Eating again

I slept well last night, not waking with sweat until 5. Chris got up early for his church service. After he left, I got up and drank water while listening to an interview from the Fat Summit: diabetics treated with a high-fat diet got better. Too much animal protein will turn to sugar in the body. I paused the video to take a shower. I boiled water to clean the nuts, but the video was louder and the pot boiled dry. I got dressed and finished the video. I ate a seed cracker. Chris arrived to take me to church. When I got there, I showed Jane 5 Korean messages on my phone. She said to delete them. I thanked the song leader for sending me the songs last night. He asked me to sing loudly to get the congregation singing. (classical hymns, anyone?) Jane spoke to one of the choir members and brought her over. She wanted to sew. So I asked for her e-mail address but could not find paper in time before the service began. We sang the three songs I heard last night. Then we had communion, which meant that we gathered at the back to pick up a piece of cracker and a cup of wine. We were supposed to answer the question “Who is Jesus to you?” I wasn't going to volunteer an answer, but I got asked directly so I told him 'hall monitor'. Other people had better sounding answers. But when I explained, someone else said 'yes, me too'. Then the chaplain gave a historical, geographical and cultural explanation of the events on palm Sunday. I did not know that waving palm fronds and shouting Hosanna was like a battle cry. The people expected Jesus to ride into town and oust the Romans. After church, I got the lady's e-mail address. Chris had come back to drive us home so I could change clothes. Then we walked to the Korean church for lunch. Some food items were gone already. But the kimchi chigae was outstanding. I ate like a starving person and my stomach was ok with that. Then we walked back to base. We stopped at the commissary for food. When we got home, I checked e-mail and search the web for how to make lotus tea. The info was hard to find. I listened to another interview while I made chocolate. But when I put the honey in, it started clumping up and even with more heat, would not return to a smooth batter. I wondered if the honey had water in it. I used my hands to press it into the chocolate mold. The rest I pressed into squares with my fingers. I ate one and gave one to Chris. I put the cubes in the fridge to harden. I used packing paper to make pattern pieces for the backpack. Lots and lots of pieces. I took a break when Chris loaded the movie “Get Smart”. As we watched, I ate the last pomegranate. After the movie, I put the last Fat Summit audio on and made seed crackers. Then I drew and cut out more pattern pieces until I had a separate piece for outer and inner fabric, as well as anything that called for two of. Then I went through my stash looking for an appropriate lining fabric. I could have asked her to choose what she wanted, but I did not want to risk my stash since I brought my favorite fabrics. Then I searched high and low until I found the rest of the outer fabric she picked. I spent a while ironing it. It got late, so I quit to post to my blog and go to bed.
* This is the picture I have been coloring. *

Backpack on paper

After posting to my blog this morning, I checked e-mail. No one had mentioned that my blog post hadn't come out last night. I listened to an interview on how fat came to be unfairly vilified. I called Myra to see if she was sick, but she did not answer. I called Nela and she was fine. Later Myra called back to say she was fine, also. I did my exercises, then made and ate breakfast, or at least part of it. I looked up how to make a backpack. I worked the weekend Sudoku puzzle, then went back to looking at patterns, trying to find one with all the features Suk wanted for her backpack. I took my supplements. I printed out the 3 new blocks of the month that Beverly sent me. I spent hours trying to put together an instruction plan for making the backpack, taking info from different tutorials and my own imagination. Then I worked on putting numbers to all the sizes of pieces. I took a break to clear e-mail. I resumed work until I had a plan. I composed a message to my QOV group and sent it out. Later I saw that the place was incorrect so I published the correction. I gave up on finishing breakfast and ate an apple for supper. I cleared some more e-mail. Then I posted a notice of our next QOV meeting to the community Facebook page. I watched a short tapping video. Then we watched Titan AE. Soyoung's husband e-mailed me the songs he chose for church tomorrow and I listened to them on Youtube so I won't be lost tomorrow. He also sent me the sheet music, which was nice. Then it was time to post to my blog and head to bed.
* These are the cannons in the turtle ship. *

