TOTALLY, IRREVOCABLY DEPRESSED

Oh how I hate this time of year. I don't really understand why. I mean I should be happy. I have my family, mostly my health, I'm alive, etc. etc. It seems that lately as the holidays approach, I'm excited. I make lots of presents, and I truly enjoy doing that. I love to make things for people, and watch their faces when they get their gifts. But as soon as December rolls in, I start to go down hill, and it's going down hill more and more. So many reasons. Let me list them all, maybe if I do, I'll think they're dumb and can move on.

first, this is my birthday month. Oh whoopie. I turn 52, and that sux, cause I still feel 25. I don't look it, but I sure feel it. OK, not all the time. I sometimes hate my birthday, and it's been like this for years. I mean, 5 days before the big holiday, and I get screwed. It's not the presents, it's the party, the fun, the friends taking the time to think of me. When I was first married 32 years ago, I got screwed super big time on my birthday. I would get money from people to go and buy myself something special. Then we'd be short a gift, and there goes my gift. Oh promises of you'll get it back after the holidays. Yeah right, never happened. I wish I could make it all go away.

second, This is the month in 1989 that my dad passed. sometimes I really miss him, even when he acted like a jerk. He had so many sweet moments about him. He and I always butted heads. Maybe I was like him too much. This was his favorite holiday.

third, my mother's second husband died on my birthday 3 years ago. let's hear it for that one. So mom gets sad & blue, and I have to try and keep her sane. pretty hard to do when I can't even keep myself sane.

fourth, I'm poor. no need to explain that further. I mean it is what it is.

fifth, it's cold, raw, and gloomy. I don't want to leave the house. I just want to crawl into my nice warm bed and hibernate. All alone.

Holy shit do I sound pathetic. Oh woe is me. Ok, I don't really know what's going on. I just know that I am not myself. And I really wish the holidays were over and spring was coming. I'm so glad no one reads this but me. I like being anonymous. besides, I will look back to today and say, my gosh girl, what is wrong with you.

I think it's time to go, I don't know. but I gotta stop my whining. It's not making it better. In fact it feels worse. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

ok, not better. well, off I go to bed. Yay, it's only 7:15 pm.

Crochet, Crochet, and more Crochet

Only 41 more days til Christmas. That's still plenty of time for making some awesome gifts. I'm proud of myself, I've got 7 gifts already completed. I decided this year to stay away from long drawn out gifts, (because I get bored easily, and they take too long), and figured I'd make small things. But I didn't want to make stupid things either, I wanted them to be useful. Well I've got 8 women, that are friends and family that I like to make for. So, for all the women I made bath sets. I purchased one bath kit from http://www.elmore-pisgah.com/ (which is peaches & cream), and then purchased 7 other sets of colors to make for everyone. Then I thought I'd add bath and beauty products, put them all in a basket and voila, Christmas gifts. I really have to say, they came out awesome.

There are 9 children to make something for, 5 girls and 4 boys. Now the ages range from 8 yrs - 2 mos. So, I figured I would make the 2 older girls who are 8 & 7, bath sets similar to their moms. The 2 girls that are 5, and the 4 boys, 4, 2 yr old twins, and 20 mo. old, will all get a set of bath buddies. These are all puppet wash mitts from the book; Annie's Attic Fun Time Bath Mitts. And of course the 2 month old, a girl, is getting a sweater, (almost done, only needs putting together), a Christmas bib in thread, and booties in thread.

Now that leaves 6 men to crochet for, and they were the hardest to figure out. I mean really, there aren't many choices of things to make for men. So after considerable thought, and being that we all joke around, tease, and have fun together, I decided each man, (DH included) will all get a Willie Warmer. LOL. I've made one of these before and they crochet up pretty quickly. And I know that being the smart asses they are, I will be hearing things like; "this won't fit, I'm bigger than this" and so forth. MEN!!! If I have the time, I'll make hats for all. I love making gifts for others, and having them proudly use them. I think that's why I went with more practical gifts this year.

