More fish and a meeting

I woke up doing math in my head. I cannot not now remember what I was figuring out. I heard Chris leave for work. I got up soon after 8, eager to sew. But, I sat down with my quart of water and read e-mail first. Then I listened to some interviews from the Autoimmune Revolution Summit while I sewed fish blocks. Chris came home for lunch. Still no box from Faye in the mail. He asked who this fish quilt is for and I told him it was for the acupuncturist. He thought that was funny. I watched quick quilt tutorials, looking for one to use for class tomorrow. But nothing quite fit the bill. Then I called Myra to see if the sewing group was scheduled to meet in the chapel tomorrow. She said she was about to go down there and check on it. I had to go there for a meeting, as a representative for the FRG. I took a clipboard with me. I put on my coat and headed out. As I passed Housing, Myra came out. She said the marines had taken over the second floor, which is where we usually meet to sew. We walked down to the chapel together. A handful of guys were there waiting for the meeting. Ms. Song showed me her calendar and said we could meet at the chapel on Wednesdays except for the 22rd of February. Myra took over for me when I had to follow the men into the meeting room. The discussion was about MWR giving NFE's space to sell at the next port call. MWR said yes, as long as we don't sell anything that MWR is selling. I took notes and tried to stay out of the discussion so I wouldn't inadvertently volunteer or get volunteered for anything. Amber had asked me to take her place and make notes. But her husband was there taking notes for his NFE, so I wasn't sure why I needed to be there. Basically the plan is to have all the groups participate in making food (TBD) to sell to sailors coming off the ship. How to split the profits was talked about, too. With my math background, I was asked to find an algorithm to work it out. At the end we agreed to meet again next week. I sincerely hoped Amber would be able to make it. I went home, typed up my notes, and e-mailed them to her. I composed a post to the community Facebook page to announce class tomorrow. Then I laid out my fish blocks on the cutting room table. I made 8 more blocks to round it out. I added some scraps of blue to fill in the sides. I laid out the extra triangle border from the first fish quilt. There wasn't enough, so I went looking for more strips. I sewed some together, but could not remember the procedure. I went to my laptop to look it up, but got sidetracked. I put on an interview and listened to it while doing Sudoku puzzles. Chris finally came home from work and made himself supper. Then we watched an episode of Legends. But it was pretty violent and I asked if we could find something else to watch. So, with a bit of searching, he came up with the Adventures of Merlin. We watched one episode and it seemed to be ok. Chris went to bed so he could get up really early for a call at the office. I stayed up to blog and then went to bed myself.

Something's fishy

By the time I got up, Chris was gone to work. I think it was after 8:30. I drank, exercised, made coffee, the usual for Monday. I put on some meditation music on Youtube. Every so often, the music stopped and an ad played. Very annoying. But, my new timer is digital and doesn't tick. I hope it lasts as long at the windup ones. I had just started the cleaning portion of my meditation Monday, when Myra called. We talked for awhile and it set me back. Chris did not come home for lunch. I went back to cleaning. Chris' bathroom was so dusty. And the kitchen sink was full of dishes. I washed them. I made and ate breakfast so I could drink a packet of herbs. I saw a star block on TQS. It was an 8 point, and I needed a 6 or 12 point. So I tried to draft one. It did not work in 6 points. I got dressed and went next door to help Dynee with her quilt, but she wasn't home. I called Myra and found out that Dynee was there. So I worked on printing something out, but they called before I finished. I went next door with my selected fabrics. The three of us came up with a plan, actually two, to use the fabric Dynee had and all the blocks and strips she had already cut. Myra drew out one of the proposed quilts. I mentioned that I had software that would do that. I took pics of her fabric so I could plug it into my program later. Dynee had just received her new sewing machine in the mail, so I packed up the one I had lent her and set up her new one. She did not have thread yet, so I left my thread and stand. Then Myra and I went home. I took my sewing machine to my sewing room. I had another machine set up, but did not have a good feel for a quarter inch on it. So I replaced it with the older one. I set out all my fish remnant blocks. I tried to match them in sets of three: two small and one large, in the same bright fabric on the same blue background. For those that I had more of the bright fabric, I cut a square to match the large block. My first attempt to sew a 4 patch with two large and two small blocks failed miserably because I had three different sizes, not two. But once I identified the problem and trimmed the offending piece down, it went ok. I went back to finding sets and trimming blocks. There were not as many sets as I wanted. For some reason, some sets were incomplete. And some bright fabrics were apparently all used up. I heard Chris come home from work, but I kept on with what I was doing. Since my new blocks were turning out to be about 4 inches, the 25 sets I came up with were only going to make about 17.5” of quilt. Even with borders, it was going to be short of my goal of 40 inches. I found an 8 inch block leftover from the original quilt block. It occurred to me to set it on point and arrange the smaller blocks around it. I was able to assemble a few more sets, still not sure how many I needed, especially if they were on point. I went ahead with sewing the sets I had. When I realized it was after 9:30, I stopped so Chris and I could watch TV. We watched one episode of Legends. Then I stretched my back, which was tight from all the trimming and sewing. I wrote up my blog post for today and went to bed, eager to start sewing again in the morning.
* These are my new blocks. The only downside is that there is a hole (unsewn seam) in the center of each one. *

Playing with fabric

I woke up in the middle of the night and had trouble getting back to sleep. Chris kept rolling over and I had to grab the sheets in order to stay covered. At some point he got up and did not come back to bed. I got up about 8:40. Chris was playing a game on his laptop. I checked e-mail and started a video. He went to the bathroom and I could hear water sloshing like plunging. He went to the kitchen for a bucket of water. I found out later that he poured it in the floor drain to clear it. I took a shower hoping that the water would not back up. I resumed my video and ate seed crackers with hummus and fermented nut cheese for breakfast. Then I drank a packet of the herbs. I got dressed for church and drove myself there. I sat with Dynee and Ryan. Princess was there and I told her our new quilt hours. She said she could make it. One of the Korean ladies was all dressed up for Lunar New Year. I meant to take her picture, but by the end of the service all I could think about was getting through the crowd to the bathroom. Actually, there were not that many people because so many were sick. But I still had to wait once I got there. Then I went outside to get my umbrella and call Chris. I told him I was coming home to change clothes, which I did. Then at noon we drove to the commissary for groceries. Then we came home for lunch. I made and ate breakfast for lunch. I read through some e-mail, hopeful at the dwindling number of unread ones. I searched high and low for remnants of the fish quilt. It was very frustrating. I selected some fabrics that might go with Dynee's quilt project and went next door. We played with the fabrics and decided some of hers really belonged by themselves. So maybe she'll make two quilts. I called Myra to get her opinion but she was busy cooking so we agreed to all meet tomorrow. I went home again and resumed searching. I looked in places I did not expect to find fabric. I finally found the fish remnants in a tub between empty tubs. I read e-mail, and finished a quilt magazine. I ate some ham that we bought at the commissary and baked all afternoon. I took a pic of a piece of fabric to run through the kaleidoscope program. I played a video called Origins on my laptop until it quit playing. I could not play any other videos either so I figured it was my computer. I rebooted it. I moved two pictures of fabric to the desktop computer and called them up one at a time into the kaleidoscope program. I played around with the angle and size of the repeated shape. I saved about a dozen of each. It helped me determine what size and angle would look the best. Then Chris and I sat down to watch the last episode of season 1 for Colony. Since nothing came up for season 2, we switched to Legends with Sean Bean. We watched two of those. Then Chris made up the bed with clean sheets while I typed up my blog post.

