Election Day

The sleep app sounded at 7:05. I think I was already awake. I got up to get my glasses and see how much snoring it recorded. I boiled water for tea and nuts. Then I brushed and swished. I put maroon thread on the machine and pinned the project to paper. I satin-stitched the maroon strip to the banner. I pinned the join between the brown and the maroon and laid the fish on top to see how much it would cover.
Then I turned on the router and used my phone to track when the router was fully functional so I could turn on my laptop. If I turn on the laptop before the router is finished booting up, it usually won't find the signal.
I drank lemon water and read e-mail. I separated the recyclables and took them out to the curb. The weather was nice, which made me wonder. How is it that our society has all these weather-detection devices, and decades of weather records on which to model their predictions, but they can't accurately predict what will happen in the next 12 hours? Schools opened 2 hours late today and quilting was canceled. But the weather is currently dry and comfortable.
I looked up a sample ballot, then the people running. There were so many that I couldn't remember what I read about each of them. I listened to interviews on foraging, and downloaded an app for identifying plants. It was somewhat helpful, but I had to give it access to media on my phone. I heated up the last of the beef heart stew. I also finished off the sprouts and started a new batch.
It was a sunny day, so I swept wood chips from the sidewalk back into the flower beds. When I got the text from Beverly, I headed to the church where the quilters usually meet. Beverly met me there and we walked over a mile in the neighborhood. We stopped to dig up two baby climatis' growing by the side of the road. She took one and I took the other. When I got home, I planted it in a pot. Then I got stuff I needed and went to my church.
I got there just after 1 as the secretary was leaving. She moved stuff out of the intern's office so I could count the money, then she left. I pulled all the envelops and loose checks from the safe. I put them in order by member number. I had to look up the numbers for those who did not use their assigned envelops. Since there were lots of checks for the pastor's retirement party, I had a lot of looking to do. When that was done and the deposits were ready for the bank, I typed the info into the computer. Well, it argued with one of the member numbers I put in. I had to work around that. I printed reports and fixed something I screwed up last week. Then I was off to the bank.
I had come in early so I could leave early to vote with Chris, but as luck would have it, the process took an hour longer. So it was after 3:30 that I made the deposit. The teller told me she had voted already and that in Sweden they voted by text and got almost 100% turnout.
When I got home, Chris was changing his clothes. He programmed the route to the voting hall in his phone. He handed me papers which included a sample ballot and off we went.
Traffic was a little heavy. I read the referendums that he printed off. When we got there, it seemed parking was full. So we drove around until a spot opened. Then we went inside. We went to one table where the lady checked our names off a list and gave us each a slip of paper. We took the slips to another table where we were given ballots. (So the first table couldn't hand out ballots?) All the carels were full, but there were also tables with people sitting around them, marking their votes. Since I didn't care if anyone copied my answers, I sat at a table and made choices by muscle-testing. Chris finished first, submitted his ballot and waited outside. When I was done, I did the same. We walked back to the car with our “I voted” stickers.
When we got home, I made a salad and ate it. I thought Chris was going to cook steak, but he decided to do it tomorrow instead. So I ate some cheese for protein. And I pounded some holes in a coconut. I tried to pour the water out but nothing came out. I shook it and didn't hear anything so I assumed there was no water. I put it in two plastic bags and swung it at the pavement in back of the house until it cracked. Suddenly I was getting wet. I let the water flow into my hand and I drank it, then caught some more. When the flow stopped, I took the coconut inside. I had Chris pry it open for me and I ate all the meat inside while listening to an audio.
Then I tidied up a bit, especially my sewing table. I laid out the banner with a sample border. Chris cued up Netflix, so I brushed my teeth and got my tea from the kitchen. We watched two episodes of DS9. The second one wove the DS9 crew in with the original Enterprise crew in a time warp. I couldn't believe that they brought back tribbles.
Chris made his sandwich and went to bed. I stayed up to blog.
* Dinah and her quilt from yesterday. *

