sprung

It's official - spring is here! It's easy for me to keep track of the vernal equinox, with it being my birthday and all. And my husband's birthday. And his twin brother's birthday. Sharing a birthday can be a bummer, but I won't elaborate on that now because so far this one has been a-ok. The three of us get together every birthday and have supper, taking turns from year to year on who pays or cooks. This year we'll be going out to one of our favorite restaurants for a meal that's already making my mouth water: macadamia encrusted halibut stuffed with king crab. That makes my frosted mini wheats breakfast feel pretty unsubstantial sitting in my tummy.

What else for today? Well, some family drama last night. In a nutshell, the dear husband ticked off his little nephew at a family gathering a few months ago. We thought that all was fine and forgotten since the tears had been replaced by laughter by the end of the night. Imagine our surprise when he opened his birthday card and saw that, along with the b-day wishes, the 7 year old wrote: You're a devil you made me cry happy birthday NOT!

I'll spare you the details of what followed (from virtually EVERY one of my in-laws). But here are my feelings on the subject - as parents, why on earth would you send that card? If the kiddo was really that upset by it, why didn't his folks get in touch with us sooner to address it? Or, better yet, use it as a teaching opportunity for him to learn that holding onto anger and frustration isn't healthy? There has been something weird between my husband and this particular brother (the boy's father) for years. It seems pretty clear to me that this is an issue between the two of them and it has nothing at all to do with the kid.

Enough on that - at least it brought some tough topics to light for the family. And we'll certainly remember this birthday. The card, however, is covered in coffee grounds at the bottom of the trash can. It didn't even make it to the recycling bin.

This doesn't mean I'm having an unhappy birthday - not at all. So far I have just lounged, drank a lot of coffee, caught up on my favorite blogs, and planned a long dog walk. Which is what I'm about to do.

urge to purge

Uh-oh, I've been neglecting the blog again. But that just means I've been keeping myself busy in real life, and isn't that better?

I've been cleaning & organizing like crazy lately. One of my new year's resolutions is to go through EVERYTHING in the house and recycle, give away, or toss whatever we don't use/need/want. My honeypie and I are pretty good about keeping the house tidy, but it's amazing to see the amount of straight up junk occupying our closets. So, my first order of business in tackling the house: whip those closets into shape.

Here is a peek at our linen closet before. I counted FORTY FIVE pillow cases stashed in there! For 2 people?

And here is the after - much better, but still not quite what I'd like it to be.


This is embarrassing. This was my side of the bedroom closet. It had been in this sorry state for longer than I'd like to admit. Stuff was constantly falling off hangers and being stuffed into the shelves. Things that I wear weekly were mixed in with clothes that haven't fit in over a year. Ugh... there's another resolution.

I began tackling it by pulling stuff out and sorting it into piles. This isn't even all of it.

Finally - I can actually see my clothes! Since putting the closet back together, getting dressed in the morning is much more efficient.

I also cleaned up our library/craft room - check it out here. After cleaning out 2 closets and 1 room, there was an awful lot of stuff to kick out of the house. We had been saving magazines for ages. It's hard to let go of them after you pay up to five bucks a pop! But let go of them we did. This shows about half of the 'zines we ended up recycling.

With all of the stuff from the craft room, I more than filled our recycling bin (more like a dumpster - the thing is freakin' gigantic). Our fireplace seat is covered in stuff to donate - and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I still have to deal with the rest of the house!

weekend not away

I thought we were going away this weekend. Visions of this cozy little cabin snug in the snow have been running through my head. Breakfast at the Talkeetna Roadhouse. Bundling up for a walk along the river with a big man and a small dog.

Poop. We're not going.

harumph

Ok, so just a few days ago I couldn't say enough about how sweet and good my old ball and chain is. And then you know what? He thinks I am a 35 year old redhead. For reals. First off, I don't see how he can get my age mixed up. We have the same birthday, for crying out loud. I am exactly four years younger than him and I always will be. I am a freakin' baby of 32 compared to that old man of 36! And the redhead thing... he saw some dumb joke about brunettes on tv and laughed and said he wondered what life would be like if he had married one. And I responded with, 'Umm, you did.' Nope - he's completely convinced that he married a redhead. Now, it just so happens that I hold several redheads very near and dear - and as much as I'd like to be a member of the club (I have dyed my hair red a dozen times over the years, but not for a long time) I am just a brown head. Otherwise known as a brunette. A light brown head, but I'm pretty sure that's still brunette. Right? We've got black, blonde, red, brown, white, grey, and I think covers the hair colors.

