Sunny but cold

I woke up hearing Chris' alarm. I took the vinegar bag off of the shower head and went back to bed, but couldn't sleep. After he showered, dressed and left for work, I put on the box fan to dry out the bathroom and the shower head.
I yelled in the mirror to get out my frustrations. I composed an e-mail. I took supplements. I swished quickly with salt water, then did the regular brushing and swishing. I searched again for the missing seam binding. I took more supplements. I turned on the router and checked e-mail. I unsubscribed from some, not certain it does any good. I swished with salt water again throughout the day.
After more searching, I found the second package. I sewed it to the edge of the fraying strip. I looked up ways to stabilize the other fraying side before attaching it to the garment. It was kind of heavy for a french seam.
I listened to episode 3 of Supplements Revealed while making and eating breakfast. I ate a bunch of kimchi because Dr. Grace is going to give me more next week and I want to return the container. I had to choose between walking when the sun is highest and walking when it is the warmest. I chose the highest and went for a walk after breakfast. Then I listened to more of the episode and ironed fusible strips to the fraying strip edge. I called Dad several times but got a busy signal. I sat outside reading to enjoy the sunshine. But the cold chased me inside all too soon.
I finished sewing the strip to the bottom of the yellow garment. I encased the edges in yellow tulle to contain fraying. Chris came home. I finished the edge of the outer garment, and hung it up for a pic. I looked in the garage for more sewing trims. Chris left to go gaming. I found a package on the front porch (which contained supplements).
I made and ate supper while watching three episodes of Royal Pains. I enjoyed that so much. Then I watched two episodes of IT Crowd. That wasn't as good. I meditated with Deepak, then started watching the next episode of Supplements Revealed. Chris came home and went to bed. I took notes for Jennifer. Then I paused it after the first speaker and wrote my blog post and retired for the night.

Where IS that seam binding?

I forgot to take my phone into the bedroom last night, so I had no idea how late it was (9am!) when I got up. It was raining, again, so there was no inspiration to get out of bed. I took a supplement, then brushed and swished. I brought in some newspapers that were lying on the front porch. I removed them from the bags. I put the bags over the shower head in the master bathroom. It was a snug fit. Then I got a cup of vinegar from the kitchen and poured it in, submerging the head. I secured it with a twist tie and left it to dissolve the black stuff growing on it. I hope I remember to take it off before Chris takes a shower tomorrow.
I trimmed the flower stems and gave them fresh water. I cleaned up some clutter in the kitchen. I looked for AAA batteries for the blood pressure machine I got at a yard sale. I didn't find any so I wrote it on the list. I listened to a podcast while I deleted e-mail. The speaker talked about good gut bacteria, and mentioned crickets as one of the foods that helps. Silvia sent me pictures of placemats on her table. They looked nice there.
It was a little after 11 when I started making breakfast. I ate it at my laptop. It took longer than I thought, and when I looked up, it was noon already. I decided to bring a hand project and leave my machine at home. I did not want to drag it through the mud and rain. I put my coat on and left the house, but quickly decided it was too cold and wet to be worth the trip.
I spent some time looking for better prices for practitioner's supplements. Other sites had the same things but under different names. It was a tedious process to compare labels. After I made a purchase, I tried laying on the long foam roller, and circling my arms. It was a good stretch but I wasn't certain my spine was happy teetering on the roller, so I kept it short.
I figured out what I wanted to do with the hem for Chris' costume. I cut some strips and joined them together with netting so that the designs matched up. Then I wanted purple seam binding for the very edge, but the piece I had left was a little too short. I knew I had bought two packages, so I looked high and low for the other one, but with no success. I thought I could make up the difference with homemade binding, but did not have the right shade to pull it off.
Chris came home about 4. He had no packages with him. He said something about getting an interview for a job in Romania. At my request, he tried on the costume pants and demonstrated that they were not too tight to sit in. I pinned up one pantleg to the appropriate length. I listened to a podcast and did some pinning and sewing. I made the same supper as last night. I used the massage ball while listening to another podcast on 5G. I put some of the packages from Nuts.Com away.
At 7, my tapping buddy called. We tapped for my boundary issues, and we shared stories. Afterward, I took some supplements and sat down with Chris to watch Call the Midwife. It was part 2 of a Christmas special. When it was over, I took more supplements, and wrote my blog post. Chris went to bed. After brushing and taking the last supplement, I did a few yoga stretches and went to bed.
* I think this is an example of thread-painting that Carole showed at the meeting on Tuesday. *

Acupuncture for plants?

