Bad orange

I got up just after 8, ready for my coffee morning. I sewed up holes in my socks. I swished while straining the coffee grounds prior to simmering. The 5 lb bag has lasted so long in the freezer that the plastic lining is coming off into the coffee. But I used the last of it. I drank a quart of water and exercised. I listened to soothing music and tapped. I could feel depression coming on because it was a cold, gray day and the blinds were drawn ('cause I was still in my nightgown). After the process, I cleaned in the kitchen and bath. I aded glue from my glue gun to the bottom of my pail so it would be more bottom-heavy. Chris came home for lunch. He reminded me to go to the gym with my passport and packet for NEO. He also had two boxes from the post office. Halloween toys! After he left, I drank a mug of green tea. I noticed two small oranges on the window sill from the five day market. One was showing mold so I threw it out. The other looked fine, so I ate it. Soon I noticed my arms aching. My chest felt tight. Then the nausea started. I prayed to God that I would not toss my cookies, because I just hate that, even knowing I will feel better afterward. But it was unavoidable. I did feel a little better, but not my usual self. I called Myra. We talked about the toys. She said she had done nothing today and felt cold. Her plan was to go to NEO tomorrow morning. I planned on going this afternoon, but never did feel like going outside. I read e-mail and watched a Louise Hay movie. The new laptop would not play it loud enough to hear, so I also played it on the desktop and synced the two so I heard the desktop but watched the laptop. I ate seed crackers with hummus, and later, a carrot. Then I listened to audios. One was from the menopause summit. She described an essential oil mix for symptoms. I saved it to my essential oil yahoo file. She recommended sniffing peppermint or grapefruit oil to suppress appetite. I read about how to make a body gel from stuff I already have. I took notes on oils for other things. I made and ate breakfast. I ate a cucumber. Chris came home from work. He suggested it was time to turn on the heat. Easier said than done. Finally he had to turn off all the thermostats. Then turning them on gave him the option to set them for heat. I realized that we were back to hearing the heating unit turn itself on and off all night long. Sigh. He made his supper. I made up a roller ball of Hormone Balance lotion and rolled it over my ovaries as the speaker suggested. I did yoga poses to relived the pain in my legs. We watched two episodes of House.
* A field of green tea *

Jirisan National Park

I got up early, about 7:15. I swallowed three packets of vitamin C and drank a quart of water. I took a shower and dressed for hiking. I made and ate breakfast. Chris put two bottle of coconut water in his backpack. I threw some seed crackers in mine. I put on a coat because it was cold out. We walked down to Duffy's parking lot. The MWR bus was waiting, and it continued to wait until 10 after 9. The leader of the hike told us that the trip would take two hours and the hike was 2 kilometers. It seemed like a long way to travel for a short hike. Then we were on our way to Jirisan mountain. I ate a few seed crackers at first, but did not feel well. Was it them or the motion of the bus? I was miserable. We stopped after an hour at a rest station. I bought a scarf because it was windy. The lady wrapped it around my neck and arranged it nicely. But later in the bus, I had to take it off because it was too hot. When we got to the mountain area, the bus parked in a lot that had lots of bus parking spots. We followed our leader through a small town, around and through a temple area. We went up lots of steps just to get to the mountain. Then the steps changed from wood to stones. The terrain was uneven, which is good for the brain. I tired quickly, ascending all the steps. Finally we came to a fork in the road. From there, the waterfall was 2.3 kilometers. Really?

The group disappeared as I lagged behind and Chris stayed with me. We spoke to a French group as they went through. We stopped to rest. Finally I convinced Chris to go on ahead, leaving me with the bottles of coconut water. I continued on my own, happy to walk at my own pace. But it occurred to me that on the way back, I would still be slower than the others and the bus would have to wait for me. So at the halfway point, I rested and then turned around. At my age, I have nothing to prove, and I did not want to pay for today's pleasant outing tomorrow. I stopped to stretch as needed. I lingered at photographic sites. I wished for my walking stick as I went down the uneven stone steps. I sat on a rock and meditated. Finally I walked down to the foot of the mountain. I took pics of the temple there and the surroundings. I got worried when no one showed up. I called Chris and he said he was almost back. When I saw him, he told me about the waterfall and how hard the last part of the hike was. Others had lingered behind. In fact, it was so long before the last people showed up, that I figured I could have made it to the waterfall. But then I wouldn't have had the time to see the scenery because walking involved watching the ground closely. Anyway, we hung out in the parking lot until all had returned. We were going to have a late lunch there, but the leader said the menus were slim and expensive.

He thought we should eat at the rest stop. So we got on the bus and headed home. I felt sick to my stomach again and I hadn't eaten anything. I pulled the curtain over the window. I saw that Chris was asleep, so I tapped and fell asleep too. We got caught in traffic. I kind of woke up but kept my eyes shut and tried to go back to sleep 'cause my stomach did not mind being asleep. Because of the traffic, the leader recommended skipping the rest stop and just going home. So no bathroom break and no supper. We got back around 7. Scott and Myra drove us home. We had a bite to eat. I came across an article in e-mail about stopping runs in pantyhose so I went looking for ways to stop holes in socks. I did not find any. Then we watched two episodes of House. One episode had Ashley Parker in it. She looked familiar so I looked her up on IMDB, but did not recognize any of the shows. I saw that Myra and Kim had posted pics from the hike. Facebook said I was tagged, but I only saw one pic with me in it and no one was tagged. I cleared a few e-mails and decided it was time to blog and go to bed.

* See the uneven terrain we walked on? *

Community Halloween

Chris got up early to go running. I went back to sleep. I got up just before 9. I sat by the sunniest window and caught up on my Sudoku puzzles. Then I drank a quart of water while reading e-mail. I looked up the large intestine meridian because the doctor told me mine was weak. I traced it backwards and forwards. I watched Youtube videos on tracing and stretching the meridians. I was looking for a hot flash meridian point when Linda texted me that she needed some black ribbon. So I found some and got dressed before she came over to get it. We chatted for a little bit, then she left. I cut some toilet paper tubes into rings. I played with the fishing pole. It was too easy. I reshaped the hook. It was a little better. I needed more circles. I found another tube in the trash and cut it up. I got some cheap ribbon from my sewing room and covered 12 rings with light green, dark green, pink and orange. I made one silver ring from foil for the top prizes which were toy gift baskets from the commissary. I texted Amber that I was ready to bring the aprons over, but then I realized that Myra had the aprons. So I took my tube rings and went over to Myra's place to pick up the aprons. She showed me her impromptu gypsy costume. She gave me some stuff to make one too. From there I went to Amber's place to drop off the aprons. She was so happy with how they turned out. She gave me a bag of toilet paper tubes, too. When I got home, I cut them up so the colored circles would be a smaller proportion of the total number. I made two bowls of popcorn. I filled the plastic gloves that had fingernails painted on them. But it was slow going to stuff kernels in each finger. So I stopped at two bowls even though there were more painted plastic gloves. Then I went in my sewing room to make some kind of costume. I found a planet print so I used that: 2 rectangles of fabric, sewed up the sides partway, and across the top (except for the middle). I slipped it on, and ripped about 4 inches in the front to make a v-neck. I found a stretchy black textured knit to use as a cape of sorts. I took a long slinky scarf and coiled it. It fit my head, so I wrapped it with shiny cord but then it was too small. I re-made it and the same thing happened. The third time it was too big.
I ate some kimchi and made seed crackers. While they were baking, I mixed up some spice mixture which will last about 3 weeks. I sat to read e-mail. I grabbed a few boxes for displaying prizes. I wrote "Fishing Game" on my whiteboard. I listed the color of the rings but did not know what prizes to list with each. Chris and I laid the rug back down in the living room. (We had taken it up a month ago for me to cut out fabric pieces for my Navy Ball dress.)