I've already started making my list of what Ill be making when the holidays are over and it's cold outside. :) Most of what I'll be making will be things for myself. There are a few tops, a shrug/shawl, maybe an afghan. I do know that I have 2 patterns running around in my head that need to be made, as well as written up. I can actually close my eyes and see the finished items. One is going to be somewhat of a freeform item, but not to weird looking. Anyway, once I make them, and write them up, I will definitely be putting the patterns up here. This way if anyone likes them and wants to try them, they can.

Well, gotta run, hopefully I can come back and write more about what's going on, and maybe add some more pics of things done. Grandkidz are here and starting to drive me bonkers.

Crochet, Crochet, and ATC's

so, I have been away for a while. been crocheting like crazy. I found a new past time, I love making ATC's. I like trading them as well, but I think I would like to be greedy and keep mine too. :) I have so much fun making them. I find a topic, or I am told one from swap-bot, and then I research anything and everything to do with the subject. then I just sit and create. I have to admit, I make many changes while creating that I think maybe I'll start making more than one. LOL one as the original idea, and one for the final idea. this way I can see exactly how much difference there is. take a fly over to my flicker pics and check out all that I am making.

I am still into making ami's. just love those little guys & gals. I have to slow down for a bit on swap-bot so that I can get my x-mas stuff done. I've got lots to do, but most of it is small items. this way I am not killing myself rushing to get everything done on time.

My stupid computer got messed up for a while took about a week to fix it, but I lost tons of pics of all the things I've made. one good thing is that I made a lot of it for swap-bot, so I am asking all of my partners to send me pics of what I made them so I can get them back. Speaking of which, I need to ask my BF if she can take a pic of the awesome little dress I made for the baby (who happens to be late). I think she like mama too much and doesn't want to come out. LOL

Hey remember that top I was making way back when? well, I finally finished it. another friend of mine is sewing in a lining for the bust, (they don't want my boobs to show), I could care less. HA HA HA. so I will be taking a pic of that soon. right now my projects are a pair of gemini twin cats - these are half done, 3 skulls - all they need are the eyes, nose & mouth, a shopping bag, 3/4 of the way done, and a nighty 1/2 done. not bad. I need to make 4 pink x-mas ornaments, and I think I'll do them in thread. something classy.

I crochet every day for hours. I enjoy making things, but I need to organize my back room. It has all of my, (well, 90% of my) stuff for crochet and beading. I keep buying yarn cause I can't find any colors. then when I crochet something I go into the back room for something and find the color I couldn't and had to go and buy again. I have way too much yarn. Yeah, right. NOT

I finally painted my office. it is lavender walls with blood red trim. then I painted the furniture, every other piece is blood red, and the other every others are dark purple. looks really cool. Next up it to finish the bathroom. it's gold walls, sage tiles (1/2 way up), and forest green trim. I'm putting in a mural that is a bird bath with fairies, dragonflies, butterflies, & humming birds. then hubby can put in the new floor and ta da, it will be done. at least until I start a new room LOL.

Surgery on my knee is on hold. doc said I'm too fat to have the surgery. so, I am back to trying to lose this weight. I've dropped 12 pounds, and I have started walking. they gave me a new brace that helps with the pain. so, maybe I will lose the weight faster. Haven't quit smoking yet, that will happen as soon as I get my exercise routine down good and strong. about a month, I'd say.

Well, it's 8 time to kick DH upstairs and go watch some tv and crochet.

by til later

Crochet, crochet, and still more crochet

I am just having so much fun crocheting. I am doing a lot of smaller projects so that I am getting a good feeling of accomplishment. I work on my larger projects in between, and I am happy to say, I have finished my first top. OK, not quite finished, my bf has to help me sew in an elastic. But the crocheting is finally done. Only 5 frogs, and a year to make it. Not bad. HA HA HA I have really fallen in love with 2 things lately. Swapbot and amigurumi's. I am on swapbot everyday checking out swaps for bookmarks, crochet, ami's, and ATC's. I will also be hosting my first swap and it is a thread bookmark swap, woo hoo. I am addicted. totally. I made an awesome ami from crochetkitten.com. He is one of her zodiac cats. And he came out awesome, if I say so myself. Oh right, I am. :) Well, I'm off to crochet some more, got lots to make. With my bf having a girl in September, I am finally going to make baby girl clothes. I am so psyched. I told her it was about time she and her dh finally gave me a girl to dress. LOL. I spoil her son to death, now I will have a little princess to dress. OOO. Anyway, off to upload my pics of items made, and to go make some more.

