four boxes: two from Amazon and two from Swansons. I opened each one and put the items away. The new set of spatulas went in the dishwasher. I put the unsweetened cranberries in the cupboard. I put some of them in a jar with water because they were so dehydrated. I hemmed the sleeves of the green dress. I had to cover the stitch line with paper so it wouldn’t skip stitches. After Chris left for work, I looked up something online. I folded his socks. I took a cold shower. After the initial blast, it wasn’t that cold. I think it heats up in the water tank on top of the hill. I finished hemming the green dress. I wanted to sweat out whatever was ailing me, so I went outside. I fertilized the plants. I dug up a pail of dirt from the ditch up the hill. The dirt was full of worms. But it was dry up there and they had nowhere to go. When I got back to the patio, I sifted out most of the dirt and spread the worms over the flower bed. I considered it my worm relocation project. The flowerbed was a better place because it was watered regularly. I watered the remaining dirt in the ditch to help the worms left behind. I planted the sweet potato sprouts in small pots and put them up high. I planted all the pea seeds that Linda gave me. I dug up the zinnia seedlings and replanted them in small pots until ready for the big world. I hoped the deer would not find them tasty. I blended up the food waste and poured it on the flowerbed. I got an e-mail from the chaplain saying that a month from now Bible study would move to Wednesday night and they would be using both classrooms so I should choose another night for sewing class. That did not sit well with me. I called Myra, but she did not answer. I cleaned up the pots and trowel and such from the back porch. I ate a tomato and drank the chocolate shake powder with coconut water, coconut oil and coconut milk. I called Myra again. Chris came home just before she picked up. She said we should move both classes from the chapel to the Housing building. Chris heard the call and he said I should talk to the chaplain to see if they could work something out. I showed Chris the green dress and asked if I should wear it tomorrow to meet the new admiral's wife. While Chris ate supper, I melted beeswax – it took forever because I did not have a proper double boiler. While waiting for it to melt, I made mayonnaise. I mashed the soft pieces into my cupcake mold so it would be in quarter cup pieces. Chris ordered us new laptops from Amazon – or tried to. They would not ship to this address. So he ordered them from another company, but then the credit card company denied the charge. So he had to call them to straighten that out. I made chocolate, but it seized again, even though I did not put in anything I haven’t used successfully before. I had to press it into the mold by hand, adding a nut to each one. Then we sat down to watch an episode of Lois and Clark. I went to the desktop to check e-mail one last time. There was a reply from the chaplain and I replied to it, but the computer was so slow that I had to type one letter at a time, waiting for it to appear on the screen. I could not type ahead because it would not remember what I typed. So I fired up my laptop to write to my blog.
* This is none of your beeswax. *

Under the weather

Last night after I posted, I went back to work on my green dress. Chris slept until midnight. He might have slept later, but my phone rang. It was a wrong number, of course. He told me that the game was supposed to start at 11. So he set up his computer and joined the game already in progress. I went to bed. I turned the fan on so his voice would not keep me awake. I woke up at 6:30. Chris woke up when I got up. He said he came to bed at 3. I went to the bathroom and stayed awhile, noting pains in my upper GI tract. Most unusual. I wondered if it was the orange that I ate last night after cutting off the bad part. The pains came and went as I worked on my dress. It was like being kicked by a mule. Chris went to church. At 9:30 I watered the plants. I was debating whether to go to church. I was tired so I laid down. When Chris came back from church to check on me, the pains started up again. No church. I called Jane to say I wasn’t coming to lunch either. Eating seemed like a bad idea. I opened the dress pattern file on the desktop. I checked with it several times to make progress on the dress. Inexplicably, when I sewed the sides to the front, the front was longer. I had to match the horizontal stripe and that left close to an inch extra on the top at the shoulders. I cut it off so I could sew the shoulder seams. Then I had to shorten the neck facing to match, which it did not, at first. Chris had to meet with the new admiral, and then go to an ‘all hands’ meeting. I guess he went to work after that. It left me plenty of time to clean out my gut, thinking that would solve the problem. Myra called to see if I was going to the baby shower. But I told her I might be infectious. She put my name with hers on the card because I embroidered the name. When I finished cleaning and re-innoculating with good bacteria, I got a slight headache and my skin felt sensitive to the touch. It was like getting the flu. I cleaned up the bathroom and kitchen, and folded laundry. I put mine away. When Chris came home, he felt my forehead and said I was a little hot. He warmed up some bone broth for me. I checked my e-mail on the desktop. Later I ate some grapes. I was tired but did not want to sleep during the day. I got my dress put together and the neckline faced. I ran out of bobbin thread, so I wound 6 more. I was starting to hem the sleeves. I took a break to check the instructions to see if I needed matching thread. Yes, but I got distracted by a question someone sent me on Facebook. I wrote a check to Jennifer for the essential oils and prepared it for the mail. We sat on the couch and watched two episodes of Lois and Clark. I drank a bottle of mineral water and felt better. I fired up my laptop so I could post to my blog. I think I’ll go to bed now.
* Matching that stripe made this project take far longer than it should have. *