Chris helped me tear down the table in my sewing room and carry it to the curb. I brought out the prizes and sticks and whiteboard. I waited by the sidewalk until Myra picked me up. We loaded the table and all my stuff in her car. We drove to the commissary. Scott and Chris moved the cones so we could get through. We parked across the street, giving plenty of room for trunk or treat cars. We unloaded her car and set up my table. But Scott had a regular folding table for us. I threw my makeshift table cloth over it. Kim lent us some Halloween banners from the commissary. We set out the prizes, and hemmed and hawed about which color rings should net which prizes. We arranged the prizes in descending order, then proclaimed which ones went to brown circles, green circles, pink/orange circles and the silver circle. As kids came by, they fished and were told which prizes they were eligible for. We were running low on popcorn, so Myra got someone to fill in for her and ran home to make more. She put it in baggies and came back. Some kids came back to fish for a second time. We did not care since we had so many prizes. The CO picked up a bunch of little planes. Later the CSO picked up some orange ping pong balls. Time seemed to creep by slowly even though we were having a relatively good time. It was cold and the coat I had on under my gypsy cape was barely enough. Myra went to where the commissary was cooking hot dogs and hamburgers. She got a hotdog for herself and a hamburger with no bun for me. But it wasn't done inside so she took it back and got me another. The event was supposed to last from 5 to 8, but people were packing up by 7. The cake walk activity had given away all the cakes and cupcakes and hams (which I would have walked for). The bouncy house was almost empty and the trunk or treat cars had left. We gave away all the prizes we could and then poured the rest into the ring bucket. We tore down the table and packed the car. Myra took me home and went back for Scott. Chris helped me bring stuff in. I took my supplements. I read e-mail and then we watched three episodes of House. I sat in front of my laptop wondering if I could remember everything that happened today. I did my best to write it all down and then we went to bed.

Getting my goat

It's 11:30 at night, I want to blog and go to bed, but everything I wrote today is gone. While I was out, my new laptop updated and rebooted, closing the file I was taking notes in.
I don't remember what all I wrote. I got up this morning, drank my quart of water, took a shower and got dressed. I wrote down a list of all my supplements and symptoms. I walked through the rain to Duffy's parking lot to wait for Suzanne. When she arrived, she dropped her daughter off at CYP, then she drove us downtown to the five-day market. On the same street, was an acupuncturist. We went inside and put on the provided slippers. She helped me check in. No patient history was required, just my name and phone number. We waited for a short time and then were ushered in to an office. The nurse asked me to lie down on a table with a heating pad. She put large sleeves on my legs which had air hoses. They alternately inflated and deflated like some kind of massage. Suzanne and I talked until the machine quit. Later the doctor came in. He seemed to understand my English questions, but all his answers were in Korean. Suzanne translated as best she could, but she said he was very technical. He had me reach behind my back with each hand. He held his hands far apart on either side of my body. I thought he was sensing my energy field, but Suzanne said he was feeling the heat from my body. He said my body had too much heat and I should dissipate it by sweating (no sauna, just exercise) and evacuating several times a day. And I should do planks. He put needles in my stomach and one on the side of my neck. I had to bend one knee to rest my back. He wanted me to lie flat so Suzanne explained to him about my back. He took all the needles out and pressed several points; one below my belly button that still hurts. I sat up. He talked to her for some time, and then left. We used the bathroom out back, necessitating a different pair of slippers. Then we paid at the front desk. We decided to wait to see how I felt before scheduling a return appointment. Being right in the middle of the market, we proceeded to shop. I bought persimmons, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, carrots, peppers, and cucumbers. Then we came back to base. When I got home, I put each food in a clear plastic bag so it would not get lost in the fridge. Then I juiced some carrots, peppers and cucumbers. After drinking it, Myra wasn't ready, so I cleaned the juicer. Chris came home for lunch. The only package from the post office held fermented cod liver oil. Hence, not the toys I had ordered for Halloween. I made breakfast and read e-mail. I looked up Halloween non-candy treat and activity ideas. Then she called. I went over there with one of the sticks. We walked through the rain to Security to get her car. We drove to Home Plus to look for small toys and prizes. We found glow-in-the-dark stuff, pencils, orange ping pong balls, pencil sharpeners, etc. When we checked out, she had spent more than I did. When we got back to base, we went directly to the commissary. I got a leg of goat, a one-time opportunity. Myra got a few groceries. The commissary manager gave us some stuff for prizes. Myra took me home. I noted that my laptop had rebooted and thought I had lost all my windows. But when I re-opened the browsers, all the windows came back. I wish I had thought to check for my notepad file. I worked on my Sudoku puzzle and read e-mail. I got out some acrylic paints and the clear plastic gloves we just bought. I painted fingernails on the gloves and laid them out to dry. I cut several toilet paper and paper towel tubes into rings. Some of them I covered in colored ribbon. I cut off a length of twine. Using a lighter, I burned off the hairy bits. Then I tied it to the shortest stick. I bent a paperclip into a hook and tied it to the twine. I used the fishing rod to hook a toilet paper tube ring. It worked quite well. I called Myra to tell her all our problems were solved; that we could have the kids fish for colored rings and then let them pick a prize based on the color of the ring they hooked. I had a few other thoughts, but they got lost. Eventually, Chris and I watched two episodes of House. Then Chris went to bed and I stayed up to swear, and post to my blog. And now, its after midnight.

Skirting the issue of time

I heard Chris get up early and talk to someone, probably on his computer. After a while, he came back to take a shower and get dressed. Then he left for work. I kept trying to go back to sleep, and I did for a short time because I had the oddest dream. It was some kind of amusement park where the visitors could not get off of the train, and it would travel through all sorts of terrain. And there were all sorts of other strange rules and customs. When I woke up, I got up wondering what time it was. It was after 8. I had not heard my alarm go off. But the phone was still charged. I checked e-mail briefly. I got dressed and fixed my hair in preparation for skyping my tapping buddy. I tapped on not feeling like doing this today. Just before the call, Myra called to ask if she could come over to print something out. I told her I would call her after my skype call. But my tapping buddy never showed up. Either he forgot, or Skype did not tell him I was there. So 15 minutes later, I called Myra. She came over and wanted to print out a poodle outline for Carolyn's skirt. We looked through lots of images until we found the one she wanted. It was in Pinterest and I had a heck of a time getting it to print out. But when I did, she took it home. I embroidered the last apron. I pulled out the jump stitches from a previous apron as it stitched. The thread broke twice. When it was done, I checked e-mail again. I played a video while pulling out the jump stitches from the last one, and cutting out the stabilizer on the back. I sharpened my scissors on a piece of foil. I looked up a yoga place in Mt. Airy, where Myra is from. I followed a 14 minutes yoga routine for the spine. I called Myra to see if she was ready to add straps to the aprons. She wasn't. I jotted notes for my blog. I watered my plants and picked some tomatoes. I took them next door and gave them to Denee. I ate some seed crackers. I texted Wesley to see if he knew anyone who had some leftover beginning band books that our base could use. Chris came home for lunch. Denee came over to borrow some fabric scissors. I handed She asked me to go look at her fabric. While I was there, she had me sample a seaweed sprinkle that her husband uses on popcorn. It was good. She showed me her sourdough starter. I came home. Chris was getting ready to go back to work. But his plan changed... Afterward, I was worried that Denee was going to knock on our door to see if everything was ok. Myra still hadn't called. I thought about what kind of massage to get today. I did not want him inadvertently rubbing the scrapes on my knees. I read e-mail until Myra called. Carolyn had left and Myra was going to finish up the two poodle skirts and make crinolines. God bless Myra. So, I put on my white shoes and walked over to her place. I wanted to pick up some strap material to finish the two aprons at my house. But she convinced me to bring my two over to her house and work together. I went back home to get the aprons and change my shoes. I ironed straps while she sewed and turned. We discussed the benefits of telling people 'no' when they ask for stuff at the last minute. At three, I had to leave for my massage. I walked out into town. When I arrived, I asked for just a foot massage. The man brought me a tub of hot water to soak my feet. He also brought me a small tray with two tiny oranges and a paper cup of water. Then he hung up wet towels on a drying rack. I closed my eyes and relaxed. After a while, he sat down to rub my feet. I got lots of hot flashes on the left foot but not on the right one. Interesting. After the massage, I thanked him and left. It was cool outside. I stopped at the other massage place to explain what happened last time I was there and to make an appointment for next week. I called Myra on the way back to see if she needed help finishing the aprons. She said she could finish up easily. I walked home. I made and ate breakfast. I refilled my jar of mixed chia and flax seed. I read e-mail. Chris came home and made himself supper. We had an argument about mandatory vaccinations. I realized we were not signed up for the hike on Sunday. I exchanged my shorts for pants. I drove to the FFTC. I signed us up for the hike and paid the fees. I walked around the parking lot area looking for a good place to set up our Halloween fishing for prizes. Then I drove home. I read e-mail until Chris was ready to watch House. We watched two episodes. The night sweats started. Chris went to bed and I stayed up to blog.