I didn't take my phone to bed with me last night, so I had no idea what time it was when I got up. I brushed and swished. I made coffee and refilled the jar from the freezer. I wrote up two blog posts, and cropped my pictures from last night. Then I jotted notes for today.
I did my lymph-moving exercises, rebounded and dry-brushed. Beverly called. She told me she had volunteered me to help with a meal in April. It was not good news and I spent the rest of the day fretting about it. I did a lot of tapping and 3 meditations from Deepak. Fortified with coffee, I cleaned the bathrooms and took a shower. I picked alternative dishes, washed them, and put them where only I will look for them. Then I cleaned the kitchen and sewing area. After having taken all the supplements in order, I made breakfast, and ate it while clearing e-mail.
I started listening to a podcast, but had to pause it to go to the Korean clinic on time. Dr. Lee wanted me to help him with an e-mail, but there wasn't one like he described. Then he brought her sewing machine over and a pair of pants. It was missing a cover plate so he cut a piece of card and taped it in place. Then he went in the back and I went out to my car to get a scrap of fabric. I re-threaded the machine, rewound part of the bobbin, and put the machine through its paces. I examined the pants and saw that they needed hemming. Since the thread was white and the pants were black, I did not do the hem, but zigzagged the raw edge of one. The machine was a cheap beginner machine that did not have a stitch length regulator or a stitch width regulator. She was very happy to see that it was working again.
I brought my sickly poinsettia and she said she could help it out. He suggested using needles, ha, ha. She said she would make it better and give it back to me. He drew me a foot bath and afterwards I used the foot massage machine. Then it was almost 4, so I went home. It was not raining, so I went for a walk.
When I got home, I took the mid-afternoon supplements. William called. I am not sure which of the subjects he mentioned was the actual purpose of his call. Probably the article on 15 foods that beat cancer. I boiled a bag of something the Koreans gave me, and poured it over some shredded lamb. I also had a small salad made of sprouts. I called Dad, but Faye answered and told me more than he could have. But I had to cut it short to get to choir practice.
I went to the church. As we were all chatting, Jennifer's (the director) watch rang with a phone call from her mother to wish her a happy birthday. While her mother was listening, we all sang the song. Then we sang through the songs in our folder fairly quickly. I need a lot more work on one of them and I guess it will have to be here at home. Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday so there will be no choir practice.
We got out a little early because the organist is sick and needed to get back to her granddaughter, also sick. I went home the long way. When I arrived, I took the 8pm supplements, and we sat down to watch two episodes of Call the Midwife. Then Chris went to bed while I stayed up to write to my blog.
* This is one of the new charity blocks. *

Back where it belongs

I left my phone in the bathroom last night because it was still on Eastern Standard Time and was going to ring an hour early. I went to bed around midnight. It took awhile to fall asleep, but I did. I heard Chris take a shower in the morning, but dozed off again. Then I heard my alarm ring. I stayed in bed for almost another hour, then got up to tinkle. I laid down again and the next alarm went off. So I got up, and did the usual morning things. I checked the porch from time to time to see if the package came. Chris had pulled the bread machine out, so I put in the ingredients and turned it on. I made up two week's worth of supplements while listening to something. Most of the audios I clicked on this morning were more sales pitches than information. I looked into yin herbs. I listened to the rain. Again. Sigh.
At 10:40 the doorbell rang and there was the package with my keys and cards. I checked to make sure everything was there. If I had been dressed and ready to go, I might have gone to the last few minutes of quilting, but I wasn't. I took a moment to feel the relief at getting all these important cards and keys back. I finished making breakfast and ate it. I ordered more supplements, or rather put them into my carts on Amazon, Swanson, and BulkSupplements, trying to get the best price and have enough in each to get free shipping. It was confusing and I had to leave it for later.
I got dressed and went to the church to enter the offering data into the computer. It was an easy day and I finished early. So I took a bag of offering data from 2018 and shredded most of it. I did not want to tax the machine too much. I dumped the shreds in a large wastebasket and shredded some more, leaving some for next week. Then I took the money to the bank. I had to wait in line, but the deposit itself was quick.
I went home and took my mid-afternoon supplements. I checked the bread, and saw that it was just hot flour. I had forgotten to put the water in. When Chris got home, he had two boxes with him. One had the supplements I ran out of. I opened those, put them into the old containers (because they had different names), and added them to the pill minder. I asked him if he thought I could reuse the cooked flour, and he said it was worth a try. Well, the bread machine wouldn't restart because it was still hot, but a little later I did put water in it and run it again. I had a can of soup for supper, and a packet of salmon. Chris fiddled with my phone until it was back on Central Standard Time.
The rain was light at this point so I decided to go to the guild meeting. I had nothing for show-n-tell but my nametag. And they had a special time for people to show off their nametags. The program was about all the options we have to help with quilts and pillowcases for charities in the area. After the meeting I picked up some bags of projects to do, thinking my February sewing was over, but on the way home I remembered that I hadn't finished Chris' costume yet.
When I got home, I checked the bread. It was a hard dense loaf, but Chris said it would hold him for two days. We listened to the rest of the book on CD. It was mesmerizing and we both fell asleep. When it was over, I couldn't remember how it ended. Hating to waste a good somnolence, I brushed my teeth and went to bed, not stopping to blog.