Grrreen dress

My laptop shut down unexpectedly and I lost my blog notes. Being Saturday, we slept in. I don’t think I got up before 9, maybe later. I watered the plants, and added the two plants I bought yesterday plus some of the sweet potato sprouts to pots outside whose tenants had died. I came in and drank my quart of water while reading e-mail. I did several meditations. Chris ran the dishwasher and did laundry. I taped together all 24 sheets of paper to make the dress pattern. I cut between the pieces to separate them. I pulled up the original file to find out what size to cut. But I still measured myself and did the math to make sure it would be big enough. The sleeve seemed a little tight. But there was no way to enlarge it without changing the armscye. The fabric had one stripe that hit every 36 inches. I played around with it, to find the best placement for it. Not at the waist and not across the bust. Finally I decided to have it at the lower hem, which put the next one across my upper chest. It was the best I could do. Then, as I was getting the fabric folded in half and laid out, Chris said it was time to go to the movie. I had forgotten all about it. Star Trek Beyond. Well, not knowing if it would be shown again, I got ready and we went. I stopped to add water to some of the potted plants. I noted that something (probably deer) ate the leaves on the sweet potatoes and the cucumbers. Again. We walked to the theatre. We ran into Suzanne and her family. I had not realized they were back from vacation. She was excited to tell me all about their adventures but time did not allow it. We went upstairs to buy tickets, then sat down in the theatre. It was well attended, as far as movies go. I was thinking about my dress, but then the movie started and I forgot all about it. It was actually pretty good, although Zachary Quinn will never be Spock with that posture. When it was over, I was crying. Probably seeing Leonard Nimoy’s picture and the dedication. We walked out of the building and into the dark. There were no deer in my garden when we got home. Chris said he was going to game with the voices, but then he disappeared. I worked on my dress, basting the stripes together by hand to make sure they lined up exactly. For some reason, the stripes did not want to line up when the fabric was folded down the center. Grr. Then I pinned and cut the center back and two of the side panels. I basted two more stripes, and pinned the front to the fold. I checked in the bedroom, and Chris was asleep. I wasn’t sure if he had his alarm set to wake him up or if he was oversleeping. It was after 11. I wanted to finish my dress in time for church tomorrow, but I was tired. Actually, make that present tense. I am tired. I am posting to my blog and then might go to bed, or might stay up and sew some more. If Chris gets up to game all night, I won’t be sleeping anyway.

Adventures with Jane

I woke up just after 7. Chris was gone. I did some mental programming and fell asleep. I woke up when my alarm went off. I got up and went in my sewing room to look through my needle collection until I found my twin needle. I put two kinds of green thread on my machine and proceeded to stitch diagonal rows through the bright green midsection of my dress. I finished sewing and then started tying off the ends. But I could not finish before Community Roundup. So I threw on shorts and a t-shirt and headed down there. Myra was already there, in the lobby. We sat with Kim for the program.
Jane called while the CO was speaking. I tried whispering but she could not hear me so I hung up. After the roundup, Myra asked me to embroider something for her. I walked with her to Security. We stopped to pick figs along the way. At Security, we picked up old patches from Scott. I called Jane and found that she wanted me to sign her onto post to use the ATM at 12:15. I followed Myra to her house. We looked at patterns and discussed what was to be embroidered. We got to talking about other stuff so I did not get home until just before noon. I watered the garden and then called Jane. She was still waiting for the bus to come here. I plugged in my phone and ate seed crackers with hummus. I started making breakfast when she called to say she was at the front gate. I grabbed my purse and headed down there. It was a really hot day. I signed her in and we went to the ATM. She got money and I signed her out. She called a special doctor to make appointments for us to be tested for food allergies. But his waiting list was 2 years long. Then she wanted to go to lunch. I thought we could have a quick lunch nearby, but we ended up walking out past the traditional market to find kimbap. I asked her to read business signs along the way. We stopped to investigate a new massage place, but it was smoky. After lunch, we walked across the main street. She noted another massage place, so we walked up to the second floor to investigate. No one was there. We waited a little bit and then a lady came in with a sack of something, probably food. She talked to us about some products she uses to do facials. A delivery man dropped off boxes of shampoo. I read the ingredients and was not impressed. She kept saying something about using a machine that melts fat from the midsection. Sessions were $70, unless the client signed up for 10 sessions at $60. Eventually we got out of there. We went back across the street to the bank to use the bathroom. Then we climbed up a flight of steps to check out a dance/exercise place, but it was closed. We walked around the corner to another exercise/dance place which happened to be on the third floor. It, too, was closed. But under it was a place called NugaBest. I had no idea what it was. Jane ushered me inside. Around the edges of the room, ladies were lying on special beds. In the center of the room were rows of chairs with wide belts in them. The front row also had foot pads. I was directed to the one front row seat left. The lady put wet wipes on the foot pads and I placed my feet there. Then she wrapped what looked like jump rope handles with wet wipes and put them under my arm pits. Then she turned on the machine. O. M. G. Electric shocks went through my feet and shins, as well as my hands. My fingers curled up into my palms, and my palms curled up into my wrists. It was scary how much they resembled my mother’s hands. We were exposed to advertising, but I could not tell what it was. When the video ended, everyone got up, whether they had been sitting or lying down. We left and I asked Jane what the business was. She said they were selling special beds that do something to points along the spine. They would encourage people to come in and try the technology for free. Then we walked into the market and talked to some shop owners. We found two places that make clothes, but only for women. They recommended Chris go to a tailor at Lotte Mart. I bought grapes and peaches from a cart vendor. We walked into Daiso to see if they had the hat Nela wanted, but it still had not been restocked. We walked down to the Chinese massage place. Jane walked in and asked them some questions. We went next door but decided not to go up. That place seemed to be more for skin care than massages. We went across the street because of the massage/spa type pics on the wall. We walked up the stairs and found it very dim inside. When Jane called out, a weak voice answered. Jane asked the voice if she was sick and she said yes, so we left. Then Jane went to catch a bus and I walked back to base. The gate guard asked me if I needed a ride. I must have looked pretty hot (and sweaty). I walked home. I put the grapes away and washed a peach. I drank the quart of water from this morning. I fired up my laptop and checked e-mail for the first time today. I drank a chocolate shake with coconut oil. I laid down for a bit, recovering from the heat. Chris came home. I checked more e-mail and jotted notes for my blog. I ate a spinach smoothie popsicle. I set up my embroidery machine and made a test stitch-out of the name Myra asked for. Then I called her to ask what color she wanted it. Yellow. So I stabilized the blue square she gave me, and embroidered the name on it. I took it and two popsicles over to her place. She was in her sewing room, working on a baby rag quilt. I handed her the square and the popsicles. We talked for a bit and then I went home. I read e-mail while listening to an audio until Chris was ready. Then we watched three episodes of Lois and Clark. I started working on my blog while Chris called ATnT to fight for his go-phone account. Apparently he has to call them every 90 days to keep the account active so he can use it when he is in the states.

