Bernie's Baby Shower

I got up and squeezed half a lemon into a quart of water. I drank it as I deleted e-mail that I don't intend to read. Then I picked up the quilt and resumed work on the binding. My fingers got sore but I kept going. Chris showered, dressed and went to work. I kept stitching and listening to audios. I stopped to have breakfast, then went back to work. When that was done, I quilted around the stems. I found a few places that did not get quilted in the flower part and the mountain part, so I quilted those. Then there was a long pucker on the back where the seam was not fully extended before the batting was added. I could not figure out how that happened. I ironed it as flat as possible, then whip-stitched it down. Then I took a shower and got dressed.

It was already after one. I put some planes in a bag for Amber. I put the quilt in three grocery bags so it would not be obvious. Then I walked down to Anna's house. It was really cold outside. When I got there, the house was full of people. Even the admiral's wife was there. Myra was helping in the kitchen. Anna was hoarse from giving instructions. I put the bag of quilt under the coffee table where the other gifts were. There were two interesting diaper cakes on the table. I talked to Mari at length about Guam. She just moved from there. She told me the story of Two Lover's Point – one place we did not get to. Other people were eating, so I made a pass at the table loaded with food. I had some fruit and little skewers with tomato and cheese. Then we played some games. One was to pair up celebrities with their baby pictures. Another was to steal clothespins from other people whenever they said the word 'baby'. Three good sports chugged water from baby bottles in a race. Play-doh was handed out and we sculpted babies. Bernie judged the contest and prizes were handed out. Then she opened her gifts: diapers, fruit, children's Bible, onsies, blankets, towels, something called a GRO, pacifiers, and 2 quilts. Myra's was unwrapped first and several ladies exclaimed that they would get pregnant just to get one. Then mine was unwrapped, and the reaction was much the same. After all the gifts were unwrapped, the cake was brought out. We had to do a group photo with it. Then most people went home. Some stayed for cake. Anna handed out thanks-for-coming boxes of biscotti. I thanked her and took it for Chris. Then I walked home. On the way I discovered that I had the planes Amber wanted and paid me for. I considered walking back, but was tired and decided it could wait. When I got home, Chris was on his laptop. He was getting ready to go to the movie Rogue One. I was tired and did not want to go. So he asked for the car key and it took me a while to find it (in a coat pocket). Then he left. I texted Kelly about her going-away dinner. I sat down to catch up on e-mail. Anna posted that she wanted pics of the shower, so I cropped mine and sent them. I started listening to day 4 of Vaccines Revealed. I got hungry so I ate. At 6, she called to ask where I was. Apparently I missed her immediate reply that everyone was meeting at the commissary at 6. I apologized and begged off because of the cold. Then I did some yoga while listening. Chris came back from the movie just before it ended. After it finished, I processed some more e-mail, then jotted notes for my blog. Chris sat with me and we watched a movie called “Waffle Street” with Danny Glover. I looked up a few of the other actors, but apparently they hadn't been in anything I would have remembered them from. Chris went to bed and then so did I.