I'm not as smart as a two year old

Chris got up early to attend a conference call. I got up after he went to work. I drank a quart of water and read e-mail. I downloaded all the pics from my phone to my new laptop and deleted the pics from the phone. I found a note from my tapping buddy who needed to reschedule. So I embroidered an apron instead. I took pic of it. It took longer because the thread broke twice. I had 25 minutes until sewing class, but did not think I could finish another one in time. I ate some seed crackers and Myra's cookies and went to sewing class. I brought the black shirts that Kelly wanted to see. I was the first one to arrive. I turned on all the lights and got out a table. I was going to pull jump stitches from the apron, but ladies arrived. They helped me set up more tables, and then machines and the fabric tubs. Myra was late, and I needed her help to keep everyone occupied, which she did. I gave her the embroidered apron. Some people worked on costumes. Denee worked on an apron. We had a good turnout. It broke up a little late. I spoke to Housing about getting the old blinds back. They said the blinds had been thrown away, but in February someone was moving and their house would be refitted with the new blinds and then I could have theirs. I went home for breakfast. I fell asleep listening to an interview on a new kind of insurance as an alternative to Obamacare. When I woke up, I was cold and huddled under the couch quilt for a bit. Then I got up to re-digitize the embroidery image in a smaller size, to minimize thread breakage. Then I hooped the second apron and embroidered it. The thread only broke once. I got the third one ready, and hooped it. I basted it in the hoop. I put the first color on the machine. All I had to do was hit 'start', but there wasn't enough time to finish the whole image, so I turned off the machine. I spent my 25 minutes until class by having a bite to eat and trying to catch up on e-mail. But the computer insisted that the internet was not connected. When I arrived at the evening sewing class, it was already in progress. I was on time, but Myra got it started early because she signed two Korean ladies on post. LOTS of people came. Kelly's daughter picked the black shirt she wanted for her costume. Myra helped someone work on a poodle skirt. Jadyn worked on the complicated pumpkin. Hai Wa made a bag. Denee finished her apron. Mr. Sharpe and another lady worked on costumes made from really stiff felt. He spoke to me about looking at the instruments that the school acquired. A little girl less than 2 years old used my phone to take about 2 dozen pictures of her feet. She's 51 years younger than me and she knew how to use my camera phone without the passcode. I handed out the rest of the lip balms I had with me. We started packing up on time, but it went long. When I got home, I realized I still had the iron in my hand. I took my evening supplements. We watched one episode of House. I looked up one of the characters who I had seen on Joan of Arcadia. I watched the pilot episode while trying to write this blog post. The download speed for the photo was so incredibly slow that I left it for another day. It was late so I went to bed.

Town hall meeting

I woke up during the night because I was cold. I pulled a corner of the comforter over me and went back to sleep. I heard Chris get ready for work and leave. I did not want to get up and I attributed that to the amitriptyline. It was after 9 when I got up to drink water and read e-mail. Sadly I got nothing done because I started reading responses to a Quora question and an hour disappeared. I called Myra and got a Korean message. I called back and she had just called me and gotten a similar message. Our minds run in the same track. We agreed to meet at her place. I took some fabric and cones of black thread and went over there. She had the aprons cut out already. After we decided what to do on the aprons, we went to the gym. We exercised in the weight room and on the treadmill. Then we sat in the sauna. Finally it was 2pm and time for breakfast. As I made and ate breakfast, reading e-mail, she called to say she would bring the serged aprons over. I folded laundry and changed my clothes. She dropped off the apron pieces. I located a candle image in my embroider file and saved the flame. I made a duplicate image. I called the text up on the computer screen, then put the flames over the i's in CHILI. I worked to get the sewing order right so I would have the fewest thread changes. I hoped to have one apron done for the town hall meeting. But then Denee came over and asked me to help her transplant some flowers. So I went over to see what she had. Someone had given her two large blue planters of mums. Since they had recently been put in there, it was easy to separate them out. We took some of my hanging planters, dumped out the warm weather flowers that were in there, and put the mums in. They were so nice. We put the warm weather flowers in the planters with the white mums that were left. Then I went back to my embroidery images. But not before I had a bite to eat. I loaded the image to the embroidery card and put it in my machine. I got out the hoop and sewed a piece of stabilizer inside the hooped stabilizer. I marked the first apron to center the image. I set up the machine and turned it on, bringing up the image. The machine told me that it would take 21 minutes to stitch it out. I turned off the machine, and put on my shoes and my coat. I walked to the town hall meeting in the theater. I spoke to Chris and waved at Myra. Finally the CSO called for people to be seated, so I found a seat beside Anna. The CSO ran the meeting, giving the Nx and commissary people a chance to say what was going on or coming up. He gave the attendees a chance to voice any concerns. Not much came up. Then the commander spoke about several issues that he was aware of. He also asked for any one to voice concerns. Amber mentioned the proposal for a dog park. Elizabeth mentioned the busing of middle schoolers to Daegu. I brought up the new blinds. Deron mentioned the produce in the commissary. And then it was over. I was glad, because kids were running around and giggling and so it was hard for me to hear what was being said. A lot of people went to Duffy's for supper. I spoke to Anna about her sewing poster and how it needed the morning hours added to it. Chris and I went home. We had chili for supper. I read some e-mail and texted Amber about a specific proposal for a dog park site. I wrote down what I could remember from my day. We watched one episode of House and Chris went to bed, having to get up early for a overseas call. I assembled the recyclables and put them by the door. I tried to install skype on my new laptop. But apparently Skype is now owned by Microsoft, who claims I don't have an account with them. Last week I used Skype Preview on this laptop, but I can't find it here now. I would like to say a few words about Microsoft, but I can't do it without using dirty words. I would need those same words to describe how I feel about Windows 10.
* This is the abacus that the antique store owner gave me last week. *

Boo-boo on the playground

I woke up early and Chris was gone from bed. I did not hear anything so I figured he was running. But when he finally came back to take a shower, he said he hadn't been running. After he left, I got up to start my coffee morning, except I had to find and send Myra a picture first. I swished and took three packets of vitamin C. I drank a quart of water and boiled water for two cups of coffee. I listened to an audio on Alzheimers. I meditated to Mozart and did some tapping.
Chris came home for lunch with a package. It held one bottle of supplements. There was also a Halloween card from MaryAnn. I cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen. I made up a week's worth of vitamins and placed my Swansons order 3 minutes before the offer ended.
I called Myra and we decided I should go over there to see about making aprons for the chili winners. I took a piece of fabric with me. I watered the plants on my way. I showed her my fabric and she showed me hers. Hers was denim which seemed more gender neutral than the red and white stripe I had. Hers wasn't washed, so she threw it in the washer. She gave me a bag of cookies that she had just made. She also offered me a sausage ball. We went to my place to drop off the cookies and pick up a pair of clippers. We walked up the trail and found some downed bamboo. We cut a few into sticks to use for fishing poles for Halloween. We took them to my place and saw Denee coming home. We invited her to go with us. We walked the trail. Suzanne called me to say she had made me an appointment with her acupuncturist. I was very excited. On the way back from the trail, we stopped at some houses to meet new people, but mostly they were not home. Myra went home to get a house number. Denee and I went to the playground to visit Mai. I tried to climb the fireman's pole, but could not get up it. No one else could, either, so I did not feel badly. I climbed the rock wall, but fell on my knees when I got to the landing. I skinned them both and then slid down the pole. Denee and I were about to walk back to our duplex when Anna drove up and Scott asked us all to wait. He said he was in charge of the community Halloween party and we were his minions. We discussed trunk-or-treat and fishing for prizes - most of which have not arrived in the mail yet.
Then Denee and I walked back. I dabbed my knees and sprayed rose water on them. I looked up how to treat scrapes. I poured warm water over the boo-boos. Neither one was bleeding so I wasn't worried. I made and ate a salad. I ate one of the cookies Myra gave me. I watched a video from a speaker in the Menopause summit. I did today's puzzle. I noticed how much better my eyes felt now that I turned down the color temperature on my laptop. I researched blue blocking glasses on ZenniOptical and ordered a pair in my prescription. I took part of an amitriptyline. It made my tongue numb. Chris wanted to watch the latest Netflix movie until he saw what it was. He said he saw it this past summer at the beach. So we watched two episodes of House. He went to bed and I stayed up to recreate my day on this blog, hoping for a good night's sleep.
* This is the picture that I sent Myra. *