Lost!

We got up really early, hoping to get to Huntsville by noon so I could go to quilting. He got up when the alarm went off. I stayed in bed a little longer. When I got up, he was playing a game on his laptop. I took the first supplement, then brushed and swished. I got dressed. I organized my stuff and packed my suitcase and all the food boxes. Then I was waiting on Chris. He shut down his computer and went to get a cart. It did not have the hooks that the ones at Ecco Suites have. I packed up my laptop and loaded the cart. Chris finished packing and I took a last look around to make sure nothing was left behind. We rolled the cart to the elevator, and then out to the lobby. At one point, one of the food boxes fell off and the contents fell out. Chris picked it up and the bananas, oranges, peppers, etc. When he moved the cart, I spied another banana that got left behind and I grabbed it.
We loaded the contents of the cart into Chris' car. It was dreary and overcast. I started the next CD of the book on tape. Chris got us onto I-20 and we were on our way home. The story was interesting, but I was sleep-deprived and dozed off, probably more than once. When we were close to the base, I rooted through my purse for my ID, but it wasn't there. I didn't worry because it was probably in my suitcase or one of the gift bags. The guard took Chris' word that I was his wife, and let us go through the gate.
When we got home, we unloaded the car. I looked through all my stuff, but could not find my little black pouch which held my ID, driver's license, credit card, health insurance card, and keys to the house and mail box. Now, I was worried. And Chris was upset. I needed him to be supportive rather than angry and judgmental and I told him so. But I guess he just couldn't do it. I called the two hotels. One said they did not have it and the other said the rooms were still being cleaned. I called Cracker Barrel and Red Lobster also and they did not have it.
I checked my e-mail and there was one from Netflix saying they were having trouble charging my account. That made sense since we got new credit cards last week. So I clicked the link to update our account and entered the new info. But, when they asked for my SSN, it struck me as odd and I did not do that. The page told me it was required, but then moved to the login page anyway and I was able to see what shows we had watched recently. I tried accessing the site without the link and the page names were a little different. I called Netflix and asked if my account info had been update and she said no. So I had been phished! She asked me to change my password and forward the offending e-mail. Chris called the credit card company to cancel our cards. The lady was a little hard to understand and Chris was very brusque with her. I felt badly for her and took over the call.
Afterward, I suggested we cancel the card that was in my black pouch and he said no because he needed it to buy groceries. I applied online for a new driver's license. Just before I hit ENTER, it occurred to me that the original one will show up as soon as I pay for the new one. So I hit ENTER, and printed out the new 30 day temp one. Then Chris suggested I call the hotel again. This time they said they found it, so I asked them to send it overnight and they agreed, asking me to send an e-mail authorizing them to use our credit card for the postage.
I needed to get away from Chris (even though he was going grocery shopping). I called Stacy first, but she didn't answer so I texted Julia. She was ready to go. I remembered temp being 61, so I did not put a coat on. I went outside and she soon joined me. We walked all over the neighborhood because neither of us was in a hurry to go home. She gave me some advice on Celeste's situation.
When we got back, Chris was home from the grocery store. He had a bunch of flowers for me, and he'd gotten a mix of fresh berries for dessert. Chris said the hotel called, saying they had sent my pouch by Fedex and it should be here tomorrow. I put David's flowers in a smaller vase, throwing out the dried ones. Then I put Chris' flowers in the larger one. I tried to play the interview that Mike got working last night, but it wouldn't play at all, so I restarted the laptop. It still wouldn't play at all, in or out of I-Tunes, in any browser, so I powered it down and back up. Again, it would not play and the sound wasn't working. So Chris sat down and fiddled with it. He triggered some kind of major update that took a while to download and install. I was able to use it while it did whatever, but I used the old one so I could be listening to the podcast. Chris had put sweet potatoes in the oven. When they were done, I ate one. I texted with Beverly so she would know that I wasn't coming tomorrow morning (unless my pouch shows up early). Stacey texted that she could go walking at 7, but I told her I had too much catching up to do.
I made up a week's worth of practitioner supplements, but ran out of two of them. I ate salad and lamb for supper. I washed dishes, and left them to dry. We listened to more of the CD's. Chris went to bed while I published two of three missing blog posts and got started on the third. I wished I had an option on my laptop to update and go to sleep, but that wasn't there, so I chose update and shut down.
* These are the flowers Chris bought for me. *