The cat has returned

I got up at 7:30. I saw on my sleep app that the incidence of snoring was way down during the nights Chris was gone.
The sun was not streaming through the windows in the kitchen due to cloud cover. I brushed, swished, and satin-stitched around the brown part of the banner using paper to stabilize it. It worked out ok, but the fabric seemed a little wavy.
I turned on the router, and drank lemon water. I made tea for later and soaked nuts in hot water for tomorrow. I deleted some e-mail and watched the third episode of Transcendence. While it played, I dust-mopped the floor, then made and ate breakfast. When it ended, I took a shower with shower cap over my face to protect the 'thing' that isn't supposed to get wet. Then I got dressed for cool weather. I put everything back where it was before Chris left.
I packed some projects and went to quilting. I watched ladies eat lunch until someone left, then I took her seat. I had a bowl of chili myself, and it was delicious. Later, they sang Happy Birthday to all the ladies having birthdays this month. Then I watched them eat cake.
I set up my machine in the back. I took a pic of the quilt Dinah was working on. Then I worked on my don't-even-think-about-it quilt. Chris texted me from the airport and I texted back to call me when he got home. I hadn't heard from him by three, so I packed up after finishing the last seam. On the way to the car, the extra unused strips went flying in the wind. But I think I was able to round them all up.
When I got home, Chris was doing laundry and boiling eggs. When the eggs were done, we went to Publix for groceries. At the checkout counter, I saw Oprah smiling from a magazine and thought that she should be on my Healthy Teeth page. When we got back, I made and ate salad. I was too full to finish off the beef heart stew. Chris finished laundry. I checked e-mail. Beverly called to say we weren't having quilting tomorrow.
Chris wanted to start watching TV early so he could get to bed early. So we watched three episodes of Adam-12 and 1 episode of DS9. Then he went to bed. I stayed up to blog and collate recyclables.
* My don't-even-think-about-it quilt *

Thrown off by the time change

I heard the app at 7:27. A message popped up on the phone, but I could not read it. So I got out of bed to get my glasses and by then it was gone. Not knowing if it was the old 7:30 or the new 7:30, I checked other clocks and my watch. It seems my phone caught the time change even though it was on airplane mode all night.
I brushed and swished and sewed. I turned on the router. I checked e-mail. I was looking for smile pics to add to my Pinterest page and got caught up looking at funny sayings. When I realized what time it was, I had to wash up and get dressed quickly. Then I grabbed the jar of honey and some seed crackers for lunch.
I drove to the church and arrived just in time for choir practice. We sang through it twice and I wasn't comfortable with it, but Cecelia said I was singing it as written, but it wasn't written well.
During the interval before church, I gave Jennifer the honey. I ordered a poinsettia from her daughter's dance class. I know the church will be selling poinsettias but those are used to decorate the church and we don't take them home until after Jan 1st.
I got a bulletin and discovered one sitting in my pew. The lady behind me had two so she put one out for me. I talked to them a bit, then sat down to read the bulletin.
The service started with one of our congregation acting as minister. He read announcements and lead the service. He sang the liturgy and gave the sermon, but a retired pastor handed out communion. I am unsure why it was done that way.
After the service, I asked Linda about getting an envelop number for new members. She said Tim usually does that. She took me in the office and explained where to find an envelop for Pastor's retirement responses. Scott told me about a training for people who set off fireworks for public events. Bill asked about a receipt he submitted for donation credit. Tim explained that that isn't something we record in ServantKeeper. Bill also asked about the thing on my face. I explained and he said he had been afraid it was some sort of decoration.
I left church and headed for quilting. But I was going to arrive just before lunch and I had nothing to contribute. So I went home instead, and ate breakfast and changed my clothes. When I got to quilting, they were done with lunch. I turned in the top I had made, and Lynette asked me to make a backing for it. I found a large piece of fabric and cut off just enough for the top. I folded it all together and left it for her to take.
They were making strip blocks for a guild in Montgomery who was making quilts for hurricane victims in Florida. I had already started a strip project, so I sorted through the piles of strips for light-colored ones that were 2.5 inches wide. There were very few so I had to cut some. Then I sewed strips end to end to make a long strip of darks and a long strip of lights. I worked on that until she called time. Then we had to pack up and return the room to its original condition. Tina ran the vacuum.
From there, I went home. It was raining and getting dark. So I did not get to walk. I heated a bowl of beef heart stew for supper. I read e-mail and watched some short videos. I watched several episodes of Frazier, using the TV instead of my laptop. Then I sat at the piano and sang songs from The Phantom of the Opera. Chris called to say he'd taken Michele and friends to the airport there in St. Louis, and that he would fly home tomorrow. We talked for a bit and then he hung up to go to bed. I sat there quietly for a bit, then resumed singing.
I was getting tired, so I sat down to write my blog and drink Kava tea and swish. I didn't take any pics today because I left my phone at home. Then I meditated with Deepak and went to bed. I listened to the next level of Holosync and let the sleep app do its thing.
* This is a quilt from the Tuesday group. *