Fermented nut cheese

I got up, not knowing what time it was, but that it wasn't early. I drank water while reading e-mail. I read an article on the upswing of fetal deaths in pregnant women who got flu shots during the H1N1 flu season. I continued to read e-mail until I decided it was time for breakfast. I took three herbal medicine packets out of the fridge. To warm one up I usually stick it in my armpit while making the meal, but this was too cold. I asked Chris to do it for me. I made breakfast but stopped before I added the fermented coconut milk. I washed the cashews and sunflower seeds that had been soaking since yesterday. I blended them in the Magic Bullet with water and whey from the coconut milk. I left the nut cheese to ferment and finished making breakfast and ate it while looking at quilt pictures and sewing projects. I emptied the herbal packet into a glass and drank it. I clicked on the movie “Vitality” and watched it while ironing the rest of my fabrics from Japan. Then I posted the link to my Facebook page so others could enjoy it. I did some tapping.
I wanted to go walking because it was so sunny out. I called Myra to see if she wanted to go, too, but she was busy. We discussed changing our class to three hours on Wednesday afternoons only at the chapel. Then I texted Dynee to see if she wanted to walk. When I did not hear back, I got dressed, thinking to go with Chris. I can't remember what I did for the next hour. Then I put castor oil, coconut oil and shea butter in a small dish to melt. Then she texted back that she would like to go. As soon as the shea butter melted, I stirred in some turmeric, then set it down to cool. I put on my coat and went next door. She had a nice planter sitting by the step so I asked her where she got it. She told me it came from the debris of Duffy's and that there was another one. She took me to see it. Kim and her husband were walked by. They offered to help. He went to get his car and she came over. But then a police van stopped and the officer wanted to know what we were doing. Dynee told him the seabees said she could have it. He said it was larceny. I tried to call Myra to talk to Scott but there was no answer. Dynee tried to call her husband, but no answer. So we all left. Dynee and I went back to her house. Myra called me back and said the seabees did not have the authority to give away any of the debris. So I thanked her. Dynee came out and we went walking on the trail. It was tough on the really steep parts. We came around to lower housing and went up the hill behind our house and down the steps. She took my to Carolyn's house to see the new fence going up. It was really nice, as was the new deck. We probably won't get the fence but we expect they will build us decks like that. Next to Carolyn's house was a short stone structure with English names engraved on it and lots of Korean writing. It wasn't exactly like a monument or gravestone, so I wondered if the two people were buried there. Then we went home. Chris was still on his laptop, playing his game. I ate some kimchi, and ground beef. Then I sat down at my laptop for a bit before drinking another herbal packet. I did several Sudoku puzzles. Then Chris and I watched three episodes of Colony. He went to bed and soon, so shall I.
* I did not take any pictures today so here is one from the mall in Tokyo. It has a quilt-y look to it. *

Preparing the fabric

I stayed in bed late not realizing how late it was, probably because Chris did not get up for work. Apparently today is Lunar New Year and the post is observing it. I read e-mail while drinking lemon water. I read about SIRVA - Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration. In the article it mentioned the 69 doses of vaccine recommended for children and the 61 doses recommended for adults. When will this constant increase in 'avoidably unsafe' injections stop? How many can the average person take before we have a national crises?
I took a shower and got dressed. I readied my tablet for the skype call. My tapping buddy called me at 10. I did not feel like I could talk freely with Chris sitting across the table from me. But he got up and took a shower. Then she and I did some tapping together surrounding my mom's death. Chris went to work. After the call, I made and ate breakfast. I took the morning dose of the herbal medicine. Still not tasty. I read e-mail and watched a documentary called Programming the Nation. It was tough to hear because for some reason my laptop has set itself on 'whisper'. I made sure all the volume controls were set high, but it made no difference. I put on a short audio and put the laptop near the kitchen so I could listen while I made hummus. The plastic bowl of the handmixer is cracked so I taped it for reinforcement. In making the hummus, some of it leaked out, but it was still worth it. I transferred it to a glass jar, and washed the utensils.
Anna came over with kimchi. I showed her my fabrics from Japan. After she left, I cut the kimchi up into small pieces and filled my kimchi jar, but there was more. I worked several Sudoku puzzles while listening to audios. I printed out 2 pages of quilt instructions that I agreed to beta-test. I read through the instructions and made notes. Chris came home from work, then he made and ate his supper. I cut strips for the quilt. I cut off the corners on the fabric from Japan. I put 20 yards in the washing machine, then we watched an episode of Colony. Afterward, I took them out of the dryer, and put in another load of fabric. Chris got ready for the movie Assassin's Creed at the theatre. I made notes for my blog. I did some tapping explained in an article. I wrote an e-mail to the author of the quilt instructions. I put the last of the fabric in dryer. I ironed the smaller pieces dry. I checked e-mail briefly, then went back to ironing; this time the large pieces. I kept ironing even after Chris came back from the movie. I was startled to see it was almost 11. I ironed a few more pieces, then turned the iron off and sat down to post my blog.
* I didn't take any pics today so here is one from the mall in Tokyo. *