On the trail of pinecones

We got up late, too late for Chris to go to church. I drank my quart of water and read e-mail until 9:15. Then I played a video called "Consumed" until 9:45. It was about a mother whose kid got sick from eating GMO food. I took my shower and got dressed for church. I watched another 5 minutes. I put some more lip balms in my purse and drove myself to the chapel, parking at the school. Jane did not come. I sat in our regular pew, but at the other end because 4 new people were sitting where Jane and I usually sit. After all the singing, we shook hands with everyone. Then we had the reading and communion. I asked Suzanne about her acupuncturist. The sermon was from Daniel, having faith whether God intervenes in the bad times or not. After the service, I handed out the 4 lip balms I had with me. I talked to Kathy for a while, and then Suzanne offered to get me an appointment with her acuppunturist, who specializes in women's issues. Maybe there's a needle for night sweats? Then I called Chris to meet me at the commissary. I went and got coconut milk and water. Chris showed up while I was talking to Kim. He and I got our groceries and put them in the car. I drove us home, just for the practice. I changed my clothes. I made breakfast and finished the video. I called Myra to go walking. She came over to see the text I had prepared for the aprons. Then she and I walked the trail twice, stopping to pick up pine cones, and chatting with Amber and her group. In addition to the 4 mile walk, we also used the exercise stations for arm exercises. It was getting dark when we split up. When I got home, Chris was gone. I ate a bowl of chili. I listened to an audio on light while I did several Sudoku puzzles, trying to catch up. The speaker said incandescent bulbs were much better for your eyes than LED bulbs. He recommended low wattage halogen bulbs on direct current. Dr. Mercola said he turned his f.lux software down to 2300K, even during the day so I turned mine down, too, and set it to block blue light around the clock. I caught up on the Sudoku puzzles. Chris came home and made himself supper. I took my evening supplements with lemon water. When Chris was ready, we watched two episodes of House. He went back to his game. I cleared a little more e-mail and then posted to my blog.
* this is a pic taken last week from the antique shop *

Chinhae Chili Cook-off

I got up about 8:30, Chris was already up, playing his game while the chili cooked. I looked for a CD to boot my old laptop. Chris found an Ubuntu CD. He used it to boot the laptop and then started the download process for backing up all the user files. I drank my quart of water while watching the boot process. I swept the floor. I checked e-mail on both the new laptop and the desktop. I had trouble signing into Pinterest because it did not like my password. So I had to change it and then change it back. Kathy texted me about making a bean bag chair for the library. So I looked into cost of materials vs. buying one from Amazon. I read about free energy and using magnets to affect fluids. They were selling a book on the subject, but when I tried to buy it, the transaction would not go through.
I listened to an audio from the Menopause Summit about steaming the vaginal area with herb water. Then I listened to an NLP audio while I looked into hair mineral analysis.
Chris left to deliver chili to the pavilion. I got dressed, and removed my shiny thumbnails. They were starting to look ragged. Chris came back from delivering the chili. We walked back together. I spoke to Myra and then the tasting started. We each got little cups and went down the line, getting a small amount dropped into our cup. I wrote the numbers one through 13 on my cup. For each one, I put a rating from 1 to 10. No chili got less than 6, and one got an 8. Then I submitted my vote and got an empty bowl from Chris (bowls were $5). I filled it from #5. We were allowed a refill, so I got some of #9 (which was a 7.5 on my cup). I sat and talked with several people. I told Amber that it would have been nice to award the chili winner with an apron, and she said I could make one for the runner-up. Eventually the crowd thinned out and the servers got to eat. When the votes were counted, there was a 4-way tie. Myra said we could make 4 aprons. Someone picked a name out of the four and that made Akia the top winner. (#5) Then Chris and I took our chili home. He plugged it in to heat up again. I read e-mail. I played around with fonts to spell "Chinhae Chili Champion" for the aprons. I searched my desktop computer, but did not find a suitable chili pepper to embroider on it. I took 15 tiny containers from the box of 50, and washed them in hot, soapy water. Then I carefully filled them with the lip balm I had made. It was sticky business at best and then I had a hot flash which made melted everything I touched.
Myra called to invite us over when they lighted the firepit. So we kept a lookout for that once it got dark. I was reading e-mail, and finally called Myra. She said they were sitting around the fire and wondering where we were. We could not see the flames, so thought it hadn't started yet. I put on pants and a coat. Chris made himself a cup of coffee to bring, and he got two folding chairs from the shed. We walked down to Myra's place where she and Scott and Ross were sitting. Thunder was running around looking for sticks and pinecones. Danielle came out presently. I gave her one of the lip balms. We chatted for over an hour and then we heard fireworks. So we made our way up to the antenna circle to watch. It was quite impressive. Oct 22 must mark an historic occasion. We continued to chat and throw pinecones for the dog to chase. Finally, we got up to go home. Chris went down to get the chairs. I walked home. I found slugs on the porch. I guess it's Miller time. I opened the door for Chris. Then I went inside to change. It was almost 10 and I wanted to watch House, but did not want to be up late again. Chris checked my laptop and saw that the download process had ended abnormally, saying there was not enough space on the terabyte drive. I decided to post to my blog even though we might stay up a bit yet.

Bake sale

I had just gotten up when my phone rang – it was Myra wanting to bring me a roll of kimbap on her run around the base. Ms. Chay had given her two rolls. We decided to go to the gym instead. I got dressed. She brought me the kimbap just as I was starting to water the plants. I put the kimbap inside the house and we walked to the gym. First we worked in the weight room on arms and legs, but I took it easy on the legs thinking we were going to do the treadmill later. But we went walking on the trail instead. That was a leg workout; going up the steep hill. We used the exercise station equipment up there, then turned around and came down the road because she needed to get back. A patrol car pulled up. They said two suspicious characters had been spotted by the water tower. We told them we were just up there and hadn't seen anyone. She went home to get ready to take Ms. Chay to lunch. I went home to eat the roll of kimbap with some kimchi. I read e-mail for awhile and listened to an audio. Chris came home to drop off a package. It was a box of toy planes for Halloween, and a bottle of clary sage oil. I can't remember why I ordered it. It's probably on my old laptop. I fell asleep during the audio and had to replay the last part. I tried to look up the speaker's website because she uses EFT for menopause symptoms, but could not find the right page. At 2 I called Myra to see if she was delivering her goodies to the bake sale. She wasn't quite ready. So I bagged up my witches fingers in packs of five. I changed my clothes, and wrote WITCHES FINGERS (BREAD) on a piece of paper. I grabbed an empty jar and headed to Myra's place. She filled my jar with white vinegar that Karen gave her when she moved. Then we went to the commissary where the bake sale was set up. We were 15 minutes early but sales were in full swing. Myra handed over her bags of bones and I handed over the witches fingers. I saw Anna there and she had a big bruise from falling in a submarine. Later I talked to Bernie about entering the talent show. I followed Myra around the commissary while she bought items for the chili cook off tomorrow. Scott showed up to help load the car. They dropped me off at home. I washed pots and pans on the stove and countertop to make room for Chris later. Then I sat down to read e-mail while eating breakfast. Chris came home and put his chili together as I listened to an audio. I paused it to help him by stirring while he added onions. He left the beans out. Then he made himself supper. I looked for fabric Christmas ornament ideas. Then we watched two episodes of House. Chris went back to playing his game. I wrote up my blog post, so I could turn in for the night.

Witch finger?