Sewing Saturday

I turned off the alarms and slept in. I got up about nine. I brushed and swished and sewed some binding. I turned on the router. I put some checks in the mail. I texted Chris to find out where the new checks were since I was running low. I watched the second episode of Transcendence. I did the daily tapping audio. I made and ate breakfast.
I put together a couple of projects for my sewing box. Then I wheeled it out to the car. But it was such a sunny day, that I left it in the trunk and went for a walk around the circle first. Afterward, I went to the library for quilting with the modern quilt guild. I stopped on the way to pick up two green coconuts at the little Asian store off the parkway.
When I arrived at the library, it was after noon. I set up my machine across from a lady who looked familiar but I did not remember her name. We talked as I worked on a block for the guild and then my wallhanging. She worked on half-square triangles. She told me about her experiences as a doctor of anesthesiology. I learned that the first drug given is an amnesiac so the patient won't remember waking up during surgery if it happens or becomes necessary. They try to avoid it with older patients. She said surgical anesthesia is not one drug but usually 10.
We talked until the library closed at 5. We packed up and resumed talking in the parking lot. Everybody else left. Finally at 6:15 I said she looked cold and I knew I was, so we said goodbye and parted ways. I went home.
My phone rang while I was still driving. When I parked in the driveway, I looked to see that it was Chris. I brought in the mail and the coconuts. I left the sewing stuff for tomorrow. I responded to Chris' text and listened to his message. He called while it was playing. He and Michele were on a supper break. He told me where to find the checks. I talked to Michele until she got another call. She wanted to know how I felt without my mole. I had to tell her that I didn't know yet, since the topical dressing was just like it.
I ate an apple. I heated a bowl of beef heart stew. I read e-mail. I watched three episodes of Frazier. I wrote my blog post and took my evening supplements. I saved Deepak's meditation for last, then went to bed.
* This is the quilt Christy made from last year's mystery quilt instructions. *