Two and a half hours of massage!

I did not hear Chris get up this morning, or if I did, I went back to sleep and forgot it. I do remember waking up in the night, having trouble going back to sleep. I have stopped taking the melatonin, but maybe I still need it occasionally? I heard my alarm ring at 7:30 but did not feel like getting up. Chris came back for a shower (after his 5am teleconference). We spoke as he was getting dressed. Then I got dressed and went out to water the garden and pots. I did some clipping, too. Then I settled down to read e-mail and drink water. I also finished today’s puzzle which I started yesterday. I ate seed crackers with the last of the mayo and then some of the hummus I made yesterday. Chris had cooked the chick peas for an hour and a half, but they would not get soft. So the resulting hummus was a bit grainy. I got out my empty supplement bottles from yesterday and went to Swansons to reorder. Some of the items have been ordered but have not arrived yet. I emptied all the powdered supplements for today in a bowl and measured it: almost 2 tablespoons. I mixed up some powdered magnesium that I buy in bulk and mixed it with coconut oil to make a thick paste. Then I put it in the fridge to harden a little so I could form it into a capsule shape. This will make it easier to take at night when I don’t want to drink a lot of water before going to bed. I listened to several audios from The Man Panel. I laid out the pattern pages that I printed yesterday - see pic. I handwashed my nylon footsies. I put on some new ones and took my mat to yoga. Myra was already there. She told me we were going to lunch on Tuesday with the new wife. Joelle led us through lots of stretches as her last yoga class for this month. Afterward, I helped roll up all the mats and went home. I found Chris there with lots of packages from the mailroom. He opened two for me and I opened two. I made and ate breakfast. I asked Chris to stay until I finished my shower. While I was taking my shower, the contractors came to measure all the windows for new shades. I think everyone is getting them. I got to read a little more e-mail before I went to the Foot Shop for my massage. It was pretty good. Afterward, I called Myra to see if she and some others were in the nearby market. But she said they were already on their way back. So I went to the Chinese massage place around the corner. I told her I wanted my face massaged but not the mask. And I wanted my arms massaged. I tried my phone translation app, but for some reason, it never finished translating. She indicated two massages on the menu: one facial and one full body. The combined price was 66,000. I showed her my 50,000 won note. She wrote into her translation app, and it came back “1 hour 30 points, first pay”. It sounded like a deal to me. She took me to a back room and left me with a set of massage clothes to don. I changed and then she came in. She had me lay face down while she massaged my back and legs. She was pretty hard on my shoulders. Then she turned me over and did the facial massage. It hurt to lay flat and I had to bend my knees to accommodate my back. Then she massaged my arms and legs. When it was over, I got dressed. I felt I had had enough massage for one day. I took a pic of the place across the street with the pic of a woman getting a hot stone massage. I walked back to the base. I drank lots of water and took the vitamin C that I meant to take this morning. Chris came home just as I was going out to mow. I could see that the Korean men that mowed this morning did part of my yard but not the yard next door. So I mowed what they did not in both yards. When I came in, Chris was having supper. I made and ate a salad, adding tomatoes and cucumbers from my garden. I read e-mail and listened to a pediatric conference about the effects of EMF from cell phones on fetuses and young children. Then we watched two episodes of Lois and Clark. Chris went to bed, tired from getting up so early. I posted to my blog, did the Day 11 meditation from the “21 day meditation for weight loss challenge”, and went to bed.

Sewing on Wednesday

I got up about 7:15. I collated the recyclables and put them by the door. I got dressed and went out back to drink my quart of water. I came in and checked e-mail. Chris came back from PT. I took the recyclables out to the street, then watered the plants. He asked me to show him the one squash that made it past the gumball stage. I put on an interview and listened while I did today’s puzzle and some of my exercises. The interview was with Wim Hof, the Ice Man. He can sit in an ice bath for two hours and climbed Kilimanjaro in nothing but a pair of shorts. He said we aren’t meant to live in temperature controlled environments. I took a cold shower. After the initial blast, it was actually comfortable. I made up a week’s worth of supplements before it was time to leave. I took the fish quilt to QOV. I sat and handstitched binding until Anna and Katelyn came. Myra was an hour late and we were getting worried. Anna worked on a potholder and Katelyn made a bib with a little help. Nela came for a little while. The secretary at the chapel was having her birthday. She brought in a plate of pieces of cake just as we were leaving. The others had a few bites, then left. Myra and I walked back to her place with the rest of the cake. I told her I would come after lunch to see her patterns. But when I got home, I did not feel like eating. I put on an interview from The Man Panel.and laid on the couch, nearly falling asleep. Myra called later to say she did not have any patterns like I was looking for. I walked to Housing and requested a new light bulb for the dining room. He handed me a box of two. I also told him that I would not be home at 11:30 for the contractor to measure my windows. He hemmed and hawed and said it was a tight schedule. But I stuck to my guns and he changed it to 1pm. I went home with the light bulbs, laying the box on the dining room table for Chris. I made and ate breakfast. I read e-mail. I cut out pages from packing paper to use in the printer. I printed out a free dress pattern from Craftsy. It took 24 sheets. Chris came home just as I was putting on my shoes to leave. I took the second QOV and the roll of binding. I drove to the chapel. Myra and Jadyn were already there. I pinned the binding on as we talked. Katelyn came to make a bib. She brought a towel from the Nex to use for the backing. The new teacher, Mari came, just to talk. She seemed comfortable and fit right in. She mentioned that had she known that she could not live on post and that her son would have to come to post by 6 every morning to be bused an hour and a half to Daegu for school each day, she would not have come. We all sympathized with her. I suggested there could be a supervised room at the school where high school students take their courses online. Katelyn said that was how she finished high school. Jadyn finished making a phone cover with Myra’s help. I finished sewing the binding strip to the quilt. Katelyn finished the bib with my help. Anna did not finish the folded star potholder that she started at lunch. Nela just came to talk and help pack up. Then we left. They walked home, but Anna and I drove. No one wanted a ride. When I got home, Chris was still awake, on his laptop. But soon he shut it down and went to bed. I helped him fall asleep. Then I went back to my laptop to go to Netflix. I watched parts of the very first three episodes to see what dresses Angela and Cam were wearing, but Cam wasn’t part of the show yet, and Angela mostly wore a lab coat. Then it was past time to go to bed.
* A pic of succulents from the market last week *