Herbal Medicine

I posted to my blog for yesterday since I was too tired to do it last night. I exercised while watching the vaccine video for day 3 again:
The CDC buys and sells over $4 billion dollars of vaccines each year. If they can't sell the vaccines, there are severe economic consequences. 60 percent of the members on the vaccine recommendation board have conflicts of interest. If a pharmaceutical company can get one of their vaccines on the vaccine schedule, it can mean a billion dollar annual profit with no liability. Protecting the public faith in the CDC has become more important than what is happening to our kids. Robert Kennedy Jr. Is suing the CDC because he wants a public debate, to bring all of this to light. But public debate is shut down because their position can't stand up to it. Vaccines are like a religion in this country. You are not allowed to question it, just take it on faith. Do what they tell you. After getting his rotovirus vaccine on the mandatory vaccine schedule, Dr. Paul Offit sold his rotovirus vaccine patent to the CDC, making an undisclosed profit.
While I listened, I dustmopped the floor. I made seed crackers and breakfast. And there was just enough time to make banana oatmeal cookies. Chris came home for lunch. By that time I was listening to the QnA for the vaccine series. It sparked a debate with Chris. He brought home an Amazon package from the post office. Still no box from my sister. I ran out of time to take a shower. I got dressed, and bundled up.
When I went outside, Dynee offered me a ride to the acupuncturist, but then realized her car was at her husband's office. So Mai offered me a ride. I thought it was to Dynee's car but then she drove us out in town. I had her drop me off at Home Plus and I walked up the street to the doctor's office. I went inside and waited for 15 minutes. Then I was put on a bed with the leg massage sleeves and a hot pack under my back. It went on for more than 15 minutes. After the nurse came to get the sleeves and the hot pack, the doctor came. He tried to communicate but did not have the right words. So I got out my phone and asked him if he had wi-fi. He signed my phone into his wi-fi and then I opened the Google Translate app. He went to town typing. He told me I was healthy and did not need supplements. I told him I was healthy because I took supplements. He said they were expensive but would not hurt me if I wanted to take them. He really liked the app. He asked what I liked about Japan and I told him it was the fabric. When he did not seem to understand, I showed him pics of my quilts on my phone. He really liked the fish quilt and wanted to buy it. I told him it was already sold but I could make him a small one that would be similar. He asked how much. Because the fish quilt sold for close to $200, and I had offered to make a quilt half as long and half as wide, I said $50. He seemed really happy. He put some needles in my stomach and behind my ear. After they came out, I went to the desk to pay. It was 18,500 for the acupuncture and 100,000 for the bag of herbal medicine. He gave me a paper with instructions on it, some of which he penned in English. I thanked him and headed to the bus stop.
When I got back to base, I went to the chapel. I went to the back room to see if our sewing stuff had been packed up correctly. But I could not see it because of all the chairs stored in there and because Ms. Song and Mr. Zumwalt were in there having a conversation. I asked Ms. Song to read the doctor's paper and she explained it to me as best she could. I thanked her and headed home, but then remembered I needed more sunflower seeds. So I went to the commissary for a bag of seeds. As I was passing by the bank, I decided to stop in and see the ladies. They asked how my trip to Japan was. I asked the head Korean cashier to look at the doctor's paper. She explained it a little differently. She wrote down her translation for me. Then I thanked them and went home. I put the medicine in the fridge as the bank lady said, but left two out for today since it should be taken shaken at room temp after a meal. I wrote my experience down in case I didn't remember later. I continued listening to the QnA as I unpacked my suitcase, and toiletries case and computer case. I laid out my new fabrics on my sewing table and took a picture. Myra called saying the classroom in Housing would be occupied for the next two months so she talked to the chapel about having sewing class there but on a different day. I hated changing the schedule but the chapel could not give us Wednesday night, so we decided on Thursday. I ate a cookie and some seed crackers. Then I shook up one of the herb packets and drank it. Blech!
I spent time looking into the trial against Dr. Andrew Wakefield who published a study of gastrointestinal disease in children with autism. What his paper said was not what the media reported. And the investigational journalist who reported on the trial for the London Times was also the person who lodged the complaint about Wakefield's paper to the GMC. The English High Court has ruled that both of the charges for which the Lancet retracted his paper were unjustified.
Chris came home from work and made himself supper. He cooked up some ground beef and stewed tomatoes for me. Later we watched two episodes of Colony. It is dark, but it is interesting, with unexpected things happening just when you think you know what's going on. Chris went back to his laptop. I wrote up my post for the day and got ready for bed.

Back to the base

Myra had set the alarm for 6 and we got up soon after. I washed up and then she did. We got dressed. I checked my e-mail. We had packed most of our stuff last night so just had to stuff a few last things in. My rolling case was so full I had to put things in my computer case. I ate the last package of natto. I put the cookies and seed crackers and chocolate in with the computer. We put the luggage tags on Then we carried our bags to the elevator and went to the front desk to turn in our room cards. Then we put on our coats and went outside to the street to catch the airport limousine bus. The man checked the tags and loaded the bags under the bus. We sat in the front seat, discussing the possible routes. The bus stopped at all the same hotels on the way back so the trip was just as long as on the way to the hotel: 2 hours. Myra read and I tried to sleep. We got off at terminal 1, South gate, where the Korean Air sign was. We looked around for the check-in desk. When we checked in, I asked if there was a weight limit for carry-ons and she said yes – 12 pounds. She weighed my bag at 13.3 pounds so I had to leave it to be loaded under the plane. We had just over three hours til flight time so we walked through the stores in the airport, looking at souvenirs and such. I used up the last of my yen (all but 8) buying a little randomly cool something for Michele. If it had come in Hello Kitty form, I would have gotten one for Kelly. Then we hit the restrooms and went through Security. My line took so long that Myra thought I must have gone on ahead. She went down to Immigration looking for me. I looked for her upstairs then figured she must have gone on ahead, and when I got to Immigration she found me. We went through the line together, and then found our gate, stopping to buy a bottle of water. I drank the whole thing because I was getting a headache. I set up my laptop and called up the limited time bonus video that vaccine series posted. I listed to that while eating the rest of the seed crackers and all but two of the cookies. When people lined up to board the plane, I put my laptop away and we got in line and boarded the plane. We filled out the custom and immigration forms while waiting for take-off. There was no movie screen on the seatback. Screens dropped from the ceiling every couple yards. First they played a really long clip on airplane safety. Then they showed stuff from a PGA championship. I did some tapping and Myra read her book. I sucked on a piece of chocolate to help my ears adjust on the way up but survived without it on the way down. Actually, we descended pretty fast. I braced for impact, but at the last second we leveled out and touched down normally. We taxied near the terminal and had to wait for a long long walkway to meet the plane. Then we gathered our stuff and walked into the airport, following the crowd toward Customs. Myra did not want to rush but I was used to it having traveled with Chris. So she went to the restroom while I went ahead to Immigration. I got in a short line and had to show my passport and fingerprints. Then I went to baggage claim. I guess since we checked in so early, my bag was one of the first to go on the plane which made it one of the last to come off. Finally I spotted it and grabbed it. Then I met Myra on the other side of the room and we walked through Customs who collected the form, and into the airport lobby. Mr. Pak was waiting for us. We followed him into the parking deck and up to the top to his car. He loaded the bags and we got inside, where it was much warmer than outside. As he drove us back to base, I handed him the last two cookies. I also called Chris to tell him we were on our way home. Chris said he would be home late. When we got to Chinhae, I made a special effort to spot the door of the Foot Shop. It was locked up. Sadly it seems they are closed down. When we got on base, Myra had the driver stop at the ATM so she could get him cash for the trip. He dropped her off at home and then took me home. I thanked him and rolled my bag of fabric inside. I put my stuff down and found something to eat. I played the rest of the video from the vaccine safely series. They talked about how Merck doesn't tell people the whole story about Gardasil: It has only been tested for efficacy for a 5 year period. And it only protects against certain strains. Women who get the vaccine think they are protected for life and many stop getting pap smears. The lady researcher also said Cervarix offers much better protection. I e-mailed Anna to find out how class went earlier today. Then I called Myra to catch her up. I got absorbed in checking e-mail and then Chris came home. He made himself supper. I found us something to watch on Netflix. None of the suggestions I had e-mailed to myself were available for streaming. We started watching the first episode of The QA but we just couldn't get into the story. So we went back to Colony and picked up where we had left off. We watched one episode and I was falling asleep, so we just went to bed – no blogging. We didn't exactly go to sleep right away, but when I did sleep, I slept all night and woke up hearing Chris take his morning shower. After he left, I did a little tapping to get myself out of bed. I filled up my water pitchers and made a quart of lemon water. I drank it while typing up my blog for yesterday. Then when I was ready to post, I realized my browser windows had crashed. So I saved my post and crossed my fingers for reboot.
* It seems this is the only picture I took during our travel home. *