In other news - my boss is gone. I mean she's completely gone! She put in her notice yesterday and our director told her to go ahead and leave. So there's a weird vibe running through the office now. She wasn't exactly fired, but that's what it feels like. We're all a little creeped out by the whole thing. She's a very nice woman, great at her job, not the best supervisor ever but oh well. She had a new plan on her back burner for several months and it came to light prematurely - which directly led to her cleaning out her office at 9:30 yesterday morning. Tearful goodbyes, awkward glances in the hallway, whispered conversations in the bathroom. Ick.

i made something...

what a mighty good man

I just gotta love that husband of mine. Have I mentioned how adorable he is? I hope he keeps the beard. It appears every winter without fail, but it always vanishes mysteriously after a couple of months. He says it's itchy. But beauty takes pain, right? If I were a man I'd love to mess around with facial hair. I'd switch around between big ol' chops, a handlebar moustache, various beards... but no goatees. I get the urge to reach out and shave them off. Ooh and no tiny moustaches, either. Ick.

Happy last day of 2009 and Peace Everywhere! I big time dig the card illustration below - I only wish I'd thought of it first, but must credit this guy. I like you, Mr. Biggs! Can I please steal your ideas and run with them?

No major reflections on 2009 for me - it was a good year, full of family & friends (2 visits to Maine & NYC!), some much needed home repairs & decorating, loads of camping & exploring AK this summer, and some good times with me hubby... not to mention Mr. Obama. The more that I think about it, 2009 really has been a fantastic year! Hooray! Thanks!

I had a nice chat with Dear Old Dad this morning. He was pretty peeved that his trusty snowblower seems to have shat the bed. Seeing as they're anticipating the storm of the century in northern New England this weekend, it really is a drag. That and his super long driveway in the middle of nowhere. But, he's a scrappy fellow and always handy with a shovel.

I wish I could be there - I love a good storm. We're still fairly warm and clear up here. It makes for nice driving weather, but we really need a good snow to freshen things up. I hear there's a chance that the ice fog will be back soon, which would mean a return of the gorgeous frostiness we had until a few weeks back. Here are a few photos I took on December 12th:

beautiful

Firekites - AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Lucinda Schreiber on Vimeo.

have resolve, will resolve.

I challenged sister Jessy to blog it up with me in the new year. So, Jessy, here goes!

Holy mackerel, it's been a while. So long, in fact, that I had given up on this here blog in favor of a shiny new one out there in cyberspace. But, after struggling to set up the new one I thought - why reinvent the wheel? Part of what made me want to ditch this one for keeps (I was going to delete or cancel or edit or something) was my initial theme here ~ Baby or Bust! I'm much more Busted than Babied lately, and feeling like I don't even want to think about it, let alone pour out my guts to no one in particular. So, guess what? I'm not dwelling on it. I will be in over my head eventually, but not today.

Today is for getting back into this. Not just this, but this is it - what a goofy name. I couldn't think of anything better back then. Ah well.

I'm loving this artist, Charley Harper. For Christmas, I got a memory game with his awesome images as a gift for my nephew... and another as a gift for myself. It's more fun than it sounds, and I see something new every time I look at it. Here are the pictures from a few of my favorite memory tiles:

March: Lion or Lamb?

Uh oh - I've been caught sewing when I should be knitting! Sorry, babymakers! What a great example of me getting fired up for something.... and then something else... and then something else... and then on to the next big thing! Story of my life.

Here's my new project: staying warm. We've got house heating issues again. Danny and I went away for the weekend and came home to a cold house. Long story short - a new boiler system is being installed today. When you add in pimping my ride last month, that's more than $6k in gotta-do-it emergency fixes! What's going on here? It's a hard lesson in home economics. Thank you Danny for being so great with money!

At least the sun is free - and we've got lots of it right now. It's gorgeous out today - and so warm! We've been spoiled by an early spring here. I found pussy willows outside my office last week. I've got them in a canning jar on my desk. Over the weekend they burst into little pincushions, covered in pollen.

Outside we still have lots of snow and too much ice, but the roads are clearing up and the temps are above freezing. I think it's a trick, though. My mother in law reminded me of the 3 feet of snow we got on St. Patrick's Day a few years back. If spring is here, let it be. If not, bring on the snow. I like it. But I'm glad it's warm out today so Danny's not freezing in a house without heat.

fuel

My sewing fire has been stoked by... a customer! The first official customer (the kind that pays money).
I can't say it enough, I just love this sewing thing. Making something cool & functional out of what was once a pile of fabric... how sweet is that?! I did make a total dud this weekend, though. It's so predictable and boring looking - but I did spend ages and ages sewing it perfectly. Or nearly perfectly. I'm sure it has a potential owner out there in the world, somewhere.