That darned tomato

I used my sleep app again last night, looking for differences now that Chris is not here. It was hard to sleep with this thing on my face. I like to sleep on my left side, but was told not to. I did ok, I guess. The app woke me just after 7, but I wasn't really asleep. I turned off the alarm at 7:30 and stayed in bed until almost 8.
When I got up, I looked in the mirror. The thing on my face was smaller and had turned white. I plugged in my headphones to recharge. I sewed two 16 patch blocks. I looked for thread to match my wallhanging. But when I succeeded, I decided to save it for tomorrow.
I watched one last video from the Herbal Cold Care series. She said the top three herbs were elderberry, elderflowers, and ginger. For more info, see Herbcraft.org, and herbmentor.com.
I caught up on the 7 minute tappings with Dawson Church. Then I listened to a long audio on ancestral clearing while making up supplements for two weeks, plus making lemon puree. I poured it into two ice cube trays. I made and ate breakfast. Afterward, I also caught up on the 20 minute meditations with Deepak.
I got dressed and went to post office and checked our box. The front desk was closed (1:30-2:30 for lunch). Then I bundled up and went for a walk. I saw goldenrod and only then remembered that I wanted to harvest some for tea. But I didn't have a bag or anything to carry it in. When I got back, I heated some beef heart stew in the toaster oven.
We had 100% cloud cover. It was dismal. After the tapping last night on seasonal affective disorder, I was hoping it wouldn't bother me. I picked dandelion in the back yard while I still had enough light. Then I sorted through e-mail, trying to catch up. I decanted my black walnut hull tincture and managed not to stain anything with it. I got on Facebook looking for something quilty to post to Yongsan Quilters page. THEN, the sun came out and blinded me sitting at my computer. I wanted to take advantage of the light, so I turned my back to the window and darned my tomato. Then I refilled it with sawdust and sewed the bottom shut. I sorted the pins by head color and put them in the cushion. Then I sorted the needles by length and wondered where to put them.
I made lots of salad, and ate it at my laptop. I watched three episodes of Frazier. I took my evening supplements. I watched a short interview with Eleanor Burns. I downloaded pics from my camera and wrote my blog post for the day.

The cure is worse than the condition

Chris got up at 4 and went to the airport. I went back to sleep. I turned off the alarm at 7:30 and went back to sleep, sort of. I got up at 8. It was raining so the house seemed depressing. I brushed and swished. I wanted to sew a gathering stitch on a strip of fabric. But I could not find a needle. So I opened up my tomato pincushion. It was not in good shape and I wished I could locate the newer one. But I found 55 needles inside. I started a running stitch, then decided it would be easier by machine.
I turned on the router. I put the finger lights back in the box. Only 34 were given out and several kids took more than one. So we had 29 kids. I guess Wednesday night is a bad night for trick-or-treating.
I boiled water to soak nuts and make tea. I moved my laptop to where Chris normally sits because it is farther from the router. I watched the first episode of Transcendence:

Passing a sugar tax has worked to reduce obesity in several places. The wheat of today is not like the wheat of 40 years ago. It's been genetically modified in ways that focused on production and ignored health effects. Today's farm animals are different metabolically and nutritionally from the wild animals we used to eat.

Then I watched the last video in the herbal series. Cold and flu recovery process: take it easy, less exercise, recover for as many days as the fever lasted. Eat easy to digest foods. Take hot showers, wash sheets, and open windows. To help with lung health: astragulus and cordyceps are adaptogens, also reishi, iceland moss and mullein. Dandelion root makes a good tea.