I got up at 9:30, or so. I discovered that some time during the night, while I was waffling over whether to cover with a sheet or not, Chris got out the big comforter and put it on his side of the bed. Ain't menopause grand?
I drank a quart of water, and read e-mail on the laptop until it got caught in a loop, then moved to the desktop until it slowed down, then back to the laptop. I swished with coconut oil because there is a sensitive spot in one of my molars on the left. I finished the menopause audio. The lady said that a woman's fire and water energy diminish as she gets older. If the water energy diminishes faster than the fire energy, she experiences hot flashes. The speaker recommended herbal blends on her site. I put a ocean picture on my mantel. I did a tapping video that came in Monday but got overlooked. I watered the plants, potted and planted. I got out my trombone and played Eagle's Wings. Then I took a shower. I made breakfast and was eating it when Chris came home for lunch.. He had a package from the post office and groceries for the chili cookoff. I read e-mail while I ate. I saw Myra had called, so I called her back. She was making white chocolate bones and wanted me to print tags for the little bags they were to be sold in. I finished breakfast, then played around with fonts and font sizes until I got it just right. But it would not print. So I changed the color from black to brown. Then it printed just fine. I cut the columns apart, and used a hole punch to make tags. I called Myra. ready to come over, but she was having trouble melting the white chocolate in her double boiler. She came over to use my microwave. I quickly cleaned the kitchen and put Chris' cans of beans and tomatoes away. She arrived soon after I finished. Her chocolate bits would not melt in the microwave and we surmised that they were too old. I gave her a piece of beeswax and she took her platter of 'bones' (pretzel sticks with marshmallow ends) home to try again. Or to crunch up and make into popcorn balls. I racked my brain to come up with something for the Halloween bake sale tomorrow. Maybe breadstick lady fingers? Later Myra texted me a pic that the beeswax was firming up the chocolate which she had been able to melt with coconut butter. I went to the massage place and asked for a full massage. He filled a tub with really hot water. I soaked in it for some time, ignoring the movie on the wall. Then the man massaged my feet. He took me to a side room for the body massage. It did hurt a little. But when it was over, I felt really good. And it was a lot later than I thought. Denee called me to see if I was going to the FRG meeting. I hotfooted it to the chapel where the meeting was already in progress. It seemed to go well. They discussed the bake sale and the chili cookoff and asked for suggestions for other activities. When it broke up, I walked out with Myra. We split up at her house and I went home to see Chris, who was making his supper. I put the usual ingredients in the bread machine, plus an egg, and butter and tahini. I drank my chocolate shake and made a salad. I read e-mail as I ate. I boiled water with baking soda in it. I washed some almonds and rolled the dough into small cylinders. I pressed an almond to the end of each one. I plopped the first 7 in the boiling water for a minute, then made more. Those had time to rise before getting boiled, so were fatter. I took the boiled ones out and stuck them in the oven. No way to tell when they were done. I had Chris try one, and tried the next one myself. I figured they were probably ok. I spread butter on them and sprinkled salt. We sat down to watch House, but there was a problem with Waterfox. Chris eventually solved it and we watched two episodes of House. Then I sat down to write my blog and saw the Pinterest page of Halloween bread creations. It prompted me to put away the cooled bread sticks in plastic containers. They were soft and buttery. Too soft. I am not sure they are sellable.

Busy morning

I woke up at 7 thinking I heard my phone alarm. I put out the recyclables (including all the boxes that I broke down last night) out at the curb, and went back to bed, leaving the door open so I could hear. I heard the alarm at 7:30 and got up a little before 8. I drank my quart of water and took some vitamin C packets. I had restarted my desktop last night thinking it would be rebooted by morning, but it was stuck on some question that needed answering before it would continue. When it booted up, it was not responsive to the mouse so I had to reboot it again. I tried Skyping my brother to get the video working. I had not realized that I unplugged the video cam when I plugged in my camera cord. But, the resulting video feed was not good. So Kurt talked me through Skype on the new laptop. Skype Preview was already on there, and that was sufficient. But the audio was terrible. We investigated settings but did not find anyway to mitigate the scratchiness of it. So I turned on my tablet. This time Skype worked on it with no problems. And just in time to call my tapping buddy. But when the call went through, he was not getting any video feed from me. It might have been his phone, who knows. So we tapped together with him not seeing me. But at least we could hear each other clearly. Near the end of the call, the tablet battery ran down, so I had to run to the cord and plug it in. I called Denee to see if I could still make the food handling class. She suggested I drive right over. I changed my shirt and ran to the car, drove to the building, then had to park down the street. I ran to the food handling class. There was a short video on food handling in restaurants. Then we had a discussion with the medical person in charge of the class. And that was it. 20 minutes. I went home and drank my chocolate shake with a quick look at e-mail. Then I went to Housing for sewing class. Chantel was already there. We chatted as we set up the room. Then Myra and others arrived. Someone made a pumpkin. Someone worked on an ironing mat. And a third person worked on a costume for her daughter. When the pumpkin was finished, I went home for breakfast. I saw the pics of Michele at Ashley's wedding, and I cried because she looked so grown up. I called Myra and we met to walk on the trail. We decided to hit the post office. I got a package but could not remember what I had ordered/ Then Myra went to the commissary but I went home. I picked some dandelion. I looked at healthy treat ideas on Pinterest. Time was running out so I made and ate a salad. I got an e-mail from Chris that he was coming home early because his last meeting of the day was canceled. I started listening to an audio on herbal remedies for menopausal symptoms. I paused it to go to sewing class.

Everyone was already there even though I was right on time. I cut fabric for Kelly to make a quilt. Myra helped the others make pumpkins and a potholder. Jadyn traced pieces to make the most involved pumpkin. He cut some out and took the others home. Amber took some templates home to make more pumpkins. Then we all pitched in to clean up the room. We were only 5 minutes late getting out. As I walked home, I saw a taxi pull up to our house and heard a rolling suitcase. Chris got to the front door just before I did. I stood by chatting with him while he unpacked. Then we watched two episodes of House. I took half a milligram of melatonin and posted to my blog, then headed to bed.

The Antique Store

Even though I went to bed a little early, I got up late. I filled a water pitcher. I drank water while reading e-mail on the new laptop. E-mail messed up with Firefox, so I went to the desktop to delete e-mail. I listened to David Wolfe talk about dehydration, how water with sea salt can 'cure' what looks like autoimmune issues but really started with dehydration.
A little after 9, I went to the gym with Myra. First we worked out in the weight room, then we went to the gym for stretching and balance exercises. Then we went to the cardio room to use the treadmills. After that, we went in the sauna. Then we split for lunch. I half expected to see Chris then remembered he was in Seoul. I made and drank my chocolate shake and ate some seed crackers. I listened to some audios. Then I met Myra at her place. We went to the commissary to discuss going to the antique store with Kem. Then we went to Security to get her car. We stopped by the post office. I got a very nice card from MaryAnn's sister. Then we drove out in town to Home Plus. I had taken the large binder clip off of my rolling cart bag to use on my sewing table. So we looked around Home Plus for another one. All I found was a large bag clip, but it did the job. Then we went into the market, threading our way through the throngs to find food. She got vegetables, and I got mostly fruits, plus lettuce and kimchi. I asked at several places for old kimchi but no one had it so I finally bought fresh. We made our way back to the Home Plus parking deck and came back to base. She dropped me and my food at my place. I unloaded the bag, ate some fruit and laid on the sofa, exhausted. Then I checked e-mail. Chris called at 5. As I talked to him, I went outside to water the plants. After he hung up, I put on my shoes and walked to the commissary. Kim was there, but Myra was not, so we drove up to her place. She was standing in the street talking to someone in a car. That's what happens around here, since everybody knows everybody else.

We picked her up and drove out in town to the antique place. Some of it was old and some wasn't. There was a lot of stuff to see. He gave me several items for free. I bought a bronze/copper lotus incense bowl. Myra and Kim bought lots of stuff. I took lots of pictures. Then Kim pulled her car up to the front door and loaded the stuff in. She drove us back to post. She dropped me off at home. I made and ate breakfast. I read e-mail. I watched a video interview of a doctor talking about the benefits of ozone therapy. Then I pulled up the next episode of House on Netflix. I paused it to start getting the recyclables together. I swallowed some melatonin and tryptophan. Then I watched the episode. I got out my tablet to make sure I could use it to skype my tapping buddy tomorrow but for some reason it said I needed a code. I had to put in my e-mail address. So I checked e-mail on the laptop to get the code. It must have been 20 characters long! I tried the link but that path dried up before I got to where I needed to be. So I typed the code into the tablet. It told me it was incorrect and to try again. So I did, and then it said the code had already been used. !??! I turned off the tablet, and closed the laptop. I pulled up my pics on my phone and took pics of the screen with my camera. I downloaded the pics to the desktop. Then I typed up my blog. I had meant to go to bed early, but that had been overcome by 'events'. I hoped I could fall asleep quickly.