keep smiling

Well, I've been working my crafting fingers to the bone. LOL. I've been swapping like crazy on swap-bot. I have tons of pics to show of lots of stuff I made. Also, I created a really awesome bookmark. Could be used for other things as well. It's a corset. I crocheted it in #3 thread. Came out pretty awesome, if I say so myself. Oh yeah, I am saying so. LOL I was in a bookmark swap for Lolita's and it was for a Hime Lolita. I couldn't find anything to use in the patterns I have so I decided what the hey, and made my own. I'll have to put a pic up and then write up the pattern and share with anyone that would like it.

I made my second amiguruimi. This one was for a swap. It is awesome. I totally love making these. I like getting them better, but I do like making them. :) I checked my partners profile and she loves cats. so crochetkitten.com has some really great patterns for the zodiac cats. So I thought what the heck, I'll make my partner a cat, and I'll make it a zodiac cat. Go figure, her astrology sign is Leo. Duh, it's a cat. I decided to make it anyway. I changed mine a bit, I added paw pads to the arm paws as well as the leg paws, and I added fur to the tip of the tail. I mean to me a lion has pads on all their paws and I remember from the wizard of oz that the cowardly lion used his tail to wipe his tear stained eyes. LOL I know, weird. I used chenille yarn for the paws, and fur. It gave it a more velvety feel and look.

I'm also getting into make ATC's and my next one should be done any day now. This one is intitled "Zeus". It's coming along really good. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope it comes out great.

Started my left knee injections of suparts which is this gel stuff that will act like cartilage for my knee. Hopefully it will make my knee last a lot longer than the right one. The right one is supposed to be replaced, but unless I can drop my extra, extra weight, then no go. I'll probably end up dragging it around. LOL. I just can't seem to drop this weight. I start out great on dieting and then 2 weeks into it, I give up and go back to my old ways. It's not that I eat a lot, it's just that I eat all the wrong foods, and I eat once a day. All the wrong ways to eat. I'm an old dog, and can't learn any new tricks. HA HA HA

This weather is so horrendous lately. All it's doing is raining. I am so sick of the rain. The last time it rained for the whole month, (well seemed like the whole month), of July, was in 1978. I lived in FL then and came back up here to MA to visit family for the month of July and it rained almost every day. Gee, maybe we'll end up with a blizzard this winter like the one they had in '78. Damn, my mom sent me pics of that storm. The roads were closed, the city and towns were closed down, and the snow covered the cars. I was on the beach, tanning and swimming then. LOL Oh I wish we were back in FL. I loved living there.

AJ had a birthday, he is now 4. Gosh, he's growing so fast. And he's smart. Got a bad temper though and when he gets mad, he tries to beat the person up. He will throw things, hit with things, punch, kick, and scream. He doesn't do it to me. I told him, whatever he does to me, I will do to him. I will, and he knows it. But the other day I was cleaning their toy area, and did something and swore the F word. He looked at me calmly and said, "Nunna, don't say F, say freakin". I appologized and repeated it the right way. Damn, he's quick.

crocheting, life, planting, reading, and dieting

Wow again I am lacking in the updating of my blog. Kick my butt. :) Well this has been a very busy time for me. I am making lots of items for swap-bot, and I love it. I love making the squares, 6, 8, and 12 inches, because it gives me some color ideas as well as trying new patterns. I have found quite a few that I really like and think they would make great ghans. I am so into making bookmarks. I love working with thread, and they are really quite quick to make. I will be making a few for xmas gifts to add to all the regular things I will be making. It's funny about the bookmarks, I think I might be the only one who crochets mine. All of the ones I have received are made of paper-stock. Don't misunderstand, I love all that I have gotten. some of my partners are very talented. I think I am going to have to make a box of some sort to hang on my wall to display my bookmarks. I want everyone to see them. I know, weird.