I made and ate breakfast. At noon, as I was rushing to get ready for quilting, my phone rang. It said Christopher Damour, but Michele was on. They were standing in line to get their gaming badges. I talked to her for a bit, then they hung up. I looked around for a project to take. I grabbed a bag of strips. Then I went quilting.
It was potluck day but I was late enough that it didn't matter. I talked with both Pats. Then I got to work. I sewed light strips end to end and dark strips end to end. Then I sewed the long strips together. The other ladies were gone by 2:30 and Christy wanted to pack up, so we did.
I went home. I parked in Chris' spot so I could sweep all the wood shavings from the driveway back into the flower bed where they belong. I put a rolled up newspaper under the downspout to direct water past the flowerbed. I ate a bowl of beef heart soup and read e-mail.
I went to the Korean clinic, arriving just before 3:30. He and I sat by his laptop. When the call came, I answered my phone. The technician asked us to login to the account and give him access to the screen. Well, we did not know the password, so we spent half of our time trying to get in. But it went quickly after that. The man explained how to use the site to file insurance claims. Still, we went over the half hour allotted. Then he had to go.
Then I tried to sign the doctor up for Medicare billing. I clicked links, read info I didn't understand and called the number. She gave me instructions for which forms to use and where to find them, but when I went there, I could not find what she said. I did a google search and got to the right place. The doctor and I started filling out forms, but some of the questions had dropdown menus and none of the options applied.
Finally, Dr. Grace told us to stop for the day. She took me to one of the treatment rooms and had me lay on the table. She put a paper towel with a hole in it over my mole. Then she lit a small stick until it glowed with heat. She repeatedly jabbed at the mole. Yes, it hurt. She said one of her patients slept through his procedure.
When the jabbing and burning were done, she got a piece of 'putty' and put it over the mole site. She jabbed it with the burning stick, too. Then she told me not to get it wet or put a bandaid over it. Or eat chicken. She said it would fall off in 3 or 4 days. And she gave me a bag of onions. I asked for a mirror to see it and was astonished how big it was.
It was raining, so he got an umbrella and walked me to my car.
When I got home, I made and ate a salad. I had just finished it when my tapping buddy called. I spent two hours talking and tapping with her. She recommended John Newton's ancestral clearings. Then I finished the audio I was listening to. Then I called up Netflix. I watched two episodes of Frazier. I wrote my blog post after that and went to bed, hoping not to roll over on the putty-covered spot. I think it's giving me a headache.
* The mole is gone, but she put an herbal bandage over it. She says there will be no scarring. *

Halloween

I was awake early, hearing Chris get ready for work. I stayed in bed until my alarm went off. Sleep was not in the cards, so I got up. I brushed and swished and made a longer strip for my banner. I listened to 1000hz music for strengthening teeth. I made coffee and tea. I took niacin and waited for the flush to hit, but it took too long. I did my exercises and then meditated with Deepak.
I got a phone call from a guy that said my computer was sending out warning messages and he wanted to solve the problem. I said I didn't believe him and I hung up. But he called back, from another number. I told him no and hung up again. Then I cleaned the kitchen and the bathrooms and watered the plants.
I seemed to be finished early, so I listened to a presentation on remedies for fever. I had to sit down to take notes. But near the end I remembered that I had forgotten to clean the floors. So I vacuumed the bathroom floors and swept the wood ones with the dust mop.
I put finger lights in dish by the door in case I was home late.
I drove to the Korean clinic. They wanted me to schedule training, so I called the company and made a phone appointment for 3:30 tomorrow. There was a long wait to get hold of a live person and during that time, patients came in to see the doctors.
Dr. Grace asked me to get a water-tester working. The instructions were in Korean. So I went to the website. The English version seemed incomplete, so I read the French one. I opened the battery compartment and saw it was empty. There was nothing else I could do for her. So after a bit, I got up to leave. I assured them that I would be back tomorrow for the training call, which reportedly will be only half an hour. She said she would burn off my mole afterward. (Yikes)
It was almost 3:30 when I got home. I cleaned clutter from around the front door so trick-or-treaters would not see it. Then I went for a walk. I saw moving trucks at two houses, I guess because it is the end of the month. I thought about having the fishing activity like Myra and I did in Chinhae, but it was too late.
Chris was home when I got back. He packed for his trip. I blew up a lighted balloon, drew a face on it, and put on some Halloween music courtesy of Youtube. I tried combing my hair over my face and putting on a pair of glasses. It was an interesting look, but I had no costume to go with it. Then I read e-mail while I waited.
Chris turned on our porch light at 4:30 because Housing had put out an e-mail saying the hours were from 4:30 to 9. But no one came until after 6. After that, it was sporadic. I read e-mail until 8. Then we watched 4 episodes of Adam-12, which came in the mail from Netflix. We turned off the light at 9. I'll count the lights tomorrow to see how many kids we had. Most were the older ones.
As usual, Chris went to bed and I stayed up to blog.