Not my typical Sunday

We got up about nine. They did not go down to breakfast, and I ate my breakfast in the room. We talked until time to quickly pack and check out. Silvia got a dolly and we loaded it with luggage and gift bags. Silvia paid the bill and Linda and I gave her cash for our share. We drove to Staybridge Suites so they could see Chris' hotel room. We all agreed it was a better layout and would be good for next year. On our way out, Silvia got coffee in the lounge. They both picked up a mint from the basket and we got in Silvia's car. We went to Marshalls so Silvia could return something and we ended up shopping and buying more. Most of what we bought was on sale.
Then went to Cracker Barrel for a late lunch, hoping Mary would join us, but she had to take her husband to the doctor. So we enjoyed lunch together. They got the Sunday chicken special, and I got a steak with collard greens, boiled cabbage, and broccoli. I did not have high expectations for the collard greens, but they were actually very good. Afterward, the rain had stopped somewhat, so we dropped by Celeste's house. There were two trailers in the driveway. Silvia knocked on the door of the house and there was no answer. We knocked on the big trailer and again no answer. I knocked on the little one and some guy mumbled something I couldn't make out. I called for Celeste, but she did not answer. It seemed she was not home, so we left.
We drove to the hotel where Chris was staying. I had bought a heavy box of glass storage containers at a yard sale and Chris moved it to his car. A man asked Chris to jumped his car. While he did that, we went into the lobby where the ladies got some more mints because they were so good. I hugged them goodbye and they left. Chris drove me to Red Lobster to meet Mike and Kelly. We were early so I had time to decide which appetizer to have for my meal (since I had just eaten at Cracker Barrel). When Mike and Kelly arrived, the waitress gave them a minute to decide, then we all ordered. I got the spinach cheese dip and let Chris have all the chips that come with it. We had a good time. Since Mike works in IT, we mentioned various problems that we had with our new laptops. He and Kelly offered to join us in our hotel room to look at the offending software.
Back at the room, Mike spent some time trying to figure out what would cause videos to play for only 10 minutes at a time. Sadly there were not enough clues. But Kelly suggested playing it through I-Tunes. Getting I-Tunes onto my laptop was another story, and I don't recall it all now. However, when all was said and done, my laptop was playing a podcast in I-Tunes all the way through. He did update a bunch of the most likely drivers. We talked about other things too, like his job at the paper and how banner ads work, and such.
It got late and they had to go home. I was tired and went to bed with Chris, not taking the time to blog, and hoping I would remember the day's events later.
* This is one section of our suite. There was also a seating area, and another room with two queen beds, and s bathroom where the sinks were separate from the toilet and shower. *

Saturday with the ladies

I did not sleep well last night, probably not enough magnesium. I woke up at 7:30 EST, but stayed in bed a little longer. I took the first supplement, washed up, then brushed and swished. I did some packing. I got on my laptop, and read e-mail. The battery ran down because the outlet wasn't working, so I plugged it in near the sink. I meditated with Oprah while Chris went down to the complimentary breakfast. I ate one of my breakfasts, then meditated again, trying to catch up. I packaged 36 hours worth of supplements so I wouldn't have to take them all with me. I put together just what I needed and packed it in the little suitcase.
A little after 11, we left the hotel. Chris went to a gas station to fill up, then he took me to Linda's house. She invited us in and we all chatted for a bit until Silvia arrived. Chris put my stuff in Silvia's car, then left.
Linda and I got in with Silvia and went yard saling, just following signs as they came up. It was a little late (being after noon), but we got some stuff, or at least I did. Then we visited several thrift shops in the area. I can't remember exactly which ones. Our last shopping stop was Hamricks. We spent a lot of time there and we each got something. Finally we stopped for supper at an excellent Mexican restaurant near the new ball field. I ordered ceviche and cactus. The cactus was better than it sounds.
After dinner, we went to the hotel where Silvia made a reservation. She showed us pics of her trip to Machu Picchu. It made me want to go. Linda told us about their cruise. I thought it might be nice if one year we all cruised to Greece together. We exchanged gifts. I let the ladies choose which set of placemats they wanted and which set of hanging towels they liked best. I put the rest aside for Mary to choose later. We stayed up late talking, and went to bed at 2.
* I know this post is late and I have some catching up to do. But they need to be published in the right order to maintain the timeline. *