That's all for now - just thought I'd write a little. I'm trying to get better at this.

Actually, I have plenty of real news, too. More on that later.

another attempt

Could I be worse at this blogging stuff? Seems pretty simple - but I haven't been very good at finding the time to do it lately. Actually, I've found plenty of time but have chosen to do things other than blog. Imagine that. So, what have I been up to since December 14, 2007? Not a whole hell of a lot, but here's a taste:

-Christmas was fun & wonderful, as always
-New Year's was terribly depressing, but who cares
-Still not smoking (almost 5 months, yeah!)
-Back on the WW - have lost 10.2 lbs to date
-I'm finally kicking some booty at work (it's taken a year to fix what my predecessors left me)
-My honeypie is now Officer Kelly... Anchorage Jail's finest
-My ride and I have been through a lot, financially speaking - but now I can drive again

But the most exciting development? I'm finally sewing! And sewing pretty well! And loving it! And wanting to teach the world my limited bag of tricks! I've already spread the joy to a couple of friends - uh oh, now I have competition. But, since my home computer has pretty much shit the bed, I won't be posting any photos any time soon. I'd love to, becuase I've made some really cool bags and pillows. Yes, basic stuff - but my own designs. My next projects (well, not necessarily immediately) are a robe and a chair slipcover.



Thanks for bugging me about blogging, Bee's Knees! There ya go. And now I know that a mulva is not a dog's crotch.

Money & Stuff

Ok, so I screwed up. Repeatedly. I've never been great with money, but not what I'd call terrible, either. Ok, maybe bad? But I have no credit card debt and I'm proud of that fact.

Let me back up a bit. I am now on a Danny Designed budget after severely injuring my bank account over vacation. Today is the first pay day since the new budget was installed. I have set amounts of money for every comitment, including 'fun' money. It looks totally do-able and it's funny how the control is somehow liberating. I know that doesn't really make sense, but it has helped the nagging worries pipe down a bit.

The bummer is that all of this happened during The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Christmas is all about the big bucks, right? Alright, I know it isn't, technically. But I want to get a kick-ass holiday going and that involves spending the dough. So, I've toned down my plans quite a bit. Thankfully I'm just about done Christmas shopping - that's part of what landed me here in the first place! Nice going, Faith.

yikes

Geez, Louise, there is so much weird stuff going on in Anchorage lately. For example, in the past week there have been 2 unrelated machete attacks. I've heard that we have one of the highest crime rates in the country. True? Hmm... lemme do a little research.

I don't know if that helped much. I poked around a little more and found that Alaska is the 7th most dangerous state in the country, based on reported crimes.

For more on the machete madness, click here for the first one and here for the latest.

Here we goesies.

I dropped out for a while there... but here's the start of another effort at blah-blah-blogging.

Yesterday I returned from my big trip home, which was great. I got to spend a ton of time with my family, but not so much with friends. It went by so fast that I felt like I had no time to just chill. The usual vacation problem. Why does that happen? It's vacation, but ends up busier than real life. Not that I'm complaining! It's really nice to be home, though. Now I've got my Danny, my bed, my shower, my coffee maker... aaaaaaaaaah.

I'm struggling to stay awake through some serious jet lag. I was in airports & planes for 18 of the past 48 hours. The trip back was ok, but the trip there was hell. Imagine the worst stomach flu of your life. On a plane - make that 3 planes. From Alaska to Maine. Yeah, no thanks.

Yippee! Tonight my DVR will be capturing this for me:

Jeezum crow

It's been a while. Oops.

Danny is doing very well - no sign of freaky BP drama. His knee is still bothering him and we're in a bit of a battle with the hospital over who should pay for it. The good thing to come out of all that was that we're talking & thinking about our health more than we ever have. And, oh, what fun we have with that.

I had my follow-up appointment with the new doc today. We went over the results of my recent blood work & ultrasound. She told me to keep the WW going and we'd talk again in a few months. Geez. No congrats on quitting smoking, even! Huh?

It's no shocker I need to lose weight. So, finally, I decided to get a gym membership. One of the benefits of marriage is a cheap joint account at our local gym, where Danny's been a member for years. Tomorrow will be my first visit. That sounds great, no question here about the fact that exercising and eating better are better for me and my potential offspring. The best part - Danny's footing the bill. What a guy. I'm sure that means I'll have to play racquetball partner at some point...