We have reservations!

I woke up alone. I heard Chris come back from running. I did some mental programming and got up at 7:30. I swallowed 5 frozen castor oil gelcaps. I put the food waste in the container. I got dressed and took it out to the street. I saw some strips of pattern tissue paper on the ground and figured that they somehow came out of the trash can yesterday. I brought them inside and put them in the trash. I drank my quart of water while reading e-mail. One of the e-mails had a link to a Youtube video: So God Created a Dog. It would have been fine if I had stopped there, but one video leads to another and soon hours were gone. I got up to water the plants. Something had not only eaten the one plate of lettuce left, it had torn the plants out of the soil. It also ate the leaves off the sweet potatoes, which had been doing really well. I watered everything, even though the sky was overcast. I was not falling for that again. I picked a few tomatoes, eating the ripe ones and bringing in the pinkish ones to ripen on the window sill. I listened to a tapping audio while eating seed crackers and then drinking my chocolate superfood smoothie. I sat and chanted the Kirtan kriya meditation. I put on my yoga outfit and grabbed my mat. I ran out the door but came back for my umbrella. It was raining but did not last long enough. I got there late but Joelle was later. She led us through stretching and balance poses. I walked home with Myra. Together we narrowed the dates and then she called the hotel to make room reservations for the Tokyo International Quilt Festival in January. We looked at flights, but she wanted her husband to help with that. I came home to make and eat breakfast. I also ate a spinach smoothie popsicle. Delicious. I listened to audios and read e-mail. I finished listening to an audio by John Gray from yesterday. I read more e-mail, and then changed into shorts. I walked to the theatre for the town hall. Surprisingly, it was sparsely attended. I sat with Anna, but then she left. Myra sat with me and then Nela showed up after it started. We listened to MWR stuff and the exercise stuff, and Housing stuff and Commissary stuff. Kids made noise but the parents did not take them out so I might have missed something. After the meeting, we all talked in the foyer, then went home. I made a salad and ate it while reading e-mail. Chris made his supper and ate it in front of his laptop. Finally we watched an episode of Lois and Clark. Chris went to bed and I stayed up to clear more e-mail, meditate and post to my blog.

Magnesium works

I heard Chris leave for PT. I got up when the alarm went off. I swallowed 5 frozen castor oil gelcaps and then drank a cup of water. I swished with coconut oil and then drank the remaining three cups of water with lemon. I exercised, and rebounded and drybrushed. I boiled water for coffee. Nela called to say they were leaving in half an hour to go to Masan. I said I needed more time, so go ahead without me. But I finished a little early. I got dressed and went outside, only then realizing that the plants weren’t watered yet. So I watered them. Then I called Nela, but she did not answer. Just then I got a Skype call from Kurt. Nela called back to say they were just then getting money from the ATM. So I said I’d catch up. But then I talked to Kurt and Faye and Dad for over an hour, at which time Chris came home for lunch and had a few things to tell me before he went back to work. I ate seed crackers and mayo. Nela called to say they just got on the bus. I put on my shoes and walked out in town to the bus stop. The next bus seemed a long way off according to the digital sign. I asked a young man if other buses went to Masan. He asked where and I told him ‘fish market’. He typed something into his phone for some time. The possible alternate buses came and went. He indicated bus 160 and bus 163. Then bus 163 came by so I thanked him and got on. It took about half an hour to get there and I did not recognize the stop until after the bus started moving again. So I got off at the next stop, which was around a corner and across a large intersection. I worried about finding my way back. I called Nela and agreed to call her back when I got to the market. I met her and Karon down one of the streets. We visited a fabric store where Karon bought some fabric for Myra to make a bag. It had the logo “Made in Korea” on it. Naturally, I found some fabric, too. I bought two pieces of cotton for dresses, and one of stretchy black lace for a shrug. Then we followed Nela to a hair and candy shop. We each bought a hair item, like a barrette or bobby pins. Then we went to Paris Baguette for lunch. Nela and Karon enjoyed it but I did not order anything. Right outside, a TV news crew was filming people singing and dancing in honor of National Liberation Day: the day that Korean was liberated from Japan. When we walked around the area, we were handed Korean flags. After lunch, we looked for the underground market to look at the consignment shops. But we could not find it. I suspect it was below one of the closed department stores. We asked, and were told it was closed for the holiday. We found our way, with a few stops, back to the main street. We walked through the fish market across the street to look for coconuts, but there were none. Then we found the bus stop. We had a long wait, but the bus that came was nice and cool. (Did I mention it was a hot day?) The salt water I brought with me kept me hydrated and comfortable, but my friends were complaining about the heat. It was after 5 when we got off the bus in Chinhae and walked back to base. Nela said we should go again next Monday when the stores are open. I walked home. I made and ate breakfast and read e-mail. I listened to an audio on light and sleep while finishing today’s puzzle. Chris came home from church (today was a day of holy obligation for Catholics). I looked through my patterns. I called Myra to find out how her day of rowing went. I held up the fabric I bought today to see how it looked on me, but I couldn’t tell without daylight. I finished the spinach from yesterday. I jotted notes for my blog while listening to another interview: While you are sleeping, you breathe out almost a liter of water, so you wake up dehydrated. Most people are magnesium deficient; which makes sense because when I take magnesium, either orally or transdermally, I sleep better and my scalp itches less. I checked e-mail one last time. I finished the audio. I got out Chris’ credit card because my credit card charge to Amazon was denied again. I don’t know what is up with that, but I cannot contact the bank to find out. I wrote to my blog and went to bed.