Another day of stitching

I got up when Chris left for work. I got right to work on the quilt, looking for backing fabric. The first one wasn't big enough so I considered adding borders on all sides, but I knew the chances of the quilt top ending up precisely in the center were slim. So I looked again. I checked my stack of backing fabrics, but none of the ones of the right color were wider than 42. I got dressed for my skype call with my tapping buddy. Instead of using the desktop computer, I used my tablet, and it worked well for both video and sound. I used the old Sudoku tray to hold it up. We had a good session, uncovering a core issue. And we went a little over. After the call, I went back to the quilt. I chose a backing fabric that wasn't wide enough, but I was able to cut another strip to add on. And the small part that was missing, I filled in with white so I could write the label on it. The first time I sewed the strip on the side, the fabric stretched and one side puckered. So I ripped it out, cut off the selvage and sewed it again. Then I taped it to the floor. The tape would not stick to the fabric very well so I had to pin the tape. Then I lightly sprayed it with basting spray. I unrolled the batting over it several times before I got it straight. I laid the quilt top on it and smoothed it out right where I wanted it. I folded half up, sprayed under it, and smoothed it back down. I folded the other half up, and sprayed under it. Then the whole thing was stuck together. With needle and thread, I basted around the edges. I took a break for breakfast. I moved my sewing machine to the round plastic table and moved the table next to the desk to support the quilt sandwich. I planned my first lines of stitching, pinned them and then quilted. I planned the next set, pinned and quilted in the ditch. I quilted around all the mountain pieces. For the border, I tried to draw lines with my white pencils, but none of them were sharp and I could not find the sharpener. I used the blue pencil, but the mark was too faint. So I used a ruler to precisely place some pins. Some lines I marked with masking tape pinned to the fabric. I took another break after all that sewing. It was after 5 so I made myself a salad. I composed a label, using the name she said meant 'lily' in Korean. I texted Myra to see if she wanted to help a little and be mentioned on the label, but she had decided to give one of her own quilts. I took the quilt into the cutting room to square up. Chris came home from work. He was emoting about a job in Guam that came open, but is not offering relocation costs. I listened to him for awhile. Then he made himself supper. I went into my sewing room to pin the binding to the quilt. But then I discovered that it wasn't long enough. So I cut another strip. I sewed it to the end of the binding already pinned to the quilt. But then I realized that the join would fall precisely on the corner. Not good. I cut the join out and rejoined it further in. I then sewed the binding on, all the way around. I did not feel like messing with a proper 45 degree seam at the end, so I just sewed it straight and folded it under. I sat on the couch to handsew the other side. Chris made popcorn and put the Star Wars episode 4 in the VCR. We watched it as I worked on the binding. It ended before I finished. Chris went to bed and I stayed up to blog.
* Another pic of us in Guam. *

Progress

I got up hearing Chris talk to someone on his computer. It turned out to be Michele. I chatted with her, then went back to bed. But sleep wouldn't come. I got up again soon after Chris left. I intended to check e-mail and exercise, but I drank water as I worked on my quilt top. The center was finished. I texted Myra and she said she would come over after my massage. I took a shower. I looked again for the missing half block. Then I put some leftovers together to make another, but I got the angle backwards. What I needed was the reverse. So I did it over again. Then I cut green triangles for the corners of the on-point block. I made two more corner blocks. I sewed the mountain blocks to the center medallion. Then I auditioned piping and border. Chris came home for lunch as I started to make breakfast. I listened to an audio on menopause symptoms, then several on vaccines. We got in an argument. Then he went back to work. I listened until it was time to leave. Instead of my market bag, I took a backpack. I headed out to town. I got to the Foot Shop 5 minutes early. But it was locked up. I went around the corner to the other massage place. The lady figured out which massage I wanted and took the payment. She put an outfit on a table in an adjoining room. I used the bathroom, then went into the room and changed. The man I prefer came in.
He started the massage. It was good and I tried to clear my mind to enjoy it to the fullest. But when the door bell jingled, he had to stop and take care of another customer. Then he resumed the massage. But later there was another interruption. By the time the massage was finished, it was 3:30. I left there and went past the Foot Shop. It was still locked up. I went to the market. I used the public restroom there, and then proceeded to buy fruits and vegetables: lettuce, sprouts, apples, strawberries, and bananas. The apples went into my backpack, leaving little room for anything else. As I walked back, I passed the corner market by base. I stopped in for some cucumbers. Then I went home. I put the food away and contacted Myra. She said she was tired and going back to bed. I auditioned a different piping and added a binding. Finding it acceptable, I cut the necessary strips. I played a video of interviews as I worked. I sewed on the piping, then the borders. I cut a long green strip and ironed it into thirds. I pinned it in place as stems, then stitched down both sides.
Chris came home while I was in my sewing room. He made himself supper. My laptop beeped when the battery got low. I ran it back to the living room to plug in. I listened to the rest of the interview. Then I made myself a salad and ate it while reading e-mail. Chris had e-mailed me a pdf of the questionnaire that the doctor gave me. One of the main words was Sasang. So I looked it up. It is a form of Korean medicine that treats based on one of four body types. I tried to find an English form of the questionnaire. Then I tried to translate the pdf with Google translate. It was good for a few laughs, but not useable. Chris was ready to watch TV, but it was almost 10 so we skipped that. I had to retrieve the first part of my blog post because my computer rebooted itself while I was gone and closed that window. Then I added the rest of the day. I took another stab at translation, but was disappointed again. It was time to post to my blog and go to bed.
* The colors look much better in daylight. *