A Wasted Day

Chris got up early to go out of town for the day. I stayed in bed hoping to stop sweating and fall asleep. I might have at some point. I dreamed about signing someone off post. Finally I checked my watch. It was almost 8 and I wondered why my alarm did not ring. I got up and drank a quart of water. I called Jane but there was no answer. I posted to my blog. I did today's Sudoku puzzle. I put on another interview. I learned that the body needs cholesterol (from fat) to make hormones. Start your day with fat. So I did. After the swishing and exercise, I ate some seed crackers. After a space of time, I made and ate breakfast. I did it because it is part of my routine. I had been having a nagging feeling of nausea, and it got worse. I listened to audios while lying on the couch under a quilt. But I could not get warm. Where were my night sweats when I needed one? I put on my heaviest winter coat. I tried some yoga poses. I drank some hot tea. I colored in the book. But the feeling would not go away and the afternoon was wasted. I had planned on making hummus, chocolates, and seed crackers. But the mere thought of food (even knowing I wasn't going to eat it today) turned my stomach. I sat in the bathroom to read a book. That turned out to be unnecessary, so I retired to the living room to read, but the light wasn't nearly as good. When I finished the book, I realized that I did not have the energy to check my e-mail. And that was when I knew I was sick. I drank a little water. I worried about Chris until he came home at 8. He made me some tea and I took only a sip, but it did not sit well. About 9, my breakfast came up. I wondered how it could have sat there all day and not digested. I felt better then and tried to clean up the bathroom. Chris drew me a warm bath. I added hot water and got in. Strangely I felt worse after the bath than before it. I got in bed. Chris brought me a tissue of vetiver and lavender oil. I slept pretty well until sometime in the middle of the night. I had started sweating again. I got up to have water twice. Finally I went back to sleep and when I woke up, Chris was already up and on his computer. I convinced him to come back to bed. Later, he took a shower and went to the office. I drank the cold tea from last night and posted to my blog.

First QOV meeting

Chris got up at his usual time. I got up soon after my alarm sounded. I drank water and cleared my e-mail. I took a shower and got dressed. I struggled with Excel to print a sign-in sheet. Then I added to the notes for the meeting and sent them to the desktop to print out. I put all my strips and papers in my music tote. I bundled up, picked up my yoga mat, and headed to the chapel. SoYoung called to say she wasn't coming because she needed someone to sign her on to the base. Myra and Nela were waiting inside the chapel, while the classroom was being heated. Anna joined them while I reserved the room for next Wednesday. Then we went in together. Myra had brought her cutting tools which she laid on the table. Linda came and so did Ivy, with her cute new grandson. Ivy brought me two middle blocks and the extra fabric. No one came from Busan. I used my notes to make sure I covered all the points. I demonstrated how to straighten the edge of fabric and cut strips and sew them, and cut blocks. We talked about meeting weekly, etc. Then 4 of us headed to yoga. The man who reserved the room for me flagged me down to say Command was using it next week so he would put us in the other room. Then we walked to the gym. Joelle led us in new yoga poses. Anna was very good. She could do the twisted crow. I couldn't even do regular crow pose. I did do a half-head stand. I could not do the back bend: When I put my hands flipped back beside my ears on the mat and pushed up, there was no strength in my arms. Gotta work on my triceps. As we walked toward home, I suggested going up the mountain, but then there were rain drops, so we didn't go. Once home, I made and ate breakfast. I listened to an interview from the Fat Summit: Separating Fat from Fiction. I put away all the fabric lying out in my sewing room. I studied the Korean lesson from last week. Jane called to say her base card had expired so she could not sign in until 5. I did not want her waiting for an hour and a half, so I took two umbrellas and walked down to the gate to sign her in. We walked back, and I gave her the usual glass of milk and slice of bread for a snack. She does two hours of line dancing on Thursdays so she was hungry. Then I showed her how to do the quilt blocks. While we worked together, she told me Korean words. Then when Chris came home, I told him I had signed her in and would have to sign her out after Bible Study. He told me I had to go with her to Bible Study because that is part of signing someone on base. She wanted to go at 6:30 for the free supper. But Chris was cooking salmon for me. So Chris came up with the idea of signing her out right then and letting her sign back on through the Bible Study list. It was raining as Chris drove us to the gate house. I signed her out, but she could not sign back in because her name was not on the list. She called the chaplain and he said he would send someone down for her. She told us not to wait to go back home. Since there wasn't a good parking space, we left. The salmon was ready when we got back. Chris said he did not like salmon, so I ate one piece and he put the rest away. We read e-mail, and I watched videos of life hacks. That led to a top 10 inventions list. On that list there was a pen that can write in any color after scanning it. In the photo, the pen scanned an orange, and then wrote an orange line. I searched Amazon but could not find it. Then I chose Entrapment for our nightly movie. I had seen it before, but did not understand how it all fit together in the end. And I still didn't seeing it again because I fell asleep during the movie. Chris got me up and I went to bed without posting to my blog. I slept well at first, but then the night sweats started. With all this sweating, who needs a sauna?