Still no warmth from that doctor, though. During both visits I've had some pretty emotional moments - no response. When I leave I just feel discouraged. Blech. I know she's smart and experienced and has had great information and blah blah blah, but I really want to feel a connection. Is that so much to ask? Maybe it is when it comes to doctors. We've had such shit luck with other doctors lately that I feel like I should stick with her even though I'm not getting what I want out of it. Any advice out there? I also feel like jumping ship and finding another doctor. Or just saying screw it and going with a preferred provider to save some money. A significant chunk of money.

Another thing on this clinic... when I talked to the nurse last week, she said I'd most likely be prescribed Metformin based on my results. Nope. She also said I'd need the endometrial biopsy, which I prepared for today. Nope. The doc basically said 'Maybe someday...' on both of those. The doc also brought up Clomid at one point, but then changed the subject. When I asked about it, she said she's sure I need it, but doesn't want to give it to me now. I know, I know, I know, I know I know, because my bod's not ready. Man, don't fatties reproduce? Umm, yes, otherwise our population would be dwindling. Enough about that. It makes me kinda mad and sad.

Oh wait, there's more. When I got home from the doc's I turned on the TV just long enough to see a talk show all about dead beat dads and baby mama drama and meth moms... what the hell? Alright, I'm done being pathetic for now.

New news

Jonny's home! I'll see him tonight and I'm totally psyched.

I talked to the nurse at my doc's office yesterday and she said:

-I definitely have PCOS
-My bloodwork looks ok so far (but they haven't received all of the results yet)
-My endometrium is too thick and I'll need a biopsy soon
-The enlarged ovary is just because of the many cysts, nothing scary

So - I can relax until my next appointment.

Thai Kitchen with Jonny tonight. Yum.

Alright already

Wow - I know I went on and on with that last post, but there was a lot to say. I have trouble being brief sometimes. I should have emphasized that Danny is doing just fine, but we are keeping a close eye on how he's feeling. He does have a bum knee now, so he won't be returning to racquetball as soon as he'd like. I tried to call him at work a few minutes ago to check in and see how he's feeling, but he couldn't come to the phone. I could hear some patients screaming in the background so it sounds like a wild day at the psych hospital. I don't imagine he'll be able to rest his knee today. He almost stayed home from work, too, bummer.

So I know I shouldn't have, but last night I spent some more web time investigating the findings from my ultrasound. Why did I do that? I want to call my doc and find out what the deal is, but she probably hasn't even seen the pictures yet. I don't want to waste time worrying about nothing. What use does worrying serve, even if it is something nasty? Which it isn't.

No more hospital

It's been a while since my last post - but we've had our hands full around here.

On Tuesday, Danny went to see his doctor and was prescribed medication for high blood pressure. His doc said that he wasn't sure whether or not he needed the meds, but said to try them and come back on Friday to follow up on some blood work. Danny took the first dose on Tuesday and the second on Wednesday. Throughout Wednesday, Danny noticed that he wasn't feeling great. When I came home from work, we looked at the info printed on the meds' insert and it said that a little light headedness at first was normal. Danny decided he felt well enough to continue with his traditional Wednesday (D's Friday) night plans - out for drinks with the boys.

Around 11:00, one of Danny's brothers, Patrick, and a friend, Angie, showed up at our house with a stumbling, out of it Danny in tow. Danny made his way upstairs and I helped him settle into bed in the guest room. I wondered what was going on - it's not like Danny to get plastered, which is how he appeared. Pat & Angie explained that Danny had something like a seizure while they were out and so they took him home. They hadn't seen it, but another friend said that Danny was sitting on a bar stool and suddenly his head tilted back, he made a snoring sound, and his arm shook at his side. Danny's eyes were half closed and he was unresponsive to voices or touch. After about a minute, he snapped out of it but broke into a heavy, cold sweat.

I called the local nurse emergency line to ask about the meds and tell them what had happened and they said to get to an ER right away. When I told Danny we were going to head to the hospital, he refused to go. This is not unlike him, as he's not crazy about doctors. But he wasn't speaking clearly and he was definitely not himself. So then I called 911 and paramedics arrived in about five minutes. They checked his blood pressure and saw that it was running pretty low (about 90/50) then ran an EKG. It was so surreal - all of this going on right in our bedroom.

The EKG results didn't show anything unusual, but the paramedics still said he needed to get to the ER. Once again, Danny said he didn't want to go. But they insisted, and after a while Danny finally agreed. He didn't take the ambulance, though - I drove. Pat met us at the hospital, which was nice.