Technology leaves something to be desired

I heard my alarm go off at 7:30 but I stayed in bed since I went to bed so late. It was 8:15 when I got up. I swished for 20 minutes while reading e-mail. I boiled water for coffee. I drybrushed, exercised and rebounded. There was a call from Kelly, a call to Myra and one to Denee; all to get some cushion zippers to Kelly who had Mrs. Lee at her house making cushions. I decided to offer to go out in town to get some after I finished my coffee morning.
When I finished cleaning the bathrooms and partly the kitchen, I called Kelly to offer, but she had ripped the old zippers out to use in the new cushions. I called Myra and she said she would go walking with me later. Denee texted, wanting orange ribbon. I invited her to join us later. I vacuumed the bathrooms and my bedroom. I mopped in the foyer and the kitchen. At 1, she and I walked down to Myra's place and out into town. The three of us spent most of our time at Office Depot, looking at ribbon, paint, crafty stuff, etc. Then on the way back, we stopped at GS 25 for lemons. I also picked up some spinach and cucumbers. When we got back to post, Denee went to see about a food-handling class. Myra and I walked to her place. As we talked, someone drove up so she spoke to him. While I was waiting, I met a new lady walking down the hill with one of the Philippina ladies. She was the new assistant director of the CYP. Then Myra went home and I went uphill to mine. I made breakfast. I read an article on fasting while eating breakfast. I finished making up supplements. I cleared more e-mail on my new laptop, then went outside to water the potted plants. I wondered how someone could fight with Housing over mold in their house and not be willing to clean it up themselves when it may be making the kids ill. I figured I should go clean it up just to protect the kids. I looked up natural ways to clean mold, and the best one appeared to be baking soda dissolved in water. I did some tapping. I read a few more e-mails. I made hummus. I ate some with seed crackers. I was listening to an audio from a menopause summit when Chris skyped me. For some reason, my camera would not show him my picture. Skype said it might be in use by another program. Chris sang me a song, but Skype blocked it out as background noise. Grr. After the call, I finished my audio. I put in an order for the supplements that were low. I wrote most of my blog post. I watched an episode of House. I downloaded 100+ pics from my camera that were taken from my phone. I finished my blog and posted it, ready to turn in early. So far, not having access to the stuff on my laptop has been a mild inconvenience, but losing all those pics, files, and mp3's is going to catch up with me. Some of them were purchased from summits.
* This pic is from the USS Ronald Reagan *

Computer troubles and a reception

What a day it has been, what a bad mood I'm in, why its almost like being in ... a foreign country.
Chris got up to get ready for church. I slept in until almost 9. He was leaving as I came out to fire up my laptop and drink a quart of water. I had a hard time reading my e-mail because some script kept hijacking the process. This had happened several times recently and I was tired of it. I figured by rebooting the problem would go away. But, the laptop would not reboot, at least not normally. It came up in dos but would not accept keystrokes. I took my shower and got dressed. I tried my new laptop but it would not delete e-mail, so I turned to my trusty desktop. It was slow but reliable. When Chris got back from church, he took a look at my old laptop and said he thought it was a hardware failure of some kind. I put on a coat and got in the car. He dropped me off at the chapel. I sat with Jane for the service. The sermon came from Nehemiah, the first chapter: tips on how to pray. Kathy was there and I gave her the unused nail stickers. After the service, Chris showed up. We stood around talking until the commissary opened at noon. Then we shopped for groceries. We took them home. I changed my dress for pants and a nice top. I made and ate breakfast. I read e-mail and listened to an audio on my new laptop. Chris had installed Waterfall as an option to Firefox. It seemed to be working. The audio wasn't very loud and was tinny so I played it on the desktop so I could hear it all over the house. I ate something that made my nose run. I set out my supplement bottles to make up dosages for the week. I swept the floors with a dust mop, waiting for my nose to stop running. Then I started filling the bottles. At 3:30 Chris wanted to drive me to Duffy's parking lot to meet the bus to Busan. But I told him that Scott was going to take Myra and I to meet the bus. Myra called just a few minutes later to say they were on their way. I visited the bathroom and put on socks and shoes. I hunted down an umbrella. I met them at the street. Scott drove us around the base and to the transportation parking lot. The bus was there. We got on with a few other people. The bus left right at 3:45 and went off base without going to Duffy's. We wondered if anyone got left behind because they went to Duffy's. It was a 2 1/2 hour trip to the pier in Busan. A carrier named USS Ronald Reagan was there. We all trouped up the metal steps to the lower flight deck. It was full of people. We checked our umbrellas at the hat check table. We wandered around the room, looking to see what food was available. We got in line for a fresh fruit tray, fresh veggie tray, then some sort of roll-up sandwiches. At the end of the line was a huge piece of beef. We got some cuttings from it. At another table was a pineapple tree. Into the pineapples were stuck skewers of fruit chunks, and near by was a big bowl of shrimp with an ice sculpture in it. As we passed the table with what looked like a roasted pig with an apple in its mouth, I stopped to take a picture. When I looked away, Myra was gone. I roamed the room but could not find her. I did see the ambassador, but did not want to approach him with a plate full of food. I ran into Suzanne and Kathy. We spoke for awhile. Then someone called for attention and there were speeches. Our ambassador did a great job. Then I spotted Myra with Anna. She wanted to leave early so we said we would go with her. But with one thing and another, leaving early did not happen. Myra and I found someone to lead us to a restroom. It was through a port door and down very steep metal steps, around corners and through more doors. I hoped our guide would not leave because I could not have found my way back. When we got back, Anna wanted to go. Then on the way out, we stopped to take pictures of statues and busts of Ronald Reagan. By the time we got out to the pier, the bus was ready to leave. So Terry went with Anna, and Myra and I rode the bus back. It only took an hour and a half. Scott picked us up at the bus stop and took me home. I checked the latest e-mail. I installed f.lux. I was cuing up House when Chris called from Seoul. He had loaded some software on my new laptop before he left, but Skype was not part of it. The my phone made sounds like someone was calling. After I hung up with Chris, I discovered that Anna had sent me pictures from the event. I sat down and watched House. It was an interesting episode and I would have watched another but it was after 11. I then realized that posting to my blog was going to be more difficult because I always do it on my old laptop. My new laptop knew nothing about it, and I did not know what word processing software was loaded. I tried and tried on my desktop, but the help pages were all in Korean - no help at all. Somehow I figured out that I needed to sign in with my Yahoo account rather than my Google account. I was able to get to my blog, and I wrote up the events of the day. But it got very late and I did not want to tackle the downloading of pics onto the desktop before going to bed.
* This is Michele, giving a toast at Ashley's wedding, which took place in the U.S. this weekend. *

Catching up on sewing

I heard my alarm go off in the morning, but fell back asleep. Chris got up though, and was sitting at his laptop, playing the all-too-familiar game when I got up. I drank water and deleted the first round of e-mail. I downloaded the pics from our camera and cropped them. I viewed the Facebook pics from the ball that were posted. Chris had told me I was exceptionally beautiful last night, and I believed him until I saw the pics. Oh well. Then I wrote my blog post for yesterday, interspersing it with doing yesterday’s puzzle while the scripts tried to keep up. I finished an audio from yesterday while working on today’s puzzle. Then I remembered that I forgot to post what I had written to my blog. I chose a few pictures to go with the text and posted it. I ran the edges of my fingernails over my hot iron to seal them. It did not work very well, so I just peeled the stickers off. They came off pretty easily. I left the thumb nails on ‘cause they looked the best. I made and ate breakfast. I cued up an audio but it was so quiet that I could not hear it if I left the vicinity of my laptop. I tried refreshing the page, but no luck. So I moved to my new laptop. It was very quiet there, too. Finally I went to my desktop computer. It has more powerful speakers. I was able to play it loud enough that I could move through the house, forgetting that the windows were open. I fixed a pair of Chris’ jeans. I uncluttered my sewing room and cutting room. I gathered all the scraps from all the dresses and put them in separate bags. I finally untwisted the handle on my market bag and put a line of stitching down the center of each handle to stabilize it. I put away the make-up. I wiped Myra’s earrings with alcohol and put her jewelry set in the bag it came in. I hand-washed Denee’s scarf and my shaper, then hung them up to dry. I ironed the rest of the fabric from the trip to the fabric market. Since the baked apple I ate yesterday sparked a mild allergic reaction, I decided to investigate. First, I ate a pat of butter. No reaction. Then I ate an apple. No reaction. I ate raisins; my nose ran for a while. I ate nuts. Maybe a drop of mucus. I ate some onion soup; I felt it in my stomach. I ate some kimchi; my nose ran. (Of course, it would be odd if it didn’t.) Finally I took my evening supplements. I sat down to clear out e-mail. I put a new cream on my face - it has nano curcumin in it. I sprayed my hair with rosewater. I finished today’s puzzle while standing on one foot. Chris cued up House on my new laptop. We watched three episodes. I checked Jillee’s website for recipes that use citric acid to find out why I ordered it. It was either the bath bombs or the toilet fizzies. Then it was way past my bed time, so I finished up today’s post and chose a photo to go with it.