Indoctrination class and tour

I was going to bed when Chris came home at almost 11pm. He had been at Turtle Cove in a meeting and had his phone on silent. We had a 'discussion'. Eventually I fell asleep and slept pretty well.
His alarm went off at 6am. We stayed in bed until 6:15 when my alarm went off. I drank a quart of water, and washed up. I ate seed crackers with butter while listening to an interview from the Fat Summit: Fat in the diet does not equal fat on the body. Same amount of calories from fat or carb is digested and used very differently. A carb-heavy diet can slow metabolism by 350 calories a day. We don't gain weight because we overeat, we overeat because we are gaining weight. On a high fat diet the cravings disappear.
I paused the video to dash off. I bundled up and put out the recyclables. Then I walked to the classroom at the FFTC. My next door neighbors were just ahead of me. Although we walked in at 7:31, we were not the last to arrive. Eventually there were close to 20 of us. We were given a survey sheet to complete at the end. I sat with Nela and Myra sat behind me. The CO spoke first. Then he left and someone else took over. That man had each one of us get up and say who we were, where we were from and what we were interested in. The new kids on the block gave their name as they stood up, chair squeaking on the floor. So I did not catch any of their names. Mostly they talked about why they went into the navy instead of going to college. I gave them a short story of my life, but did not mention Chris' position. I made a plug for the quilt group. The survey sheet listed all the talks we were supposed to have from the different services on post. But two of them did not show up. And two others sent subordinates instead of the leaders, so their talks were less informative than they could have been. Dan Olsen talked about culture in Korea. About 10:30 we boarded a bus and went to Changwon. We were shown a old-style Korean enclave, including the men's quarters and the women's quarters. The husband was supposed to sneak out in the middle of the night to visit his wife, giving the appearance of virgin births for the kids. Then we went to a museum, which I took some pics, but was not interested in except for the 3-D map. Then we walked to a buffet for lunch. I ate stuff that agreed with my dietary restrictions (as far as I know) and was unusual – like jellyfish, snail, raw something grey and skinlike, lychee, etc. I enjoyed my meal except for something that tasted like they pulled it from the sea and did not wash it off first – very fishy and salty. I might still have eaten it, but my first (and only) bite had bits of shell in it. We were given an hour. Then we walked back to the bus and were taken to the train station in Masan. It was like a fly-by. I don't know how we got there or back and we did not stop to see how to pick a train or order tickets. Then we went to the ROK base. The maps we were given of Jinhae, Changwon and Mason included a mag of the ROK base. Color me surprised. We were allowed to climb on a beached sub, but not to take pics of the ones in the water. Like iceburgs, they were mostly underwater. From there, we rode to the other side of the base to a turtle ship. It was cold outside and even colder inside. We looked all around and a Korean sailor came to talk about the various things to see. Then we went to a military history museum. Not that interesting to me. And it was freezing in there. Finally we went to the gift shop next door. I got a t-shirt. Other people bought mugs and shirts and gifts. I thought we were done and heading back, but only so we could head to the bus terminal. Myra, Nela and I got off. I went to the post office, sliding in just before it closed. I collected our mail, then proceeded to the classroom. Nela was there and Myra went home and came back – but not before the others returned from the bus station. I filled out the survey. The lady who accompanied us on the bus asked what Korean words or phrases we wanted to know. Ironically, she had to rush because it was almost time for the Korean language class to start. Some people stayed for class. I took my mail and went home. I brought in the recycle tub. I dropped my extra trash bags next door. I ate the nuts and cranberries. I put water in the humidifier. I called Chris, who was on his way out of the office. I told him Nela raved about the fresh salmon from the commissary, so he stopped to buy some. I made and ate breakfast. Chris came in with the salmon. I showed him the mail. We talked about our days. He told me that the people who did not show up for the indoc were at the off-site conference with him. I cleared e-mail one last time. I worked on what I wanted to say at the meeting tomorrow. Chris picked out the musical Cats for us to watch. I jotted down a few thoughts that came to me while the movie was playing. When it was over, Chris went to bed. I posted to my blog, not sure if I was going to stay up and make sample blocks, or just go to bed.
* This is the reproduction turtle ship *