Planning to sew

If I jotted any notes today, they disappeared when my laptop rebooted itself. I wonder if it overheated. Anyway, near as I can remember, here is how the day went:
Chris got up really early to go running. When I came out, he was sitting in front of his computer, shirtless and sweating. So I read e-mail too, eating seed crackers. After he went to church, I went outside to water the flowers and vegetables. Then I took a cold shower and got dressed for church, wishing I had another summer dress to wear. I promised myself I would make one. I sat at my laptop again, listening to an audio and looking at yoga pants on Amazon until Chris came back from church. There was a pair I wanted to order as a gag gift for Joelle, but they were hard to find. Chris dropped me off at church and went home. Our chaplain was out of town, so we had a guy who was here once before. The subject of his sermon was prayer, mostly. He rambled on so much, that I wasn’t sure what his point was. Or maybe he had lots of points. The service ended promptly at 11:30. I walked outside and called Chris but he just pulled up. We went home and changed clothes. He got out chicken to defrost for supper. I read e-mail for a while. I read synopses of the lives of Star Wars characters. It seemed so new, as if I hadn’t watched the movies. Then we walked to the commissary to get lemons, greens, and frozen blueberries. We walked home. I listened to several more interviews. I did part of tomorrow’s puzzle. I partially defrosted some spinach to make popsicles. I blended it with coconut milk and butter and coconut butter, then poured it into popsicle molds. Chris put chicken in the oven. My little spatula broke while I was cleaning out the blender, so I looked at spatulas online to find a good replacement. I added that to the yoga pants order. I also searched for bags of raw organic almonds. For some reason, Amazon would not show very many. Actually, it showed me lots of things that were not what I searched for. I finished orders to Swansons and Amazon. My usual credit card had been disabled due to fraud. So I pulled out the one in my wallet to place the orders. I watered the plants again, but not the squash. I used my bug racket to kill some of the buzzing insects that followed me around. I looked at dress design ideas that I had saved on my laptop. I got out some green fabric for the dress and looked at patterns, trying to decide what would look best and be a sure bet. We watched one episode of Lois and Clark. Chris went to bed early. I got on my laptop and saw that my credit card charge to Amazon was rejected, but not why. In case it was a typing error, I went to Amazon and re-entered it. That seemed to go through. I tried to activate a new card, but the activation process included making a call, which I could not do. There was no way to e-mail them that I could not call, nor could I receive calls or texts to the phone numbers that they have recorded for us. I watched a documentary on Lyme disease and how so many doctors and administrators deny its existence (for financial reasons). Then I posted to my blog and went to bed.
* Here are the sprouts that I pinched off the sweet potatoes before I steamed them. If I can get them to root, I will have something to put in the pots outside where the currents plants are withering. *

A 'waist' of time

I woke up early, almost 7 if I remember correctly… Chris got up to play with the voices. It was supposed to start at 8, but the voices were late. I read e-mail and then watered the plants. I did today’s puzzle. I could not listen to an audio because that would have competed with the voices. I could not meditate either. After reading all the e-mail worth reading that did not involve an audio, I turned to sewing. I took a shapeless dress that I bought in Daegu and took it apart. I ironed the pieces and recut it using a pattern taken from a dress that fits me. I took a break to make and eat breakfast. Chris finished with the voices, so I did a meditation and started an audio. Later he went to the commissary, so I paused the audio and started another one that is best listened to when he was not home. I started a batch of seed crackers. Chris came home with groceries while I was still measuring and mixing. I paused the audio. Chris told me that some of my flowers were wilting, so I went out to water them. Mostly it was the butterfly bush, which does attract butterflies. He came out to tell me the timer had rung. I went in to check on the crackers. I decided to turn the oven off and let them cook/cool a little longer. I went back to sewing. I put in bust darts, and basted the seams. Then I serged them. Amazingly, the arm holes were bound with the same strip of fabric that went around the neck edges, so I had to tie in to it to make it look right. I did a lot of handsewing to have the control I needed to get it right. Chris had supper and was ready to watch TV before I was done. So I brought the dress out with me to finish pulling out the basting. We watched two episodes of Castle. I put on my new dress and took pics of it. After all that work, it calls attention to my stomach no matter what I do. I feel like I wasted my day. (It does look better than the original shapeless tent of a dress.) After checking e-mail one last time, we went to bed. Probably.