My daughter, Chrystal, graduated on Saturday May 16, from college. She got her BA in Bio-technology. I am so proud of her, I had tears in my eyes when she received her diploma. This girl has worked her butt off to be able to do something important with her life, and now she can. This girl who quit high school at 16, went to hairdressing school, and hated the work. Moved to Florida until she was 19, then came home and finished high school. The regular way, not GED. Graduated top of the class, and then went to work full time as a bartender and took college courses on the side. And now she graduated. YAY

I have been busy cleaning up my flower beds so that I can start planting my spring/summer flowers. I love digging in the dirt, it is one of the most relaxing things in the world. I love the smell of the dirt too. I spend hours weeding, prepping and planning my garden. I also get the benefit of being outside, and getting lots of sun. Which is great for me cause I love to tan. NO I do not use any sunscreen, never have and never will. Lately though I have been trying to talk DH into allowing me to put up a fence in the front yard. I want a 3 ft fence and want to paint it black to go with the house. It would be my version of the "white" picket fence. LOL

My diet has gone down the tubes. I haven't weighed myself in weeks. I am no longer counting the calories, it's just not worth it. I still eat 6 small meals a day, and the foods I'm eating are a lot healthier with less fat and such. I do feel as if I have lost weight, and clothes that weren't fitting so well before, are fitting now. I think a lot of that has to do with being more active as well as cutting out the soda, practically no fattening foods, more fruit, (and I am not usually a fruit person), and a lot more water. As for the walking, my daughter and I are planning to start walking the high school track together. This way we will have someone to walk with and I will definitely shape up better then.

I'm starting to worry about DH. I need to check with his doctor to see what he thinks, but either DH is having problems with his meds, or he's starting to show symptoms to either dementia or Alzheimer's. He really is forgetting a lot of stuff. Stuff we have just finished discussing, stuff that he shouldn't be for getting. Like the other day we were driving down the street to run an errand, and he forgot where we were going, I had to remind him. He's like that in the house too. He starts out to go get something, talks to me for a minute, and then forgot why he was in the room to begin with. The reason I worry so much about Alzheimer's is that his father had it and he died at a very young age, in his early 60's. DH is gonna be 59 on May 30. I used to tease him when we were first married and told him if he got Alzheimer's, I would make believe I was someone new every day. You know just screw with his head. It was funny then, but now I really am getting worried. I don't want him to forget me. OH well, no need to worry until I'm 100% sure.

Well it's chilly today only in the high 50's. I think I'll go crochet for a bit, and then read later on.

BB for now

Dieting, Crocheting, & Reading

Well, I've been on this diet now for 13 days and I will say at first it was easy. Now it's getting tuff. I mean, I started out so good and gung ho, I was satisfied. I was eating 7 times a day, I know it should be 6, but I don't sleep well and I don't go to bed until 2 or 3 am., then I'm up around 8 or 9. So, I tend to have an extra evening snack. First 5 days was great, and then I got bored with the snacks and got so busy cleaning and such that I forgot to stop and eat. So when I did eat, I was way hungry and nothing would really satisfy me. Before this diet, I was drinking cans of sprite all day long. Now I only have one sprite at dinner time and water all the rest of the time. That's great because sprite has 140 cal. per can, and water will help flush me out. But there are times I really want my can of sprite, and I have to talk myself out of it. I love yogurt, but I am getting tired of it. I'm not much into fruit so that's not much for snacking. I think part of my snacking problem is, I'm not getting anything to sink my teeth in so I don't really feel like I'm eating. I need to find more snacks that are low cal and chewy. LOL. I've lost 8.5 lbs since I went to the doctor and switched from soda to water and am watching my cals and that should be incentive enough, but I don't think so. I want chips and cookies. I know, I know, bad for me. I know that there are sun chips that are not as fattening and low in cals, so I'll pick some up for the real bad cravings and some cookies aren't fattening either so I'll have to get some of them as well. I've kept the cals around 1500-1800 except for one day (I am supposed to eat no more that 1934 per day), and that was St. Patrick's Day. Do you know that one slice of corned beef is 803 cals. my gosh that's almost the total of some of my meals. LOL. And you'd think cabbage that is a veg would be low in cals but no way, damn stuff is fattening. Oh well one bad day out of 13 isn't all that bad.