I have a yen for buying fabric in Nippori

I woke up about 7, needing to go to the restroom. I had not woken up at all during the night so I must have slept well. I got up when my alarm went off at 7:30. I don't know why it was so quiet. The sound is turned all the way up. I took my shower and swallowed a packet of vitamin C. For breakfast I ate oatmeal cookies and seed crackers and natto. I drank some water with my supplements, then filled my water bottle for the day. I enabled the GPS on my tablet so we could track our travel. It crashed and I had to restart it. I put in the hotel as our home and it showed an overland route to Nippori (Textile Town). I deleted a round of e-mail and looked at a few. Then we headed to the front desk. We asked how to get to Nippori and she showed us which subway to take and where to connect to the train to get there. We also asked about riding the limousine bus to the airport tomorrow. She said we had to catch the 7:30 bus to be there 2 hours before our flight leaves. I suspect we will be there 3 hours or more ahead, but the next bus won't leave until 10. Then we walked to the same subway station as last time. Myra bought us 24 hour passes. We got on the Hibaya line and rode to H17. We got out at Ueno and looked for the JR line, which is an overland train. Their ticket machines take coins, so we used our coins from the subway. FYI, anything less than $10 here is a coin, not a paper bill. We stopped at the restroom, then navigated our way to the proper platform. The train arrived presently and we rode it two stops to Nippori. Then we were a little lost. There was a sign board for Tomato Fabric Shop at the platform so I took a pic of it. We found our way towards the exits. Then a map board showed us that the east exit was closest to the textile street. I should have taken a pic of it. When we got out of the station, we had no idea of where to go. We showed the pic of the fabric sign at various places to get directions. And then, there we were, walking down a street lined with fabric shops, ribbon shops, leather shops, etc. It would have been heaven if the weather hadn't been so cold. We looked at all kinds of fabric. Some places specialized in lace or wool, but the Tomato place was several buildings, some 5 stories high. Any fabric you could think of was there. Myra did not buy much but I indulged myself. We continued on down the street. We stopped to look at the map and decided to find something called Cotton Matsui. But on the way we stopped at a department store to get warm. I bought another pair of socks to add to the ones I was wearing. There was a 100 yen section ($1 store), and we bought stuff we wouldn't have otherwise. I bought Chris an earwarmer (which I later wore). I also got two solar lights there. Then we paid for our items and sat in the coffee section while I put the new socks over my old socks. We decided to go back. We saw the stores on other side of the street. We went back to the first store that had Asian prints and bought more. They were so beautiful. The shop owner seemed a little testy. I am not sure what he did not like about us. Maybe he wanted to close early. Anyway, that was the end of our fabric spree. We found our way back to the train station. We bought return tickets, then found a place to sit near a bunch of concession stands. One had pictures of kimbap in front so I went there. But the lady explained to me that it was not available today, or so it seemed to me. I went to another stand and bought something on a stick. It tasted like fish. Myra got coffee and a baked good. We ate, then found our way to the appropriate platform. The train had just arrived and we were the last people to jump on. We stood for the two stops it took to get to Ueno. Then we used our day passes to get on the Hibaya line. After a stop or two, we found seats for the rest of the ride. When we got off, we headed to exit one. Myra noticed a young Korean woman whose card beeped as she came into the station, indicating that she did not have enough money on her card to make the fare. Myra gave her her daypass. So I handed mine over too; we weren't going to use them again. Going out exit one made walking back easier. When we got to the hotel, we poked our heads in at the Sunrise Cafe to see what was on the menu for tonight. Then we went to our room. We dropped all our stuff. We added to our list of who owes who what to keep track for splitting the bills later. I checked e-mail quickly. I saw that Anna had posted about sewing tomorrow, which I was going to do. So I messaged her to find out the plan. Then I e-mailed my list of ladies who are not on e-mail and might want to come to sewing class. Then Myra and I went downstairs to the cafe. She wanted to stop at the gift shop but it had just closed. (The Nex and the gift shop open late and close early so we never got to see either one) We went to the cafe and were seated at a table with menus. Then the waiter came by to answer questions and take our order. I just wanted a bowl of soup and a little something else. But the soup and any other (healthy) items was more than the soup and salad bar, so I ordered that. Myra got that, too, with a side of fries. So I got a bowl of soup and discovered that it was very hot. Then I went back for salad. That was quite enough. I wanted to go back, but my stomach said no. The waiter wanted to take Myra's soup away, but she said no since it had finally cooled down enough to eat. Then he brought the dessert tray. Myra was tempted into getting a piece of stawberry shortcake. She put both our meals on her card because I was hesitating over how to fill out the ticket. Then we went back to our room. I read some e-mail, then started typing my blog post. Myra talked to her husband on the phone. I am not sure how she could use her phone but I could not. She packed and took a shower while I kept typing. Then I had to post so I could pack and go to bed.