In the ER, they ran another EKG with similar results. Danny was hooked up to BP, pulse, and oxygen monitors and had an IV site put in to draw several vials of blood. He was able to talk with the doctors and nurses, but Pat and I filled in a lot of missing information since he wasn't always making sense. The ER doc ordered a chest x-ray to see what might be going on with his heart. Danny was wheeled down to radiology on a gurney but during the x-ray he had to stand up. The wooziness came back and Danny blacked out again, this time falling onto the floor.

They quickly brought Danny back to the ER and hooked him back up to the monitors. What followed was the scariest time of my life. The new BP reading was even lower, and dropping. They hooked up a sugar drip to his IV and told me to keep him awake. Danny was unresponsive to all of my talking and poking. After a few minutes, an alarm went off on the BP monitor. Pat grabbed one of the nurses, who set the machine to continuous BP readings. The lowest reading was 66/34. They increased the IV drip and fluttered around the bed, adjusting wires and checking the monitors. They adjusted the bed to drop Danny's head below his heart.

Finally, after a long half hour, Danny's BP came back up. He was able to make eye contact again and then able to talk. While his pressure still wasn't ideal, it was stable and rising. The doctor came back in with results from the blood work and x-ray. Everything looked fine, so our likely culprit, the BP medication, was blamed. We were sent home at 5am with orders to take it slow for a while and watch for more dizziness.

I held it together at the hospital - it was like I was with one of my clients. I've done the medical emergency thing before with work, but never like this. On our way home, I cried a little with relief. On the phone with Mom the next day, I lost it. I hate to even think about how scary and unreal the whole thing was.

Danny still felt lousy on Thursday. I stayed home from work to be with him and we had visitors all day who had heard what happened and wanted to stop by. He slept a lot and barely ate, still feeling woozy.

On Friday, we both had doc appointments that had already been scheduled. Mine was back at the hospital for a pelvic ultrasound and a 2 hour fasting/glucose round of blood & urine tests. During the ultrasound the main findings were that I definitely have ovarian cysts (lots of them) and that my right ovary is much larger than my left. I'll learn more about all that in my next doc appt, at the end of this month. When I looked up 'enlarged ovary' online, all I found was awful stuff, so I'm done with that research.

Danny saw his doc (the one who'd prescribed the bad news meds)and told him what had happened. We expected an apology or something, but that wasn't going to happen. The doc did agree to take Danny off the prescription (we had already thrown it out, of course). Danny has another appointment coming up with a podiatrist to check out his foot, which has been causing him pain for years.

Well - after all that, we sure didn't feel like returning to the hospital. But we did. Tonight. When Danny blacked out and fell at the ER, he tweaked out his knee. He called the hospital tonight to let them know, and they asked him to come back in. So, back to the ER we went for more x-rays. They told him he has water on the knee and to take ibuprofen. We wanted to be on the safe side, and especially wanted to let them know he'd been hurt while under their care. Why did they make him stand when he was in there for blacking out? He could have at least leaned against something. Anyway, we're Hoping the hospital will spring for the second visit.

And I'm still not smoking.

First snow

Yesterday morning, Danny woke me up before leaving for work to tell me that it snowed in the night! I popped out of bed to see, and it was just beautiful. We got a little over an inch of snow. As the day went on, some of it melted but most of it stuck around.

Nice - the first snow of the season. Early, too. We always have plenty of snow by Halloween, but usually don't get any 'til later in October. Now it's cold. It was only 19 degrees out when I got up this morning. My car didn't want to start. It seems a little soon to be plugging it in every night, but it really doesn't like the cold.

I was looking around online for a photo of our first snow and found this little piece about life in AK:

Anchorage is surrounded by mountains, the scenery is beautiful any time of the year. You can still find moose and squirrels and birds and even sometimes bears in the neighbourhoods around it. If you go outside of the city is another story. super wild. that's where it is richer, in the variety of fauna and just the views are breathtaking. You name it: Bears, Eagles, Fish, otters, Moose, Deers, even penguins.

Deers? Even penguins? Maybe at Santa's workshop.

Today marks one week since quitting smoking. I can definitely feel the difference in my chest. I can take big, deep breaths with no yuckiness. It feels great! As for the urge to smoke, it's still there, but not as strong as it was. I can smell the stink when I'm around smokers. I'm glad I don't smell like an ashtray any more.

Later on this week I'll be headed to the hospital for my blood draw. Danny will be making his own deposit, too. He got some solid advice from a friend who had the same testing: open the container before you get started. Good point, I thought.