I can't wait until it warms up so I can start walking. I love to walk and google has a pedometer map so you can map out your miles. Because my knees are so bad, I'm not going to do more than a mile at a time, maybe 3 times a week. Then when I'm feeling like I can do more I'll add more. Don't want to kill myself. LOL I will lose this weight, I am tired of being fat. My BF is going to let me make a copy of her DVD crunch less Abs and she said it's not hard and really helps. So, I see her today when I go to clean her house and I will talk to her about getting the copy this weekend and start using it on Monday.

I have been crocheting like crazy. I have a fridgie swap and I made two awesome fridgies. I will post pics later today in my flickr folder. The first fridgie I did was a crab, and the other is a bunny photo frame. The reason I chose those is that the girl I have as a partner loves crabs and her favorite color is orange so this one is orange and a crab. She is also way into photography and just had a child not too long ago and I thought Easter, and this one seemed perfect. I also have 8 more squares to do and these are pink and light green. I looked around for some different types of patterns to use and make them special. I also have to make 4 bookmarks in a spring Easter design, so I'm thinking about pastels and maybe an Easter egg or two. And I have been finishing up Tiffany's place mat sets, those are coming out awesome. I also am working on a poncho for Miss Tatiana and it's so cute, and easy it will be done this week end. All this and I've read 2 books in 2 days. Damn I'm good. :)

I read Laurell K. Hamilton's, Swallowing Darkness. I just couldn't put it down until I finished it. Then I decided last night to start another book, new writer for me, Blood Magic by Jennifer Lyon, I figured I read last night for a bit and then finish it today. No Way. This book is awesome. I was up until 4 am by the time I finished it. And she has a sequel to it. Can't wait for that to come out. :).

So, in about 45 mins I will be going to my friends to clean and babysit, then I will come home, shower, take a nap (yeah I need one, I'm old), and when I get up, I will crochet some more and download pics to flickr. Then I will go and play pogo. I am a member of pogo so I have to get my badges for the week and today is the day for the new badges to come out. So, I am gonna go have breakfast and get ready for work.

BB for now

New Crochet, New Diet, New Me

Well I've had some interesting things going on. I joined a place called swap-bot.com. This place is awesome. It's not just for crocheters, it's for all types of crafters. If you love any type of crafting & sharing your crafts, then this is the place for you. It's free to join, so that was a total plus for me. :) As a new member you are only allowed to join 5 swaps at a time. Well my first swap was a quickie one, and it was bookmarks. I had 2 partners that I had to make 3 bookmarks for each, and then mail them off by a certain deadline. So, I crocheted 6 bookmarks and they were cool. Then my bookmarks came in and my partners worked with paper, and omg, they were beautiful. I will get a pic of them as soon as possible and put it up on my flickr page. So now I look for bookmark swaps. This way, I can get any kinds and styles of bookmarks, and they are really nice. The only problem is, I don't know if I want to use them or just collect & protect them. :) My second swap was granny squares. Again 2 partners, but this time 4 squares each, and the colors were listed for this one, purple and white. Unfortunately, one of my partners only likes soft wool or 100% cotton, and I didn't have any of those colors in either type of yarn in my stash. So, I was gonna go shopping to get some, but we had a nasty storm. I was lucky my partner agreed to accept off white as I had some in my stash. I received 4 of my squares so far and am still waiting on the others. It's so exciting. You get to see what styles others like to make and you get presents in the mail.