Quilts, quilts everywhere

Last night Myra decided to open the sleeper sofa so I had the bed to myself. I had trouble falling asleep. I put on the mp3 headphones and I think that helped. I think she got up once during the night. I got up at 6:15 to use the bathroom and then could not go back to sleep. The hair dryer had a night light on it (?) so the room was not as dark as I like it. Eventually I could tell we were both awake so we got up and washed, and ate and got ready for the quilt show. I checked my e-mail to see if Chris had responded. I had to sign in with the hotel password again so I typed it into the open file that I use to prepare my blog. Then I copy-pasted it into the sign-in screen. I deleted a lot of e-mail. I saw that Netflix was suspended, awaiting updated payment info. I looked up the hours of the Tokyo Dome. I saw that next week they are having a Tableware festival. That sounds as boring to me as a quilt festival probably sounds to non-quilters.
I am not sure what time we left the room. At the front desk, we asked how to find the subway station. She marked it on our map. Then we braved the cold weather to walk there. We looked at the ticket machines and figured out how to get instructions in English. But not how to use a credit card. We asked the stationmaster how to buy tickets. We showed him our map and where we wanted to go. He indicated the machine and told us the cost was 200 Yen. So we still did not know how to use a credit card. But knowing we wanted $2 tickets helped. I put a 1000 yen note in and we got our two tickets. We put them in the turnstyle and they popped out the other side. So we held onto them for the line change. The train arrived shortly. We got on and rode the gray line to the red line, M15. We had trouble finding the connecting train platform. We asked several people and finally put our tickets into the turnstyles, thinking it was the right place to go. But we were in the wrong place. The stationmaster let us back into the station and told us where to go. But we ended up right back at the same place. On our next try, we got to the right platform but did not know it right away. We got on the next train and rode it to the M22 station. From there, we went down to the exit. From there we could see the Tokyo Dome. We had to walk across to it and then around to the front entrance. There were two guard searching purses and bags. It gave us the impression that we were not in the right place, but we got in line and found ourselves at the quilt show. The arena stretched out before us. We proceeded down to the main floor. It had only been open for 15 minutes so it wasn't crowded. We were expecting crowds for the display, so we went to wander among the vendors first. It got crowded there too. We saw lots of retro fabrics, and wools, and indigoes, and Kaffe Fasset. Even though the prices were high, I bought some yellows and reds that I thought would work in current projects. When the vendor area got crowded, we turned to the displays. We tried to follow a pattern to make sure we saw everything, but it wasn't set up for that. We saw antique quilts, group quilts, modern quilts, quilts that we weren't sure should be called quilts. Then we looked for water for Myra and did not find any for sale. My legs were starting to ache, so we looked for a place to sit. We walked up into the stands where it wasn't roped off. I ate seed crackers and cookies that I brought with me.

I drank my bottle of water. We could not find any place selling water, so she bought a juice box which looked like it had green tea. It did not taste quite like tea. And she had a Cliff bar. When we had eaten and rested, we continued walking up because foot traffic was tightly controlled and everyone in that lane had to walk up. But it was good since we found restrooms up there. After using the restroom, we came down another lane to the main floor. We finished the display parts that we hadn't seen yet. There was a huge Wizard of Oz exhibit. It included a bunch of quilts made with Kaffe Fasset fabrics. Then we finished viewing the vendor booths. We came across pretty fabrics and kimonos. Mostly we resisted, but Myra got some packets of small coordinating fabrics. It was after 5 when we decided to leave. We walked up to the top where we came in. We went to the right to see if anyone was selling water. No, but we found a restroom. Apparently we could not leave the way we came in, so we kept going to the right. At the official exit, there was a booth selling foot massagers, or at least that was what they appeared to be. We sat down and the man had us put our unclad feet on either side. He turned them on and it felt really good. He handed us the brochure which showed how to use it on almost any part of the body. But the bottom line was the $900 price tag. He showed us how to use it on our calves. It was just what we needed after walking around all day. We thanked him and headed out. It was freezing out, or at least felt like it. We found our way back to the subway and bought tickets to go to the hotel. Once we found the right platform, it was easy. I was worried out the transfer point. But we were able to navigate it. By 6 we were back at the original subway station. Getting out was harder than we thought. But we made it. It was so cold when we got to the street. We stopped at a 7-eleven for water. I got some natto packets. We looked for coconut water but did not see anything that looked like it. Then we walked back to the hotel. We went to our room to dump our stuff. I ate one packet of natto. Then we took the elevator to the second floor to a place called Hero's. She got cheese bread and I ordered a bowl of soup. I saved the plastic spoon for future packets of natto. Back at our room, we changed into our bathing suits. We went to the pool area but saw that the hot tub was full of males. So we started with the sauna. Myra tried to read but the light wasn't good enough. And we got too hot. So we went back to the pool area. The men and boys were still there, but we got in anyway. It felt so good. Soon the men got out and the boys followed them. Myra and I stayed in, having a good chat. Then one man came back with a boy and a girl. We talked to him for quite a while. No, he wasn't here for the quilt show. We left around 9. We went back to the sauna to dry off our suits, but did not stay that long. Then we took off our suits and got dressed. Myra tried putting our suits in the spin dryer but it did not make much difference. Then we went back to our hotel room. I got a bucket of ice. We enjoyed the ice water very much. Myra took a shower while I downloaded my pics and wrote to my blog. She watched TV for a bit then read her book. I kept typing, hoping I wasn't keeping her up. When I finished, I posted to my blog, ready for bed.

From Korea to Japan

I had a hard time getting to sleep due to anxiety. I did a bunch of tapping. Finally I fell asleep. I woke a little before Chris' alarm went off at 3:45. I resisted getting up, but there was no way to get around it. Chris got up and made coffee. I took a shower, and got dressed. I packed up my laptop and put snacks in the outer pocket of the case. Myra called me from the taxi to say they were parked out front. I put on my coat and shoes. Chris helped me carry my laptop and carry-on out to the car. I sat in the back with Myra. We told the driver when to pick us up on Wednesday. As he drove us almost an hour to the airport, I handed him cookies; probably the ones with turmeric. I could not see in the dark. But he didn't seem to mind. He let us out in front of Gimhae airport. I paid him 60,000 won. Then we went inside to find the check-in counter. We got our boarding passes. Then we found the restroom. From there, we went through the departure gate to security. We had no problems. Then we found our gate. We chatted as we waited, watching a young mother change her baby on the floor by the gate: too many kids and luggage to use the restroom. Then they called for boarding. We scrambled to get in line. We ran through the connecting tube to the plane and found our seats beside a Korean woman who had the aisle seat. The flight was short. As soon as we achieved altitude, the flight crew dispensed drinks. As soon as the drink cart passed me, I got up and went to the bathroom at the front of the plane. But it was occupied. I waited and waited. Finally the stewardess came back and encouraged me to go to the back of the plane. The drink cart was just finishing up, so I went back. Then I resumed my seat and soon we were descending into Incheon. There was snow and ice on the ground. We landed late and had to wait for our gate to open. So we were late getting off the plane and had to run to get to our connecting flight. There was a long line already in progress and we fell in. Soon we were on the plane, near the back in row 53. The stewardess put my suitcase up in the overhead bin. After we took off, I started eating cookies and seed crackers to help my ears equalize pressure. Soon after leveling off, I flipped through the movie menu. I chose one in English: Complete Unknown. It seemed interesting but I could not hear it well enough to really get it. Then the flight crew started bringing meals. The only choice was take it or leave it. I ate the beef and rice, and the piece of pineapple, and the radish kimchi. But I did not eat the tofu because Myra tried hers and did not like it. I tried to finish the movie, but it automatically paused during each announcement, and each one was given three times: in Japanese, Korean, and English. The plane landed before the movie was over. I resolved to watch it on Netflix. We stood and waited for the crowd to move. When we exited the plane, we had to go through customs. The line was huge, but it moved well. They were very organized. We then proceeded through baggage claim to the last checkpoint and into the airport lobby. We hit the restroom again. Then we looked for the limousine service desk. It was about 12:15 and the next limousine bus to the hotel was scheduled for 2:30. We did not want to wait, but taxis were expensive and taking the train or subway would leave us having to find our way from the last station. So we sat outside by the flowers and waterwheel in front of the airport. Myra read her book and I read my tablet. Then she went down the subway steps and got a map. We perused it together, unable to locate the Tokyo Dome. I thought it would be a major landmark, but apparently not. We went inside and looked for maps. But they were not much help either. Then we went outside to the place where the bus would come. A lady ticketed our carry-ons. When the bus arrived, the driver put the luggage under the bus. We got on and found seats near the back. As the bus drove away, they announced that we would be going to the New Sanno (smile)...after stopping at six other hotels (frown). On the way to Tokyo we both fell asleep. We woke up near the first stop, and watched the scenery after that. I noticed that the cars drove on the left. And Myra noticed that there were a lot of high-ticket cars. Finally it pulled up in front of the New Sanno. We showed our IDs to get in. Myra checked in at the front desk while I went to the travel desk to get directions to the Tokyo Dome. Then we went upstairs to our room. We freshened up and then went out again. We walked around the area to see what was nearby. We walked through a grocery store in a mall. There were no mall pamplets. Across the street, we found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. We both ordered pork; mine boiled and hers roasted. Both were mostly fat. We ate what we wanted out of what was served. We went back to the mall and explored upstairs. Then we walked back to the hotel. We took some pics in front of the hotel. We looked for the NEX to buy coconut water, but it was closed. There was another store, and it had San Pellegrino in small bottles. I bought one. Then we investigated the pool, hot tub, and sauna. Then we returned to our room. I got on my laptop and she read e-mail on her phone, then turned on the TV. I e-mailed Chris that we were in our hotel room. I typed up my blog as we watched bizarre physical conditions get operations. Routinely the electricity cut out and Myra would get up, activating some motion sensor somewhere. It was very annoying because the TV would reset and she would have to find the channel again. I e-mailed pics from my phone to my laptop but they never arrived. So I had to connect my phone by cord and wait, and wait, and wait for all the pics to download so I can copy the ones I want. This never happened with earlier versions of Windows. When the post was written, I published it so we could prepare for bed.