Pest control and lots of sewing

Chris got up REALLY early to go running since he could not sleep. I thought he went to work. His phone alarm went off at 6. I shut it off. Soon he came home and laid on the floor, panting and sweating. I worked on the shorts I had cut out yesterday. I stopped to fill the water pitchers after his shower. I found a large centipede in my sewing closet. I called out and Chris came in and cut its head off with my fabric scissors. The parts were still moving, so he cut it again and took the parts outside. I finished sewing the shorts pieces together, and got out some elastic. I stopped to water the plants. I tied up some that were outgrowing their space. I encased a budding squash to find out what is happening to my budding squashes. I picked a tomato and three long green peppers. I clipped a foliage plant to root some new ones. I deleted the first round of e-mail. I did the kirtan kriya meditation and the weight loss meditation for today. I listened to an audio on ways to feel joy while eating seed crackers. He recommended gratitude. I lowered the front waistband and hemmed the shorts. I put dishes in dishwasher, and boiled some rosemary for tea. I made and ate breakfast. I found some AA batteries to try out the bug racquet. I waited for an ant to crawl on it, then pressed the button. I did not see anything but I smelled smoke and the ant did not move. I put sweet potatoes in the steamer. I trimmed the second QOV quilt, and cut binding strips from the trimmings. Sadly much of it was light damaged. I sewing the binding strips together and ironed the strip lengthwise and wound it on a cardboard tube; all while listening to an audio. She said happiness is a state of activity. Interesting thought. I watered the plants again. I sewed a button on the shirt Chris left on my ironing board. Chris came home from work with a package. I changed the shorts pattern to reflect the changes I made. Then I shortened and hemmed a pair of pants that Myra gave me for Chris. When I finished, my sweet potatoes were perfectly steamed. I ate one with butter while looking at Queen Amidala gowns to get ideas for the navy ball. Then we watched an episode of Castle. Chris went to bed early. I stayed up to blog.

A good day

After posting to my blog last night, I shut down my computer and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I heard the front door open and Chris came in with his luggage. He got ready for bed, and …
Then it was morning. I woke up several times but did not get up until 7. My mouth was dry so I drank my quart of water while Chris took his shower. He got ready for work. After he left, I watered the plants and fired up my laptop. I deleted the first round of e-mail then listened to an audio while I ate seed crackers and did today’s puzzle. I listened to another audio as I selected fabric for a pair of shorts. I got the pieces cut out just in time to get dressed for yoga and run out the door. Trying to get to yoga by 11, I saw Myra and ran to catch up with her, but she was on the phone. Joelle was talking with John as we walked in. In class, we practiced handstands and did some exercises on the big balls. After yoga I came home to find Chris having lunch. I made and ate breakfast. He called the credit card company over some unrecognized charges on my card. I googled the vendor and it came up in Spanish. Chris went back to work. I took a hurried cold shower and got dressed for my massage. I was pretty sure I was going to be late so I did not look at my watch as I almost ran down the streets. As usual, I changed clothes as the young man ran hot water for my foot soak. He asked about Myra. He also asked which masseuse I wanted. I said it did not matter. It was a new woman. I think he called her Ms. Wongchin. She liked to use her elbows to put pressure on points along my spine. She tried to talk to me but I did not understand. It was either “Your shoulders are really tight so I will see if I can work it out” or “My father was killed by an American. Take that!” I tried to tell her when it hurt, but I guess she did not understand. After the massage, I paid and set an appt for next week. The clerk asked me who I wanted and again, I said it did not matter (since Mr. Kim was still on vacation.) I walked around the block to the Chinese place. Their clerk was outside. He came in while I was standing there. I asked for a foot massage. He got a bucket of hot water and threw in the Epsom salts that I brought. I sat there for a long time. My shoulders felt like they needed a massage so I guess Ms. Wongchin’s efforts were in vain. Then Sumo Man came in. He was not actually that big, but he certainly is not built like a Korean. He dried my feet, then proceeded to massage them and my calves with some kind of cream. It was very nice and I sat there thinking very positive thoughts. After the massage, I paid and left. I could not resist going to the market. I went to Daiso and bought a large carabiner, a lemon juicer and a few other things that I can’t remember now. Then I went to the plant places and found a geranium for $2. Then I walked back to base. I was expecting Nela to call after work but never heard from her. Chris was not home when I got in. I read some e-mail, then went out to water the plants for the second time. He walked up as I was in the middle of it. I picked a large cucumber for supper. I made a salad and ate it in front of my computer. Chris made his own supper and read e-mail. I listened to two interviews, one from the sleep summit and one from the fat loss summit. Then we watched two episodes of Castle. Chris went to bed. I stayed up to post to my blog.
* This is Nela wearing the dress that she and Myra made. *

Last day of my 'vacation'

I got up really early and went back to bed. I got up later (still before 7), and sat outside to drink water. Then I watered just the potted plants because the others seemed wet. Maybe it rained last night? I swished while boiling eggs for Chris. Two of them ‘exploded’ in the boiling water. I also made a loaf of bread. I did the fat-loss meditation for today and the kirtan kriya meditation. I read e-mail and listened to an audio. I watered the garden and then took a cold shower. I worked on the shirt sleeves, trying to add style some how. All of a sudden I realized it was 10:55. I grabbed my stuff and headed to the chapel, but no one there. I called Myra and two ladies walked in. One wanted to learn to hem a pair of pants. Anna came in to work on a QOV block, so Katelyn watched her. Anna’s son brought two sheets of addition and subtraction problems, but he would rather run around and make noise. Eventually Myra got him calmed down enough to do his problems. I showed Maria how to hem her pants. She and Katelyn said they would come back for the nigh class. Anna finished her block. We left around 1:20. I walked home with Myra. We talked for a bit and then she went in for lunch. I went home for breakfast, stopping to add water to some potted plants on the porch. I ate as I listened to an interview on sleeping on the space station. The days are 45 minutes long (sunrise and sunset), so working with circadian rhythms is important. I also read about the floating gardens of the Aztecs.
I worked on the sleeves of the shirt. Chris called at 5 to say he was in Korean waiting for a flight out of Incheon. Then I made a salad for supper and ate an orange. I finished the shirt in time to walk to the chapel for sewing class. Katelyn and Maria joined me on the walk there. It seemed like the chapel was locked but I pushed really hard on the door and it opened. Soon after we got there, Anna and Myra and Karon arrived. Myra helped Katelyn work on an apron. Maria was able to hem a pair of pants by herself. Myra and Nela prepared Nela’s dress to be hemmed. We had a good time chatting on a variety of subjects. Finally we packed up and headed out. Four of us talked about taking a bus to Osan or Seoul. Then we parted to go to our respective homes. I got home and listened to an interview from the sleep summit while preparing my blog. I deleted most of the pics from my camera to make room for more. Then I posted to my blog, not sure what the rest of my evening would look like.