Sewing like a madwoman

I got up about 8:30. I started to check e-mail, but then remembered it was recycling day. So I threw on some clothes and gathered as much recycling as I could quickly get. I took it all outside and left it by the curb, hoping it wasn't too late. I saw that the food waste container hadn't been touched since yesterday. The food inside was frozen. The day looked so sunny and warm, it was hard to believe it was so cold. I went back inside. I drank my quart of water and followed some of the tapping in articles and a long audio. I did my exercises. I looked at the pics of lilies I had downloaded. I did just enough tapping to get started. I did not have a complete quilt in mind, but I started sewing anyway. I looked up a pattern for a lily block. It was too small, so I subtracted half an inch from the dimensions of each piece, doubled it, then added the half inch back in. I cut strips, and then subcut them. The triangles were way too large, but the other pieces fit. I had to re-cut some of the diamonds to get a reverse image. I sewed them together to make lilies. Then I pieced in the squares and triangles. I wanted to use mountain blocks around them, with the center on point. But the dimensions were awfully close. Not much room to play with. I sewed half inch sashing between the lilies. Then I made 8 mountain blocks, cutting, sewing, and cutting again, and resewing. I decided they were ok. They would not fit around on point, but would do nicely if the on-point block had big triangles around it. I did not know what the triangles should be yet. I focused on making 8 more blocks. It was almost time for line dancing but I decided I would rather sew. But when I ironed the sets of pieces together, I had 15, not 16. I searched my sewing room for the missing half block. I searched my cutting room. I searched the livingroom and dining room. I searched the sewing room again. It was nowhere to be found. I got ready for sewing class, put the needed items in a bag. I changed into long pants. I put on my coat and walked to Housing. It was dark and cold out. Two cars were in the parking lot when I got there. I punched in the code and opened the door. Anna and Tammy came in with me. We went upstairs and turned on the lights. We set up tables and started getting out machines. Kelly and her girls came, as well as a new lady named Kasey. It was a madhouse at first, trying to get everything set up and help everyone at the same time. But then Anna took Kasey under her wing and Tammy helped one of Kelly's girls. I was able to keep up then. Kelly wanted to discuss making a bed of pillows for her son. One daughter was working on a quilt top. Another had started an apron and her mother finished it. But she entertained herself by using my fabric markers on everything. Her sister made a hand warmer, which was the suggested project for tonight. Tammy made a bunch of hand warmers. When the crowd died down a little, I sewed mountain blocks together, except for the last one which I never found. Then I started packing up. The ladies talked as the apron progressed, and then they all helped me put tables away and put up the equipment and fabric. We left on time. I walked home with my rice and the tubs Kelly returned. Chris was home, but had just gotten there. He made a bowl of popcorn while I searched again for the missing half block. We watched several episodes of The Clone Wars. I didn't care for it but had nothing else to suggest. Then he read e-mail while I typed up my blog and checked e-mail. I saw he had scanned in my questionnaire. He got the first question translated: Do you have a lot of dreams when you are in the locker room? I'll bet that could be better translated. I decided I need a live person for that. And then it was time for bed.
* Lilies! *