Shopping

It took a while for the magnesium to kick in. Even then, I had to turn off the heater in the bedroom because something was making a high-pitched whine. The night sweats started and I let them come. I did not try to cool off, thinking maybe my body needs to sweat. Detoxification? Anyway, when daylight knocked on the window, the sweat subsided and I got chilly. My heat source (Chris) got up to have breakfast and turned the heat back on. I got up a little while later and drank my usual quart of water. I answered e-mail.
I called Myra to see if she wanted to do yoga. I called Nela, too, but she could not make it. I vacuumed in the living room, for all the good it did. Myra came over with her mat. She led us in yoga poses. She rubbed my back because it was too stiff. She said it was very tight, and the mid-back muscles were trying to support lower back muscles. She left in an hour. I took a shower, then made and ate breakfast listening to audios from the Fat Summit. Myra called after attending the ceremony to say she was ready to go walking. I finished the audio while coloring more leaves in the coloring book. I went to Myra's place and Nela was there. The three of us walked out into town. I bought zippers in the everyday market. We perused a number of stores. Nela had us stop for lunch. We had fish noodles on a stick. There was something fried that Nela and Myra ate. Myra paid, and it was only $2.50 for all of us! At Daiso I got markers for the coloring book, and at another place, a tea pot, and a small humidifier that looks like a flower and has a usb plug. At the little store near base I bought some spinach. The weather was ok when we left base, but the temp dropped after that. We stopped at the ATM for cash. Nela went home. Myra walked with me as far as her house. We met the new couple who moved in last night. They had already been to see the Korean vet for their dog. She sews so I invited her to our quilt meeting. Then I went home and dropped my stuff on the floor to race to the bathroom. I made a salad for supper, then ate half a sweet potato all while listening to an interview from the Fat Summit. I colored in the book. I washed dishes. I read more about CRISPR. I read something about mice breathing it in and their DNA was changed. Given that I have been reading a story about a man infected by an omega-class virus getting aboard an airliner and the virus being spread by the ventilation system – well, it is a pretty scary combination. I cleaned the floor in Chris' bathroom. Then I tried out the new humidifier. It is also a night light. I was going to use it in the bedroom, but I don't want a light on all night. I used the new dust mop to do the floor. I tried out my new markers in the coloring book. I did some tapping for tomorrow – the indoctrination class, which will include a museum and other history. My favorite part will be the buffet which is supposed to serve jellyfish. I tried out the peel-n-stick hair collectors. I stuck one on the drain in the shower. I sat at the desktop computer and wrote a reminder message to the QOV group-to-be. I tapped until I was satisfied with it, then hit send. I got my book from the bedroom and laid down on the couch to read, hoping to get sleepy. I got up at 10 to post to my blog, wondering why Chris wasn't home yet. I drank some tea and decided to go to bed anyway. I needed to get up early.
* IS it a night light or a humidifier? *

Showing off my sewing room

I woke up while Chris was getting ready for work. He kissed me and left. The air in the bedroom seemed cold, so I waited for a heat wave to get up. I answered an e-mail, and called up the coffee detox page on the desktop. I did a salt cleanse and then the detox. I put Gold Bond on my ear. It worked last night, but it did not work today. One of the videos I listened to talked about homeopathy. So I put some arnica on my ear and it worked for awhile. I boiled some chrysanthemum blossoms. I bundled up warmly and walked up the trail, stopping at the exercise stations to work on my arms. When I got home, Chris was home for lunch. There was no mail. After he left, I made and ate breakfast, and checked e-mail. I drank some chrysanthemum tea. I was going to walk to the everyday market, but it was too cold. I put recyclables in bags. I found some moldy food for the food waste container. I moved kimchi from a bag to a jar. I worked on today's Sudoku puzzle. I put up Command hooks in the bathroom. I read and deleted e-mail. I discovered I was working the wrong puzzle, but I finished it anyway, saving today's puzzle for tomorrow. I went to my sewing room to pull out the reds and the blues for Ivy to look through. I put some in a drawer that were my absolute favorites. I ironed a piece that got wrinkled. Kristen called to ask if they could come over and I said yes. I made the bed and decluttered the master bath. I spiffed up the living room and dining room. The doorbell rang and they came in: Kristen, Ivy and the baby. I showed them the living room and the sewing room. We had a nice chat. Ivy picked some fabric to make blocks for QOV. I showed Kristen the master bath since she showed me hers. Upper housing has much nicer master baths than lower housing. Chris came home, and mentioned how cold it was. So they put on their coats and pushed the stroller home. We made and ate supper. I took extra magnesium and sprayed mag citrate on my arms. Tonight's movie was “National Treasure 2”. Then Chris checked something on his laptop and went to bed. I drank some chrysanthemum tea, and deleted new e-mail. It felt so good to get it under 100 unread again. I decided to mix up some essential oils for sleep and go to bed. Just for giggles, I also colored a leaf in the coloring book Faye gave me for Christmas.
* This is Soyoung playing the drums while her husband leads the singing. She is a very talented lady. *