Getting ready and going bananas

I woke up early and could not go back to sleep. I heard Chris' alarm go off at 7. After awhile he got up. I still tried to go back to sleep but could not. So finally I got up. I drank half a quart of water and then he wanted to go back to bed. Afterward, he took a shower, then started the laundry. He went to work while I drank water and deleted e-mail. I listened to interviews from The Vitamin Movie while I looked up power saving options so I can use my laptop on battery in the airport. I could not find a way to turn off the keyboard backlight. I looked up the multi-C protocol recommended by one speaker. I downloaded a tutorial to make fuzzy slippers. It may be a class project one day. I worked on a Sudoku puzzle. I kept the laundry process going. I made and ate breakfast. I looked up more stats related to vaccine safety and reliability. Did you know that one study found a correlation between increasing number of vaccines given to infants and increasing infant mortality rates over 34 countries? Chris came home, and figured out how to turn off the lighted keyboard on my laptop. He sent me a link to Trump's inaugural speech on Youtube. I listened to what he had to say. It sounded great, just wish it could be true. Then I went outside to water the tomatoes. I started a loaf of bread for Chris. He went to the commissary for eggs and other groceries. I put a banana in the mixer with oatmeal. I mixed that, then added nuts, seeds, various breakfast ingredients etc. I put in coconut butter for a little extra sweetness. When Chris came home with the eggs, I added one to the mix. I formed cookies on parchment paper and put them in the oven, then ate the last of the pork and went back to e-mail. I had to close many of the open windows to the research articles because I was afraid my browser would crash. Then it was time to take the cookies out. I looked something up in my blog and discovered that yesterday's post did not publish. So I published it. Then I found the info I wanted in order to answer an e-mail. I listened to an audio while I folded laundry and put it away. I packed the charged up tablet and mp3 headphones into my laptop case. I chose something to watch on Netflix, then paused it until Chris was ready. I put one leg at a time in the bathroom sink and shaved my calves. Then we watched two episodes of The Colony. It was a little dark and secretive, but it would take hours to find the perfect thing to watch. It wasn't yet 10, but since I had to get up early, I decided to blog and go to bed.
* pic fro Hamamoto Fruit World *

So many articles, so little time

Since I did my drinking right after the movie last night, which was hours before I went to bed, I did not get up in the middle of the night. So I slept pretty well. I heard Chris leave for work, then stirred up my courage to get out of a warm bed in a cool room. When I looked out the front door, I saw that the temp was just above freezing. When I looked out the kitchen window, I could see it snowing. Myra and I messaged back and forth about our plane trip so we could schedule a taxi for 4:30 am.
Then I had to quit texting in order to get ready for my skype chat with my tapping buddy. We did it over my tablet which worked well. After the call, I made and ate breakfast. I saw that my post on vaccine injury was getting attention so I replied to the replies. I called Myra and we went to the bank. She walked to Security to get her car while I got dollars to trade. Then she drove us to NH Bank in town. I got a number to wait while she parked her car. She came back and sat with me until my number was called. I handed over the cash and asked for yen. The lady did her best to explain that she had to convert it to won first, and then to yen. I wasn't sure it was in my best financial interest, but it probably didn't make more than a few cents difference. So she did. She gave me a round figure of yen and paid the small difference in Korean coin. I guess she only had paper yen and not the coins. Then from the bank we went into the market where I bought cashews. The price was the same as in the five day market, but the bag was smaller. Then we walked back to her car. I paid the parking attendant and Myra drove us back to base. We went to Security to get the plane tickets but they were having a meeting. So she took me home. I read e-mail and looked up more info for the vaccine conversation. Then Dynee came home. I went over there to talk about the next sewing class. She showed me her fabric and asked how to proceed while Myra and I were gone. I brought her over to my house to look at gray fabrics that might work for her inner border. I also lent her a mat, square ruler and rotary cutter. Then I packed up my machine and went to her house to set it up so she could sew while I am in Japan. Afterward I came home and found more replies to my replies, so I replied again. Then I turned my attention to packing. I kept loosing my packing sheet. I gathered items into my rolling case and make-up bag. Then I sat down to write a list of items I want with me: which kind of purse I want to have with me on the plane and at the show. I had to choose one. Chris came home from work late. He tried to help me think it through but overdid it. He made himself supper while I finished packing. I sat down to read more of the comments and to find articles to support my concerns about the ingredients in vaccines. But the comment thread was so long and involved that I lost the gist of the conversation. When I realized how late it was, I posted to my blog, put my laptop to sleep (if only that would work on me), and went to bed.
* This is a fruit juice stand in Guam *