A long doctor visit

I got up about 8, unable to go back to sleep and just before Chris left for work. I exercised and checked e-mail. Faye skyped me. She shared an interesting idea that hot flashes are a way of the body saying it has to urinate. After the call, I went looking online for lily blocks for a baby quilt. I made a hand warmer to test for class tomorrow. As long as I was in my sewing room, I fixed my black pants. I ate some seed crackers, then took a shower and got dressed. I microwaved the handwarmer and put it in my pocket. I bundled up and walked out with yoga blocks in my bag. As I was walking down the hill, I could hear footsteps behind me. The lady greeted me and I did not know her. I think she said her name was Tammy, and they brand new, but not the Tammy I met on Friday. I invited her to the sewing group, then hurried to the gate to catch the bus, but Ms. Chong beeped her horn at me. I stopped to say hello and she asked me where I was going. She offered to take me to the acupuncturist so she could see where the office was. She parked around the corner from the office. We went in. I was half an hour early, but the nurse ushered me right to his office. There was a bed in there. I laid down. She put the leg massagers on and walked out. I relaxed and enjoyed that part. Then she came back and turned the machine off, removing the leg sleeves. That was unusual. The doctor came in. He gave me a list of what is good to eat. I am not sure exactly how the rest of the visit went. He was in and out of the office so we spoke in segments:
The Dr. said I am not a big yang person after all, I am a small yang person. That means that I have the right amount of yang, but it is concentrated above my diaphragm, creating heat there and leaving my extremities cold. He put in the needles and left. When he came back, he showed me a drawing in a book. It was a man with bands or straps around his body at intervals from the pelvis, up to his eyes. He said it was not the meridian system of medicine, more like the chakra system. He asked some questions. Then he typed something into his computer and the translation was “Menopausal disorder”. Duh. At some point he said acupuncture does not work for this kind of hot flash. He said these symptoms would last for three years, then I could eat anything I want, but no spicy food now. I could not understand what all he was trying to say so I called Suzanne, who did not answer, then Ms. Chong. She told me he was saying I could take an herbal remedy for 1 week then come back and answer questions. A week supply was 90,000 won. We talked some more. He gave me a questionnaire but it was in Korean. He crumbled up the food list and threw it away. I asked about my back. He had me sit on the bed with my knees bent outward and my feet together. One knee was higher than the other. He said my right psoas muscle is not working and the cure would be painful. I looked doubtful, so he said he would try a not-painful needle first. He treated my right hip, taking the needles out almost as soon as he put them in. But afterward, my right knee was still higher. He treated the left hip. It hurt. Then he mentioned the painful needle. I had had enough needles so I said I was feeling much better. I walked out to pay. I felt lop-sided. After paying, I walked outside. I used the public restroom. I wanted to stop at the market for apples, but, feeling lop-sided, I decided walking home with a heavy load was not a good idea. Was I really lop-sided or was I finally normal and just used to being lop-sided? I went to the bus stop. It said bus 305 was 20 stops away, so I started walking instead. But a few stops down, 305 passed me. It had to stop at a traffic light and I was able to make it to the next bus stop and rode it back to base. I walked up the hill, passing Anna on her way somewhere. When I got home, I looked up bands and straps but did not find anything like what I saw in his book. I wished I had taken a picture of it. I jotted down everything I could remember him saying, though possibly not in the right order. I pulled lily fabrics from my collection. I ironed the fabric from Guam and fixed the red bag. It looked like someone else had tried to fix it. I finished up a long tapping article, then watched a video on ho-oponopono. Chris came home from work late. He made himself a burrito. I ate a banana, then read articles in my e-mail. When Chris was ready, we watched the last two episodes of Terra Nova. It was good and I was sorry there was not a second season. Apparently several million people agree with me. I posted to my blog and went to bed, hoping to sleep.
* This is the contact dermatitis I got in Guam. The doctor noticed it, and when I told him where I got it, he said he had been to Guam, too. *