I also joined a group for an ATC swap. I had no idea what an ATC was or how to make one :) but it was for Beltane and I really wanted to do it. So on to google I went in search of ATC. All I can say is WOW. For those that don't know, ATC stands for Artists Trading Cards. These cards are handmade by any type of artists, and the only rules on them is;
a) they must be 2.5 x 3.5,
b) they are created by you (thru the computer, hand painted, drawn, any way, etc)
c) they are never sold only traded with other artists.

So, I made my first ATC, and if I say so myself, which I am, it came out awesome. I will upload a pic of it on flickr page. I received mine and I love it, again uploading the pic later. I will make more ATC's, but I know I won't become addicted to them. HA suuure. LOL

So the next new thing for me to happen is I went to see a new arthritis doctor. I have been having so much trouble with my knees it's ridiculous. Well this guy tells me after looking at my x-rays that the only thing left for my right knee is to replace it. He's not the first to tell me this, and he even showed me the x-rays and explained them out to me really good, even this old broad understood. He must speak old broad, LOL, or is it dumb broad. Whatever. My left knee is just starting to erode away. To help with that he recommended sinvisk. I've had that before for my right knee and it does help. It will work anywhere from 6 mos. to a year. So, between that and the injections of cortisone, I will be fine. But the right knee needs replacement as soon as possible. Only problem is, I need to lose 20 lbs. because of health risk factors. I know I'm overweight and I have tried losing weight even tried those stupid pills and stuff. I can't really exercise because of my knees so it makes it tuff for me. He recommended weight watchers or the local hospitals nutritionist.

Well those are out. First weight watchers is $65 to join for 3 mos. Way out of my league. And going to a nutritionist weekly or whatever is out, as I hate to leave the house. It's not that I'm lazy, I just don't like to go out. So, on to google I went and searched diets. About.com has way tons of info. Between that and all that google pulled up, I have a page that tells me what amount of calories I am supposed to eat each day even without exercise. I guess when you exercise you get to eat more. LOL Good incentive.

I also learned a while back that eating 6 times a day small meals and snacks will help. So, I created a type of diet just for me. I eat about 6 or 7 small things a day. I had a problem with drinking cans of sprite everyday because I have a overactive bladder and water made me have to go more. But at 140 calories per soda, I have cut myself down to one can of sprite a day, and water, 0 calories, all the rest of the time to drink.

I also know that even though I have a long term goal, I had to break it down to small goals as well. If all I had was the long term goal, and that is 90 lbs total, for 11 mos to 1 year, I would get discouraged because of the length of time. So, if I break it up into smaller pounds and smaller time frames I will have a better chance at success. Like, 8 - 10 lbs per month. Even smaller would be 1 -2 lbs per week. Now I also know there will be weeks where I will lose more, and weeks where I will lose less. But because I know this ahead of time, I won't get as discouraged. Or at least I hope I won't. And I also know that the beginning of this diet I will lose more and quicker, and then I will stabalize and lose slower. But that's ok too, cause one of my goals is to get more energy to at least walk a few times a week. I know because of my knees I have to go short distances and not too fast, but I can do it. Google has a pedometer map that will actually help me map out a walking plan for myself. Way cool.

So all in all on the right side of this screen where I keep track of my crocheting, I will also keep track with my major goal, and all my broken down smaller goals. This way I can actually see my progress. Now even after I lose that 20 lbs for the doctor to do the surgery, I ain't gonna let him touch my knee until late fall. No way am I gonna be unable to go swimming, or what have you for the summer.

So if anyone reads this besides me, and you want some, if not all of the info on swap-bot or my dieting, or a buddy to diet with, drop me a line I'll be glad to share all info with you and I wouldn't mind having a buddy or two to help keep the hungries away. :)

Well by for now. OH and Happy St. Patricks day to all.

What Crafty things have I been doing?