Cleaning up

I got up before 7:30 and went outside to sit in the sun, drinking my quart of water. Then I watered the all the plants. I put the geranium in a bigger pot. I read e-mail while I ate seed crackers with mayo. Afterward, I drank my shake. I did today’s puzzle. I posted a reminder to Facebook for sewing tomorrow. I got dressed and worked on basting a sleeve into my new top. Then I went to yoga, taking my mat and my market bag. There was a man in class today. Joelle mentioned that she is pcs-ing next month. With no one to take her place, we will surely miss here. After class, I walked to the post office. They gave me three packages. Two of them went into my market bag. I walked home. I made and ate breakfast. Myra called to say why she missed yoga. I talked about getting a watermelon in town and she said the cantaloupes at the commissary were really good. So after breakfast I walked to her house. She came out with Karon. I enjoyed seeing her again. Myra and I walked to the commissary. But the price she had quoted me for the cantaloupe was per pound, not per melon. She weighed one melon and it was three pounds. Neither of us felt like paying $7 for one. While she shopped for other things, I went to the NX for a birthday card. When I came back, she was just checking out. Anna came in with Terry. He was energetic and running around, in and out of the store, climbing over the carts, etc. We walked back with Karon. We talked about the presidential race and I wondered if the hype between Hilary and Trump was some kind of distraction to allow Obama to gain a third term. I ate lunch when I got home, and read e-mail. I mowed the lawn and collated the recyclables. I trimmed with grass clippers. I got hooked on reading questions and answers on Quora. I made a salad for supper. I watched an episode of House. I dustmopped all the wood floors. In the pile of dirt collected was a small centipede. I made sure he did not survive. I ate some coconut pieces. I listened to several interviews from the sleep and fat loss summits. I laid down during the last one, then roused myself to post to my blog and go to bed.
* This is the lady making me a roll of kimbap, from the market yesterday. *

Shopping in a thunderstorm

I had a hard time falling asleep last night. The yoga nidra meditation had me very relaxed, mentally and physically, so what was the problem? I turned the router off when I went to bed, but the audio kept going and going and going. Finally I had to get up to shut it off. It had switched to the next audio and it was 3 hours long! And all that must have been in the buffer. I got up several times to go to the bathroom. Then I woke up with the alarm. I got up right away to swish while watering plants. Leaving the router off, I drank lemon water while exercising, and boiled water for coffee. I unpaused the audio from last night so I could meditate with it. The router was still off. After detoxing, the audio was finished. I cleaned the kitchen and put everything away. Finally I turned the router on so I could check for messages. I was surprised no one called yet, especially Nela. My laptop crashed on start-up, so I restarted in safe mode then restarted in regular mode. I wondered if the crash was heat related. There were no messages. I cleared the first round of e-mail and started work on today’s puzzle. I called Nela. She invited me to lunch as a fund raiser for Navy ball, but it involved buying ham and cheese sandwiches so I declined. Then she invited me to go with Anna and Myra to Gimhae after lunch. I put some cash in my wallet. I made a chocolate shake and had seed crackers with mayo. I read that cucumbers help with memory loss because they contain fisetin. I put it in my Swanson’s cart for next time. I read about how a magnesium deficiency can lead to an itchy scalp. The article recommended a magnesium spray applied to hair and scalp. I had never tried it because the spray made my arm itch whenever I used it. But I was willing to try, so I sprayed the itchy patch of my scalp. Ouch! It stung. I felt a headache coming on. I washed it out of my hair as best I could. I ate the cucumber that I picked yesterday. I put on my Xero shoes and walked to Myra’s house. The CO’s family and Nela were there finishing lunch. Anna took Terry home and changed out the car seat, then came back for us. We piled in and were off to Gimhae. After she parked, we started walking to the market, and the rain began to fall. We stopped at some used clothing places along the way. It was in full downpour when we got to the covered streets of the market. The thunder was really loud, like gunshots. Little Terry ran through the puddles. We looked at all the foods for sale, many which I could not identify. I bought 6 large carrots at one place while Myra checked out a guitar at another. I stopped to buy a roll of kimbap. The lady made it right in front of me so I was able to communicate that I did not want the yellow radish. I ate it as we walked. Then we ran into a man walking his frog. I kid you not. Bullfrog on a leash. I bought a green coconut and a brown coconut. We ran into a place that spoke Thai. Anna could speak to them. It was a good thing, too, because then she asked them if she could borrow an umbrella. She walked all the way back to her car and came back for us. Her son was ready to go home, but we stopped at a row of plant places. He seemed to like looking at cacti with Myra. I bought a geranium and a lantana. Myra got two lantanas and something else. Finally we were on our way back. When we got back, there was no rain and had been no rain, but it looked like rain was coming. I watered my potted plants anyway. I cracked open the brown coconut and drank the water. I put it in two bags to break open on the cement. I ate some of the flesh but it wasn’t very sweet. It went into the fridge. I jotted some notes for my blog. I came across an article on ‘disinsection’, where airlines spray pesticides on planes, sometimes before passengers board, but other times while passengers are waiting for take-off. The WHO says the pesticides are safe, but permethrin and phenothrin have both been linked to Parkinson’s Disease. Not all countries require it so I do not know if I have personally been exposed. I finished today’s puzzle while listening to an interview from the Fat Loss summit. Sadly, it is running at the same time as the Sleep Success summit. I made a salad and ate as I listened. I cued up a meditation on the desktop for later, turning off the auto-play function. I watched an episode of House, as an escape from my usual thoughts. I posted to my blog with the intention of listening to yoga nidra and sleeping well.