FRG meeting

It was some time after 8 when I got up. I oiled my hair. I drank water and read e-mail. I made and ate breakfast. I worked several Sudoku puzzles, but then got stuck. I researched krill oil brands and sunflower seeds to put an Amazon order together. Chris came home for a late lunch. I was listening to the last day of “Vaccines Revealed”. We had an argument about the information presented. But he stayed for a long time explaining his point of view. Finally he went back to work. It was too late to go for a massage. I did not have an appointment anyway since it was closed last week. I took a shower and washed my hair but did not get all the oil out. I wanted to go to the bank but my hair was still wet. I called Myra to find out our plane schedule so we could contact the taxi man. We talked so long that the bank was closed. Amber had posted this morning that she was having an FRG meeting this evening. I texted Dynee to see if she wanted to walk with me when the time came. Then I made cookies with a banana, egg, oatmeal, coconut flakes, walnuts, cranberries, butter and sunflower seeds. I put them on parchment paper on a baking sheet in the oven. But after 15 minutes they were not done. I added 5 minutes, then turned them over and added 7 more. I still wasn't sure they were done all the way through, so I turned off the oven and left them in. Dynee was knocking at my door. I put on my coat and shoes and went outside. Just then, Carolyn was passing by and offered us a ride. We accepted. We parked by the school and walked to the chapel. Only Maria and Amber were there. Soon Myra came, and then Anna, then Ryan, then Kathy – although by then the meeting was well underway. Amber had everything she wanted to talk about listed on the board. I have tried to convince her to let me be chairman but evidently she doesn't know what that means. With no notice, I could not lead the meeting. She led the meeting herself. But when it came to fundraising, Ryan came up with the idea of having a tent with MWR in Busan. Since Amber will be absent for weeks before, he suggested that she have a committee to work on it and make decisions on behalf of the FRG. She indicated me because I am the 'chairperson'. I don't know that I am a good candidate because I am the one person who wasn't gushing over the chance to raise money, rather wondering who in Chinhae would be willing to spend their whole day in Busan selling from a tent in cold weather. But there were other hurdles to be overcome before it would even be an issue. After the meeting, we sat around talking. I asked Dynee about getting yen for the trip and using our Korean phones. Then she and Ryan gave me a ride home. I grabbed two cookies from the oven and brought them next door since Dynee wanted to try them. I put the rest in a bag in the fridge. I peeled and ate more of the root vegetable. I jotted a short to-do list for tomorrow. I read e-mail and listened to some ASMR videos on Youtube. I has hoping they would induce sleep. I was about to do some tapping when Chris came home from work. He asked me to select something to watch from Netflix. I picked “From Time to Time”. He made himself supper and ate it while we watched the movie. It started slow but was pretty good after all. Then his phone timer sounded. He rushed out to work for a special phone call. I took my evening dose of magnesium and melatonin. I wrote up my blog post for the day. I finished the Sudoku puzzle from this morning. I did Brad's latest tapping video. Then it was time to post my blog and go to bed.
* one of the little stores in Chamorro village in Guam. *

Female bonding

Chris woke me at 7am so I could put the recyclables together. But that did not happen right away. When I did get them together, I put the bags by the front door for Chris to take out on his way to work. I went back to bed, hoping for one more dream cycle, but it didn't happen. Soon after 8, I got up to drink water and check e-mail. I looked up links between mercury and autism. I came across only one study that said there was no link. There were multiple studies that said that kids with ASD had higher levels of mercury than kids without, and that chelating to reduce their mercury level resulted in a reduction of ASD symptoms.
I did my exercises. I called Myra for some reason. Then I skyped with Kurt. I made and ate breakfast, then got dressed for sewing class. When I got there, Dynee was waiting. She had her fabrics. Myra showed up and they went somewhere together. Suzanne came with her three kids. The boys wanted to make handwarmers. Mai made a re-usable swiffer refill. Anna helped the boys cut fabric. Myra helped Dynee pick a quilt pattern from a book and start cutting her fabric. We discussed how our space would be taken for the entire month of February. MWR offered to move our stuff to the third floor of the FFTC for a month.
We all left around 1. I followed Myra home. We kibitzed for awhile, catching up. She ordered quilt show tickets online. She put pics of the tickets on her phone, and sent the e-mail to me to print out on paper. She gave me a nice earring and necklace set. Then I went home so she could go to the commissary. I checked e-mail, and tried to print the tickets, but the QR code did not print. Then I watched "Trace Amounts", a documentary about the health effects of mercury, whether in vaccines, fish, air pollution, dental fillings, light bulbs, etc. I had a bite of supper, including the odd root vegetable that Janelle gave me before Christmas. I cut off a chunk, removed the peel, and ate it. Then I bundled up and went to the evening sewing class. Jadyn was waiting outside. I opened the building, and we went in. Amber was not far behind. She and I talked for a bit. I gave her a bag of little toys for her son's birthday. Then I helped Jadyn get started reinforcing seams on a shirt. Myra showed up, as did Dynee and they went back to work on the quilt. Anna came back, too. I got everyone to sign in. Jadyn made a handwarmer. Tammy came late and made a stuffed bird. Amber got Myra to make her an apron. Jadyn went home. At 8:30 I started packing up. The others finished up and pitched in. I walked out with Dynee and Tammy to go home. Chris was home. I heated up some bone broth. I told Chris I could not print the tickets. He suggested it was because that part was in black ink and all we had left was colored ink. Ah! I jotted some notes for my blog and then we watched “The Abominable Bride”: a Sherlock Holmes video on Netflix. Nevermind that we tried to watch it last night and Netflix told us it was only available on DVD. Afterward, Chris went to bed and I stayed up to blog.
* I noticed our orchid is blooming. And right next to a cold window. &