For the past month or two, I have been working slowly on Tiff's place mat set. This set consists of 14 squares each mat made from # 3 thread. The squares are finished all that's left is to put then together. The design is called Christmas place mats, but instead of making them in red and green, I am using the colors to her kitchen, red and black. Also, I won't be putting in the ribbon to make it look like a wrapped package. I decided to fix the slippers, after I take a pic of them, I will be pulling them apart and redoing the soles. I'm also working on a pair of cottage sox, one done and one to go. I'm making myself a granny square coat. This is a pattern I purchased from Maggies Crochet. I am doing it in red, purple, and black chenille. Oh feels so soft. I just joined a group called Swapbot.com seems like a fun thing to do.

I have been reading a lot lately. I have a very mixed genre of books that I like. I love reading books in series. Here is a list of writers and the series that I read:

Laurell K. Hamilton ---------------------------- Marjorie M. Liu
Anita Blake Series ------------------------------Dirk & Steele
Merridith Gentry Series

Kelley Armstrong -------------------------------Lilith Saintcrow
Women of the Otherworld-----------------------Jill Kismet series

Keri Arthur------------------------------------- Kim Harrison
Riley Jenson Guardian series--------------------Rachel Morgan Series

Christeen Feehan--------------------------------Nora Roberts
Dark Series --------------------------------------the Hollow Series
Shadow Walker
Drake Sisters------------------------------------ Rebecca York
Leopard Series-----------------------------------Moon Series

Other Authors
John Sandford, James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell, Sue Grafton

As you can see, I love to read. That's why I belong to paperbackswap.com. I trade books with other readers. I am all caught up on my series that I am constantly searching for new ones to read. So it's safe to say, if I'm not crocheting, I'm reading. :)

Well that's it for an update, gotta go cook dinner for DH.

What have I been up too!!!

Wow look at this, I'm back here sooner than I usually am. LOL Oh I have been having fun entering contests. It's the bloggy carnival, gets me every time. The best part is that I get to see other bloggers sites, read some new stuff and try and find like minded people. I love the Internet, it connects with so many people and so many new things.

I haven't been crocheting much as my hands have been bothering me. Have been bad too, haven't been going to photo-therapy. Not really all my fault though, the car was broke. In fact hubby finally fixed it yesterday. Also haven't started our Tai Chi classes yet, for the same reason. But we're going tonight.

Getting 2 new computer screens. 19" LCD flat screens. As I said in my last post my 17" LCD flat screen died. So because I love to shop on ebay, (I really have a problem buying on there all the time), I went and purchased the 2 new screens. Got a great price and the seller is sending them free shipping through FedEx. I got 2 cause DH wanted one as well. His screen is a 13" fat Dell.

I said in my last post that my BF is prego. Well, we were all at cards Friday night, we play texas hold em, and she was laying on the bed with her son, Brae, (she had just changed his diaper and got him in his pj's), when my grandson, AJ, went in and started wrestling with Brae. I told him to be careful of Beth and asked if he knew why. He's only 3, but a smart cookie. He said yea she has a baby in her belly. Then he proceeded to ask her if she knew if it was a boy or girl. She told him she didn't know yet. He says if it's a girl I won't play with her, but if it's a boy I will. So cute. There are 5 couples, Mark & Michelle, Bubba & Paula, Beth & Mike, Dave & me, and my daughter, Tiffany, (her DH works), that play. Along with this group is 6 kidz. Amanda (7) & Kristen (5) belong to M&M, Lexia (5) belongs to B&P, Braeden (1) belongs to B&M, and Tatiana (6) & AJ (3) belong to Tiff. As you can see AJ and Brae are the only boys. Well Brae is only one and can't play the same as the others cause he's a baby. So when the other kidz play, the girls say things like, lets play the girls against the boys. So not fair. Poor AJ gets left in the cold. For the longest time he would do mean things to the girls, like hit, pull hair and such because they always teased him. But then they'd come and tell the grown-ups and AJ would get punished. He wizened up to that a bit. He will go off and play on his own. Besides, I told all the girls the if they tease AJ and then come and tattle, then Tatiana was not going over any more, and I would be very upset. All the kidz love me. So, no one teases him anymore.