The Navy Ball

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a young lady that went to a ball. This is her story:
Our sleep was interrupted by a strange animal sound: a series of short, hoarse vocalizations that sounded like something was being tortured. I got up to look out the living room window. I saw a dark figure of what was probably a deer walking down the street. When I opened the front door, it was gone. I went back to bed, but then the sound started up again behind our house, though not for long. Chris woke up too, and being married, we did not go back to sleep right away.
So the next morning, I woke up late, hearing the phone. It was Myra asking me if I was going to Round-up (which was in 20 minutes) so I said no. She promised to call when she got back. I drank water and texted Kathy about nail stickers to match my dress. After checking e-mail, I went next door to get the wrap Denee was lending me. Then I went to Myra’s place, feeling a little brain fogged. Mandy came over to pick up the dress that Myra repaired. It looked good. Myra needed me to help her pin straps in the right place. She was adding to the lining of the dress so her underwear would not show. But it did, especially in the back. But she seemed confident that she could cover it all with the extra fabric cut off the bottom. She said she didn’t need me anymore so I went home. I watered my plants and picked some tomatoes. I was trying not to eat because I wanted my stomach to stay flat. But I did have some onion soup which had some pieces of beef in it. I finished hemming my dress. Kathy came over with nail stickers. She explained how to put them on. She showed me her collection and I picked the silver ones. After she left, I took a shower. I sat down with my magnifying lamp, small scissors and a hair dryer. I peeled the stickers off the sheet, one at a time. Each one was curved at both ends, so I cut it in half and used the halves on the corresponding finger of each hand. The widest one went on my thumbnails and the smallest on my pinky fingers. I used the hair dryer to warm them up so I could stretch it to cover each nail, but the result wasn’t that satisfactory. There were wrinkles around the edges. I trimmed off the excess and filed, but again, the result wasn’t that satisfactory. On the other hand, without the magnifying lamp, they were all ok. When my nails were done, I called Kelly to see if she could do my hair. She was at the commissary so I spent the time putting in the earrings Myra lent me. The curved prong was short, so it was hard to get them in the holes in my ears. Kelly called me when she got home. I walked up to her house. I showed her my nails and she thought they were ok. She used a flat iron and a bit of hairspray to add volume to my hair. She showed me the mold in her house which she had just explained to Housing that they had to do something about. When I got home, I ate a baked apple. My nose started running, so I concluded that I must be sensitive to something in the recipe.

I opened an Amazon box that came two days ago. I found rosewater, so I applied it liberally since I don’t own perfume. I put on a touch of eyeliner at the outer corners of my eyes, and added a touch of lip liner and smoothed it out with my homemade lip balm. Chris came home and got himself dressed. I packed my clutch with tissues, Chris’ camera, safety pins, and a tiny sewing kit in case anyone had a dress emergency. Chris asked how he looked and I got his medals on straight. His hang-around-the-neck medal did not show under his tux because it was too low. So I put tucks in the ribbon to raise the medal just enough so it would show but not too much. Then Chris helped me get dressed, especially with the shaper. The twins did not move a nanometer for the next 5 hours. Chris took pics of me in my dress on the front porch. Then we walked down the hill to catch the first bus. We were the only married couple on the bus so I was worried that it was the wrong bus. And I thought Myra and Scott were coming, but the bus filled up and left right on time. As we drove out the gate, it occurred to me that I did not have my ID to get back. The bus drove through traffic and half an hour late arrived at Yeonriji. We all got out and took the elevator to the third floor. There was a wide open space in front of the ballroom. Directly in front were tables set with food covered in plastic wrap. People were taking pics from the grand stairway. We hung around greeting people and talking, waiting for the second bus to arrive. We had our picture taken by the evet photographer against a Navy Ball design background. Then the CSO called for everyone to find a seat. So we went in and looked for a table, with space for Myra and Scott. But we did not find one. Eventually we sat at the front with Danielle and Ross, and the ladies from the bank. Then there were speeches about this being the 241st birthday of the Navy. (I thought the ball was just an excuse to dress up.) Some awards were given out. FINALLY, he said tables 1,2 and 3 could proceed to the buffet. We were at table 6 so I figured it wouldn’t be long. And it wasn’t, plus we had good conversationalists at our table. When given notice, we proceeded to the buffet right outside the doors. But I spotted Myra at a back table and had to go greet her. Poor Chris got to the buffet and discovered I was gone. So he came back for me. Then we filled our plates. There was just enough offerings that I could eat to fill it. Some people took two plates so they would not have to come back. When we sat down again, I took a pic of my plate. I ate everything on it and considered going back for more since I saw sushi rolls on Danielle’s plate and fruit on Chris’ plate. I had not seen either at the buffet. But just as I got up to go, the CSO announced toasts. So I sat back done. Chris poured a modicum of wine in my glass. Then we all toasted whomever they could think of. After the toasting, four people stood for the cutting of the cake. There was a sword for this purpose. And a ceremony of the oldest giving a piece of cake to the youngest to symbolize the passing of wisdom. The ceremony continued, but due to the acoustics, I could not make it out. I wanted to lick the sword, but could not find a nice way to phrase it. (Ok, yes, due to the sugar content, I wouldn’t have done it anyway, but it would have been funny, right?) Afterward, we gathered for a group picture.

When the ceremony was over, regular table conversation started up. It was hard to hear anything in that room. But as I looked around, I noticed Anna approaching the women individually and they left. After a while, I remarked to Danielle that all the women were leaving but I did not know why. She said we should check it out. So we made our way to the other side of the ball room where the doors were. When we passed Chaun, she decided to accompany us. The three of us found all the other women gathered on the grand stairway to have a group photo taken. I don’t know why we weren’t invited, but we joined right in. Chris showed up in the group of men standing at the bottom taking pics. I tried to get his attention so I could give him our camera, but his mind reading skills were not working.
Then the DJ turned the music up and the younger people started dancing. It was not the kind of music Myra and I liked for dancing, although it had a beat. When we returned to the ballroom, the younger generation was lined up in rows and columns, doing some sort of group dance. The next dance seemed simple enough, so we joined in. But the next one was more complicated and I could not get it. Then we did the Macarena. Chris announced that the first bus was about to leave, so we made our way done to the street. We found that the first bus had already left and got on the second one. Soon Myra and Scott showed up, then some single sailors. One lady went back to tell the others that the last bus was leaving. When she got back, the bus pulled away from the curb and we were on our way. Chris, Scott and Ray discussed the wild boar hunt scheduled for tomorrow. Apparently we might get the pork dinner I have been joking about every time I see all the damage they are doing! Chris gave me his jacket so when we got to the base, I could wait outside the front gate for him to go home and find my ID and bring it to me. But Scott, being head of Security, said something to the MA that checked ID’s and she decided to let me on base. Myra said she would have waited with me. The bus pulled into the parking lot formerly known as Duffy’s and we got off. The four of us walked up hill to Myra’s place, and then Chris and I continued up to ours. Chris helped me get the dress and the corset off. Being able to breathe was such a relief. I was so tired I just got in bed and we fell asleep.