Needled again

I got up at 7 when Chris' alarm went off. He was already up. I drank my quart of water and checked e-mail. Someone on Quora asked what was the dark side of living in South Korea. Normally I don't read Quora because it makes time disappear, but today I could not resist and soon it was 8 and Chris was leaving for work. I took a shower and got dressed to wait for Myra's phone call. Kurt skyped me to show me his new shelves. We talked until Myra called and said she was coming to pick me up. I put on my shoes and got my acupuncture stuff. I watered the tomatoes outside for 1 minute, and then Myra and Anna were here. I jumped in the car and we went to Turtle Cove to meet Susan. We sat around a table. The others ordered the buffet. All I got was tea. At $1.75, that was an expensive bag of Lipton. The chitchat went on and on. I kept checking the clock. It was 11:20 when we got up.
Myra took Anna home and Susan dropped me off at the bus stop right outside of post. I checked the bus display, and it said the next bus would leave the station at 12:37. My appt was at 12:30 so I could not wait. Therefore, I walked. I am guessing it was almost 2 miles. But nearing Home Plus, I checked my watch thinking it should be around noon, but my watch read 1. I called Myra to see if we left later than I thought. I guess we did. Maybe the clocks at Turtle Cove were wrong. I wondered why people came in for lunch so early.
Anyway, I arrived at the doctor's office out of breath. I was given a bed, but no leg massage. The doctor poked his head in almost immediately, but seeing me out of breath, decided to come back in 15 minutes. When he did come back, he invited me into his office. He left me sitting on the bed for a bit then came back. He had me face the wall and stretched each of my arms overhead. He stuck needles in the back of my neck, but not for long. He asked if one leg was tight. He stuck needles in my butt, again not for long. One of them hurt like the dickens. Then he put needles in my stomach, and read over my questionnaire. He told me he would mix up some herbs for me to pick up tomorrow or Thursday. Since tomorrow is the 5 day market, that would work nicely. But when I mentioned going to Japan, he said I needed a special form to bring the herbs with me on the plane. I did not want to deal with that, so I said I would pick up the herbs next week. He told me to do stretches on my left side only. Then he went to lunch. I left and went across the street to the right to get kimbap. The lady made it fresh. Dr said it did not have MSG. I walked to the bus stop and ate while waiting, picking out the colored radish pieces. I got on the bus and finished my kimbap. Then I waited for my stop.
From the stop, I walked home. I ran into Dynee, so she invited me in and we had a nice chat. She helped me download a better translation app, and showed me the fabric she bought in Seoul. Then I left and brought the food waste container inside. I listened to day 7 of Vaccines Revealed. I made up a batch of seed crackers and cleared e-mail while they were baking. I posted the re-usable swiffer pad to the community facebook page as the latest sewing project. I continued with e-mail for a bit, then switched my attention to the Sudoku book I got for Christmas.
Chris came home really late from work. He made himself supper while I continued to work Sudoku puzzles. I checked for new e-mail, then made myself a salad. I found a movie to watch called “The Giver”. Chris said he had seen it in Honduras, but he watched it with me. It was a fantasy piece about a distopia. Then he went to bed. I stayed up to drink water with vinegar, and tap before blogging and going to bed.

* Houseplants grown wild in Guam *

Tomatoes in January

I was awake when Chris got up. But I stayed in bed until I fell asleep and had one more dream cycle. By then it was 9:30. Chris was still here, but he took a shower and got dressed while I heated water and swished. He went to work, leaving me to have my coffee morning. I put on day 5 of Vaccines Revealed. I listened to it as best I could while exercising, drybrushing, rebounding, tapping, cleaning, etc. Sadly, almost everything seems to interfere with my ability to make out the words. Especially the fridge. By the time the day 5 episode was over, the day 6 episode was loaded. So I listened to that one as well. There was a whole expose on the anthrax vaccine mandated to military people, and what happened to those who refused to get all six doses after reacting to the first ones. One speaker talked about how the safety reporting confused absolute risk with relative risk; how the elderly are more likely to be unvaccinated for the flu and more likely to die (of anything) so it skews the numbers of vaccinated vs unvaccinated people who died in any particular flu season; and that people seldom die of influenza itself but of pneumonia. Also, where once we thought of all bacteria as bad, but it turns out there are beneficial ones that are critical, the same can be said of viruses. By wiping out any particular virus, do we really know the ramifications of that? Someone also made the point that vaccinated people think they are protected so they don't take as many precautions of their health. I posted a link to my Facebook page. I made and ate breakfast, adding ground broccoli seeds to the mix. Then I mended Chris' pocket and a towel that was fraying. I put away stacks of fabric in my sewing room. I made a swiffer refill from flannel. I washed it in the sink and wrung it out, then put it in the dryer to fluff up. I folded my laundry and put it away. Chris came home from work. He put the sheets in the washer. He made himself supper. He heated up some pork for me. I added sprouts and fermented soybeans. I also ate one of my tomatoes that just ripened on the window sill. I listened to a one hour tapping talk for weight loss. I looked at sewing projects online. I called Myra to ask about meeting Susan tomorrow. She said she'd get back to me. She also said we had plane tickets to Japan for next week. While I waited, I read e-mail. I looked up ways to get from the Narita airport to the New Sanno hotel. Chris and I put on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. When Chris paused it to check the dryer, I checked my phone and saw that I had missed a call from Myra. I called her back and she said she hadn't heard anything and was going to bed. Chris and I finished the rest of the movie. He enjoyed it, but for me it was 2 hours of not knowing what was going on. Afterward, I asked him a million questions and he tried his best to answer. Then he took the sheets out of the dryer and dressed the bed. I wrote my blog post and followed him.
* It doesn't quite match the picture on the tutorial. *

Questioning my constitution

We got up about 9:25, not realizing how late it was. I checked the temperature and it was below freezing. As I drank water and checked e-mail, I saw that Bank of America flagged three transactions from yesterday. I did not recognize them. Chris called them to report our card being used without our permission. When it was handled, it was almost 10. I did not feel like rushing to get ready for church or going out in the cold. I continued with e-mail. I started a 2 ½ hour audio on sulforaphane. I made and ate breakfast, then did some yoga stretches. I paused it at 2:14 because Chris said we had to get ready for the movie. I washed up and got dressed. Then I called Chong to see if she was coming on base tomorrow and could she help me read the sasange questionnaire? But she was leaving town. So I asked if I could send the pics by phone and she said yes. I took pics of the pages with my phone and attached them to a message. Then we drove to the theater. We stood in line to get tickets to Rogue One. The CO was behind us in line. I talked about busing the kids to Busan because the school is closing and he said they were not doing that. So I wondered how I got that wrong. Then we went in to the auditorium and sat down for the movie. It was interesting, but we were so close to the screen. After the movie, we went to the commissary. Myra was just leaving so we talked for a bit. Then I helped Chris shop for a few last things. I met a new lady named Mary who would like to come to the quilting class. We also talked to the commissary manager who said the person selected to replace her declined because of the school situation. Finally we paid and took our groceries home. I ate a few strawberries with the nuts I covered in boiling water this morning. Then I finished listening to the audio from earlier. I learned that broccoli seeds have even more sulforphane than the sprouts, but you have to grind them up. I added Mary's contact info to my sewing class list. I read e-mail. Chong messaged me that she could not open the pages I texted her. So I sent just one. She could not open it. I re-sent it by Kakao and that worked. She called me and read the page to me so I could mark my answers. Then I sent her the other three pages. She read them to me also and I marked the answers as well as I could based on my understanding of what she said. I thanked her a lot. Then I saw that Chris had heated the pork in the oven. So I had some and added fermented soybeans and sprouts. Then I made a salad. One of the e-mails I opened had a video in it that I could not open on the new laptop. The flash player kept crashing. So I called it up on the old laptop under Windows 7 and had no problem. I looked up the actors in Rogue One. I cleaned up the fabric in the living room and cutting room. I tried to put my sewing room back in order. I mused that the purpose of the questionnaire was to determine which constitution I am. I looked up all four. It was hard to decide. Probably not phlegmatic. Probably Choleric or Melancholic. Having done my best, I decided it was time to go to bed.
* This is the finished baby quilt. Not very practical, is it? *

Bernie's Baby Shower

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

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

Another day of stitching

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

Progress

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

Sewing like a madwoman

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

A long doctor visit

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