Well, enough for today. I am off to play POGO.
Blessings

past the holiday blues & into the freezing new year

Wow, it's been a while since I wrote here. With the holidays and all the work I was doing trying to get all of my items crocheted, and dealing with some health issues was so hectic. I crocheted quite a few things and guess what? I forgot to take pics of any of them. DUH. I was so excited that I had finished everything that I totally forgot the pics. Sometimes I can be a real airhead. :)

Today my monitor decided to croak. I had a nice lcd 17" flat screen and now it's gone. It decided to just up and die. I was so mad until I looked at the sticker on it that told me she was 10 yrs old. So, I realized I got a good amount of time out of her and now I can upgrade to a larger screen. But until I get my new monitor, I am stuck using my daughter's Dell fat 13". What a difference. This thing is huge and takes over my whole desk, goes right to the edge, and man is the screen small. Makes me really think I'm going blind. LOL.

The first project I decided to make for the new year was a pair of slippers for myself. HA HA did they come out funny looking. When I get a chance to take a pic, I will definitely be putting it up, just so I can laugh at myself. Then I made DH a ski mask hat. LOL that's a little funny looking too. I didn't compensate for using thick wool, I wanted to keep him warm, and it came out looking like a helmet from the day when men wore suits of armor. LOL He likes it any way. Gosh, nothing like starting the new year out laughing at myself.

I am now working on a butterfly shawl for myself from a pattern from the 70's. Taking my time on that cause I really don't feel like laughing over this one. :) I am also working on finishing up all the WIP's that I have lying around. I have 3 mittens missing their mates, a hooded scarf missing it's hood, a granny square afghan that just needs to be put together and it has been waiting for about 7 yrs now, and 2 slippers missing their mates. I think I'll also be working on a pair of sox, and something in thread. I like to do thread and yarn projects at the same time, this way my eyes don't go googly and my hands don't hurt too much.

Just found out, or I should say I guessed, my best friend is pregnant again. YAY. I just hope she has a girl this time. She has a little boy, Braedan, and he will be 1 on Feb. 9th. He is my little sweetie. But I really want to crochet some little girly clothes. I mean I make things for him and my two grandkids, Tatiana 6, and Ashton 3, but a baby girl would be so much fun. I am having fun searching out and making awesome little girl dresses, skirts, pants, tops, and such for Tati, and she loves it all. I made both grandkids a pair of mittens with a matching scarf just after Christmas, but Tati says she can't wear her mittens because they have holes in them. LOL. I tried to explain that those aren't holes just the way the stitches are made. She is just too cute.

Went to the knee doctor last month for him to look at my baker cyst and he didn't even look at that. NOOOOO, he said "oh look at that, both knees need to be drained of fluid" and then he never numbed it just jammed them needles into my knees, drained them, then shot them up with cortisone. Let me tell you, when in pain, I have a dirty, loud mouth. I screamed a nasty word, begins with F, in his office and he had a waiting room full of people. Then he told me I'll be walking like a 16 year old. Well, he was wrong. I still walk like I have a load of crap in my pants. LOL. He is expecting me back next month to do it again. NOT. I also started photo therapy for my Lichen Planus. I said cool free tanning. They make me cover my face. Some tan huh. My regular doctor thinks I'm in the early stages of COPD. I need to quit smoking, I tried, it's not an easy thing to do. I have not only an additction to nicotene I have an addiction to menthol. Someone told me that when I try again to suck on menthol cough drops. I just might do that as I didnt' do that last time.

DH and I started taking Tai Chi. Our goal is to become more flexible. I also think this will help me with my meditating. We did a 10 min trial and it definitely seems like this is perfect for us. We actually start this coming Tuesday. I'm psyched up for it. I hope we get the results we're both looking for. One of my new year resolutions was to lose weight, get physically more fit, and start eating healthier. This is step one, step two is using the dvd "no crunch abs", and step three is the food thing. That will be the hardest as we like to eat what ever we want. But now our bodies don't seem to digest like it used to. Ahhh getting old sux. :)

Well, that's it for today. I am gonna get the family members to take pics of their Christmas gifts that I made and email them to me so I can put them up in my flikr.

So, Blessings to you all, may you walk in the light.