Finally a clutch I can appreciate

It was after 8 when I got up. I stood by the front door on one foot and finished yesterday’s puzzle. Then I sat down with a quart of water to read e-mail. At 9:10 I got dressed and went outside to water the plants. Then I grabbed my fanny pack and walked up the hill to Kelly’s house. I spent about an hour there. She trimmed my hair and showed me the couch cushions that she wants to cover. Two of her kids were at home sick. I walked home, picking up some flower pots that Linda left out for the trash. They still had dirt in them. I opened two windows and turned on a fan. I got out a sheet of directions for a snap/close pouch. I thought with the right fabric, it would make a good clutch for the ball. I assembled scraps from the dress I made. I had some shiny silver fabric from the Busan market. I covered it with scraps. It looked ok except for the seam lines. Then I found a bigger piece, big enough that I could make it in only two pieces. The silver had a 3 inch selvedge on it so I used that to add on either end of the lining for the contrast band. I took a break to have breakfast. I worked until almost 3. Then I walked out to the Chinese massage place. Mr. Lee Pong was not there. The clerk, who had done my massage last week, indicated a lady waiting to do the massage. But I looked at him and he guessed that I wanted him to do the massage. (In my experience, the men do a better job because their hands are stronger, which means they don’t need to use their elbows as much.) So he left me in the small room to change. Then I laid on the table and he massaged my back, arms, shoulders, hands, neck, head, and legs. I did not want to take the extra half hour for a foot massage. Then I walked back to base. I resumed working on the clutch. I had been trying to topstitch the contrasting band and the needle was gumming up which made it skip stitches. So I got a bottle of alcohol and soaked a cotton ball. I had to use it every few stitches to keep the needle clean. It was annoying to proceed one stitch at a time with the handwheel, but it was the only way to insure that every stitch formed. Myra called to talk about attending a function on a ship in Busan on Sunday.

All I wanted to do was take the tour which was earlier in the day. And I did not have my heart set on that. I figured the function would be just a lot of important people standing around, eating and drinking. Then then we would stand around listening to speeches in English and Korean. Not my cup of tea. Myra was busy re-making a dress for one of the other wives who had picked up her dress from the alterations person and it was ruined. God bless Myra. I slipped the metal parts into the clutch channels and then basted and sewed the side seams. I turned it right side out. I had cut it large enough for my phone, but somehow the seams were just thick enough that the phone would not go in I had a stretchy sequin band that I used to make a handle for the clutch. Then I got out my dress to see if it went. It was ok. Using a press cloth, I ironed my dress as best I could. The hem seemed odd somehow so I did not press it. I started taking it out, thinking I might shorten it just a little. I realized that the person who shortened it did not cut off the extra – she just rolled it up several times and sewed through it. It was not a consistent 3 inches from the original hem, so I took quite a bit out. I only stopped when I realized how late it was: 9:45. I took my evening supplements. I asked Chris to watch House with me. We had time for one episode. Then I sat down to write my blog post. When I was ready to post it, my computer started glitching. While it sorted itself out, I finished today's puzzle while standing on one foot. Then I posted and went to bed.

More pumpkins

I woke up early hearing Chris get up. I heard my alarm sound but stayed in bed to do some mental programming. I got up to drink a quart of water. I took a shower, then deleted a bunch of e-mail and started reading the rest. I tapped to prepare for the skype call with my tapping buddy. We had trouble connecting because the call kept ending. But we were persistent and got through the session. It ended early with him feeling that the issue was resolved. I read e-mail for a while and ate a cooked apple while listening to an interview. Then I went to sewing class with my quilt. I called Myra from the room, and she said she’d be right over. I got out one table and worked on binding. Myra showed up but had to leave again to submit some forms. Denee came to work on her potholders. Chong wanted to make an iron caddy so I raced home to get some Insulbrite. But all I had were 2 half pieces so I had to zigzag them together. I went back and got her started. Chantel came to work on a pumpkin. Eventually Myra came back. I fixed Denee’s potholder and she went home. We stayed late for Myra to finish the pumpkin. Denee wanted me to see a dress that she wasn’t going to wear to the ball in case I might want to wear it. So Myra and I went over there. We saw that dress and several others. I tried it on. Then we all went to my place for them to see the dress I made and the one I bought in Busan. They loved the dress from Busan but did not like any of my jewelry so we all went to Myra’s place to see hers. She lent me a necklace, bracelet and earrings. She stood on her diningroom table and I pinned up the hem of her dress. We all needed clutches so we agreed to go into town. I went home to hang up my dress and get some seed crackers because I was so hungry. We walked to the fabric store and they each bought some black chiffon for wraps. Then we went to the underwear store. We found nylons and panties without lines. The lady served them coffee and me water. We wandered through some other stores looking for makeup bags that might serve as clutches. We even went to Daiso. Myra got a gray flower pin there. Then we went to the junk store, but they did not have anything we needed and we were running out of time. We walked back to the base. I was exhausted, but I made it up the hill and home before I crashed on the couch. After 10 minutes, I got up to have a bite to eat and listen to some more of the interview. Fifteen minutes later I headed to the Housing Center. Myra was just turning on the lights. MWR had dropped off a load of stuff for us: mats, a rotary cutter, two sewing machines, two thread stands, and rulers. Amber came to make another pumpkin and take fabric to make a third. Mari worked on a pumpkin, as did Jadyn and Evelin. Elizabeth cut out pumpkin shapes but did not have access to a machine to start sewing. Anna came late to hang out. Myra made sure everyone’s name made the list which we have to have for MWR to fund our activity. We packed the machines back in their boxes and put it all away. When I got home I made and ate breakfast and took my supplements. I was listening to the last part of the interview when my laptop shut itself down due to overheating. I lost all my blog notes. I also lost the interview I was listening to because the link had expired and the buffer was all that was left. And then it was gone, too. We watched two episodes of House. Chris went to bed and I stayed up to blog.

Underwhelmed

I got up a little before 8. I drank my usual quart of water and read e-mail. I learned about the benefits of drinking camel milk. But it a rather expensive proposition, coming from Europe. I listened to audios while doing the puzzles for yesterday and today. I took my vitamin C packets and ate some seed crackers. I looked for the pattern for the front of my ball gown to cut a lacy overlay piece. But I could not find it anywhere. Over and over I searched. I laid out the fabric and taped it to the floor. I put the solid front piece on it, but it was so shifty. I laid the back piece on it to get it into shape. Then I pinned around it and laid some rulers on it to keep it flat and from shifting. While I was basting the two fabrics together, Chris came home for lunch with boxes. I opened the boxes, then went back to basting and listening to audios. The speaker was recommending spelling words with different body parts as a way of retraining the brain. While Chris was there, I found the front piece – it was on the floor between the couch and the stuffed chair. I laid it on, and it corroborated how I had laid out the front piece. I started cutting it out and finished the basting. I soaked my shapewear in a bowl of warm soapy water. After it had soaked for some time, I hung it up in the bathroom to dry. I listened to an audio as I made breakfast. The speaker said improving cognition improves balance and improving balance improves cognition. She runs a class where the participants alternate balance exercises with cognitive exercises. I guess I have to do my Sudoku puzzles standing on one foot for a similar effect!
I sorted all the recyclables and put them in bags. Then I made myself go back to working on the dress. I don’t know why I kept hesitating. When the pieces were sewn together, I went looking for facing fabric. I went outside to water plants, and picked some weeds for supper. I washed them. As they drained, I ate a baked apple. I went back to working on the dress. I cut the neck facing pieces and sewed them together. Then I sewed the facing to the dress and topstitched it. Chris came home while I was topstitching. I tried it on and was underwhelmed. Everything came out just as it was supposed to, and just like all the other dresses, but it didn't look good. Chris said it needed to be narrower at the bottom. I got out a pattern for a long dress and placed the skirt pieces over my dress. I decided to take each seam in one inch. Chris made his supper. I drizzled oil on my weeds and ate them. Then I sat down to finalize my Swansons order. The new offer was for 20% off Swanson brand only products. So I deleted the others, placed the order, then looked up the deleted products on Amazon. To that, I added small toys for Halloween. Sadly I spent all evening looking at such toys and comparing reviews. Finally I submitted my order. Then I thought about glow-in-the-dark paint to make glow-in-the-dark rice for Halloween. But I could not find the non-toxic kind on Amazon. Then it was time for bed.
* Version 5 doesn't look as good as the others *