Major Restyle

I got up when the alarm went off. I drank a quart of vinegar water while sitting in the sun. I watered the plants and refilled the jugs with dehumidifier water. I made a shake with the superfood mix, coconut water and coconut oil. I sorted the laundry and put the dark load in washer. I read e-mail, then took a shower. I collected the white load. I harvested water from the shower filter. I got dressed, and listened to an audio until it was time to leave. I drove to the FFTC and parked. I walked to the chapel and sat in my usual seat. Service was better attended today. There were lots of people to pass the peace to. The sermon was about Job and his troubles. But I thought all those servants who died trying to save his flocks and children were having a worse day. Kathy talked to me afterward about Xero shoes. She might want to get something similar made in town. I went to the commissary for groceries just as they opened. I saw Nela at the checkout counter. She did not say anything about going somewhere tomorrow. I carried my groceries to the car, wondering if I should have skipped the bottle of distilled water and one of mineral water. I drove home. I dropped the bags in the kitchen. I put the white load in the washer and made breakfast. I put groceries away, and then ate breakfast. I watched life hacks, kitchen hacks, vinegar hacks, egg hacks, etc online without meaning to get into any of that. I saw how to scramble an egg inside the shell before boiling. I learned how to charge an iphone with an onion and Gatorade. I even learned what you can do with the windows key, which I have never had any use for before. I looked up the silica content to find the best mineral water available here. I decided I would need to order it to get a high silica content. I made up a batch of supplements. I really need to cut down because now the daily dose does not fit into the small containers. I fertilized the flowers and veggies with the dehumidifier water that I saved. I made mayonnaise with coconut, olive and sesame oils.

I was going to juice all the lemons I bought today, but I could not find the citrus juicer. I sewed quadrilaterals together to make the top, going from the sewing machine in the sewing room to the layout and cutting table in back of the dining room. My eyes ran together staring at those stripes. I did not stop for supper, but I probably should have, just to save my sight. I put on the top and took pics in the bathroom mirror. I listened to an audio on getting libido back in balance as I worked. I wrote my blog post. I drank my magnesium water to take the evening supplements. I plugged in my phone to recharge. I selected a pic to go with the blog. After posting to my blog, I listened to a meditation, welcoming the chance to close my eyes. Then I went to bed.
The first pic is from yesterday. *

Getting into shape

I woke up not long before the alarm went off. I stayed in bed to do some mental programming. Then I got up to empty the dehumidifier. I had to remind myself to put on a pair of shorts to go with my sleep shirt before going outside to dump the bucket. Then I sat in the sun for 10 minutes or more. I watered the plants before coming in. I turned on my laptop before the router to see if it could detect any other wi-fi signals, but it could not. I had heard an interview yesterday where the speaker said it would be better to drip nutrition into us all day long rather than consume it all at once. So when I mixed my vegan superfood chocolate shake mix with coconut water, I added all my supplements to it and stirred to dissolve. The idea was to sip it throughout the day. While listening to more interviews, I ate seed crackers with mayonnaise. Then I threw the rest of the mayo out because some of it was orange and I wasn’t too sure about that. I did the kirtan kriya meditation and the last Oprah and Deepak one. I got out the peplum top which needed hemming around the bottom. Its’ a-line nature was a problem. So I serged the edge, then ran a basting stitch all the way around. I thought tightening up the edge would help it fold under. But the stitching ended up too tight. I had to smooth it out to pin it. Then when I sewed, I had to release even more tension and clip a few stitches. I pressed the whole hem, but some parts still would not lay flat. But I was done with it in more ways than one. I turned my attention to the black jacket. I had the collar pinned in a new position and thought it was ready to sew. But it wasn’t lying quite right. I needed to take out some topstitching. But the black stitches on black fabric was just too hard to see, even with glasses and my magnifying lamp. I gave up and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. After a late breakfast and more e-mail, I went back to the jacket. With a little more perseverance, I was able to open up the collar, sew a new shape, then cut out all the old seam. I even stitched up the cuffs. After hanging it in my closet, I went to the kitchen to eat nuts and blueberries. I looked at a video of how to sew a tiered top from striped fabric. I made a paper pattern from a top I own, then made a second copy. I drew lines on the first one and cut it up, labeling all the pieces. Then I placed the pieces on an extra-large striped shirt. I cut them out and reassembled them, then pinned the first seam. I needed a break. I went outside to pull grass from the flowerbeds and water the potted plants again. I finished the glass of supplements. Ugh, especially the ‘carcasses’ of fish oil. I watched one full episode of Criminal Minds, noting that it seemed oddly familiar. I started a second one and then skipped to a third. I watched the beginning and the end. Then I drank my magnesium water and took melatonin, tryptophan and a sublingual tablet. I posted to my blog, intending to meditate and go to bed.
* On the left is the new collar shape. The old look is on the right. *