Getting back in the groove

I got up at 9, not realizing it was so late. I must have slept well. I drank water and then swished. I boiled water for coffee. I did my exercises, drybrushed, rebounded, tapped, etc. Chris came home for lunch. He said there was no mail, which surprised me because I am expecting a shipment. I cleaned the kitchen, including inside and under the microwave. I cleaned mirrors and faucets in the bathroom. I cleared the front desk, and part of the coffee table. Bernie came by for the quilt I promised her husband. I kept cleaning, knowing that when I stopped, I wouldn't start again. It was sunny out so I uncovered the tomatoes and watered them. I turned off the lights that warmed them. Those are Dynee's lights and I wanted to replace them with the ones I bought in Guam. But I can't find them anywhere. Somehow they did not make the trip home. I cut out dead stems. Some looked dead but had green at the very end and tomatoes hanging on. Oh what a tangled web those stems made. I picked some tomatoes, but there were more left. I checked on my last Swanson's order – tracking number said it arrived on the 3rd. I spent an hour trying to place an order through Amazon and get free shipping, but when I had the right total, Amazon said one of the major items was not eligible for free shipping. I quit. I texted Kelly that I was ready to come over. She said ok, so I drove over there to pick up my mixer and cookie sheets. One of the pieces got damaged in her dishwasher and she ordered a new part. (looks like it came into contact with the element). At her request, I drove her to Amber's house. We talked for quite a while. Then she got out and I drove home. I took mixer and parts inside. I sanded the burned piece so it would fit flush in the food tube, but it was too fine a grit to do the job. Then I tried melting it back into place with iron, and that worked well. I put it away. I read e-mail. I looked up my chances of getting pregnant in menopause. All sources insist on 12 months and I am only at 5. I checked weather – below freezing tonight – so I re-covered the tomatoes and turned the lights back on. I worked through some tapping exercises in an open window. Chris came home before I was done. He made himself supper and then sat beside me to watch TV. We watched two episodes of Terra Nova. There are only two left, sadly. And only one season. Sigh. Then he took a book and went to bed while I stayed up to check e-mail one last time, finish the order I started earlier and post to my blog.
* I didn't take any pics today, so here is one from Guam. *

Epimenides

I had some trouble staying asleep last night. I got up at 9, inadvertently waking Chris who fell asleep in the living room after getting up much earlier. Needless to say, he missed the Catholic service. I read e-mail until 9:30, then took a shower and got dressed for church. Chris started the laundry and put pork in the oven, then walked to the office. I drove myself to the FFTC to park, then walked to church. The bell was already ringing. Jane was not there, so I sat by myself. When the service started, the chaplain announced that today was the start of the services being live-streamed on Facebook, and that we were the first: no one else in the Navy was doing that. I could see a camera bolted to the ceiling, pointed at the front of the sanctuary. The praise team led us in three songs, then we passed the peace. The choir sang an old hymn. Then we had communion. When the chaplain called for a volunteer to read the bible reading, no one spoke up. He joked that it was because of the live-streaming. So John read the whole thing. Then the chaplain gave his sermon. It was a historical account of Epimenides sending sheep to find holy places for sacrifices to an unknown god who could save them from the plague. After the sermon, I hit the bathroom. On the way out, I talked to So Young who told me they spent the holidays in Europe, and was interested in Martin Luther. But she had to run along, so I walked to my car and drove home. I moved the laundry to the next stage. I changed my clothes. I made more mix of chia and flax. The new chia was all black but the previous packages was a mixture of black and white. The label was the same. I made breakfast. Just as I was finishing, Chris called to say he was ready to come home from the office. I picked him up at the office just for the practice of driving. We stopped by the commissary, and ran into Scott. He showed us pictures of Sock-Myra: a stuff creature Myra sent him to keep him company while she was gone. We bought stuff for a pumpkin dish that Chris wanted to make. When we got home, he made the pumpkin dish, and put it in the oven with the pork. I read e-mail, and tried to research the chaplain's story. There was not much backed up by historical references. I saw an article on how to banish blackheads with lemon, honey and baking soda. I had to look up blackheads - never saw such things before but I guess only the worst kind are photographed. I found it hard to believe that people post videos of popping pimples.
We had pork and pumpkin for supper. Then we folded the laundry. Chris made the bed. I ran frantically around the house looking for the quilt that we were supposed to give to the CSO. I finally found it in with my quilt collection. I had put it there for safekeeping. We watched three episodes of Tera Nova. He went to bed and I stayed up long enough to blog.
* Same package. Same product? *