Another One

As it turns out, I did have enough yarn to get a third washcloth knit.

And that's what I did today, between getting my eyes checked, my oil changed, and my boobies smashed.

I didn't get new glasses, though.  I was sure it had been two years since I went to the eye doctor, but apparently I went last year.  My insurance only pays for new frames every other year, so the new glasses will have to wait.  Or I can take my old glasses up there and get new lenses put into them.  If I wanted to.

I took the last of my Doxycycline this morning, and I go back to Dr. Lee for my follow up tomorrow.  The lady was supposed to set up my appointment with the infectious disease guy and call me back, but she never called me back.  I don't know what's going on with that.

Finally, my thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the devastating tornado that hit Oklahoma today.

Confidence

I've heard that shooting produces the same effect, and there isn't really anyone around here that I'd want to be kissing on anyway, so I got the old bow out and went and shot a bit this afternoon for the first time since before I got sick.

Yeah, I still got it.

I saw an article online this morning that said that men think a woman wearing red nail polish is confident.  Seriously?  Red nail polish?  No.

Now, a grouping like this

now that is confidence. 

Remiss

So, what did I do on my first day of my mini vacation?  Well, apart from about 7 loads of laundry, and a trip to Wal-mart, I didn't do much.

I watched 6 episodes of Dr. Who, and three episodes of Call The Midwife.  Two of those Dr. Who episodes were Classic, from season 2.  It was only a half hour show back then, and was hokey like you would not believe!  Still, they're very fun to watch, and I'm enjoying going through the old seasons. 

Oh, and I knit two washcloths.

No, as a matter of fact, I haven't woven the ends in yet.  I just kind of hid them behind the washcloths or the photo. 

The yarn is Sugar & Creme, and the color is Desert Rising.  I've got this much yarn left, and I'm trying to decide if it's enough to knit a third washcloth.  Since I'm doing face cloths, they're on the small side, so this just might be enough to get another one done. 

Really, that's about it.  I just mostly rested today.

While I was downloading the photos from my camera to my computer, I found this picture of a hat I finished a couple of weeks ago.  I realized I had been remiss in that I had never posted this one to the blog, so here it is:

It is knit from KnitPicks Swish, but I can't remember which color it is. I think it's Mulberry.  It's probably in an old post somewhere, but I'm too lazy to go look it up. I'm on vacation, remember?

I do remember that I had to rip the first hat out and start over, because I didn't have enough yarn to finish it in that size.  Well, this time, I was kind of sweating it, but I managed to finish with just this much yarn left over.

That's cutting it just a little too close, don'cha think?

That's about it for today.  I'm going to go walk these dogs, because Jesse keeps farting.

If you  think that's TMI for the blog, just try being in the same room with him. 

Yeah...

I'm Free

My mini vacation has begun! 

I'm off work until next Friday.  

Group Leader Fernando wasn't too happy about it.  He said he knows where I live and was going to make life very unpleasant for me.  I retorted that he already made life very unpleasant and that's why I needed a whole week off.  So there.

I wasn't going to tell him at all.  I was going to let it be a surprise, but he came and asked me if I was going to come to work tomorrow.  I said that I hadn't decided yet.  See, when you have vacation on either Monday or Friday, you get the corresponding Saturday off with no absence counted against you.  So really, it was my choice to go in tomorrow or not. 

But I hadn't decided yet. 

Like I said, I wasn't going to tell Fernando.  I'd told my shift supervisor, because he had to approve my days off, but I was going to let Fernando be surprised.  But Vanessa popped up and said, "You know she'd got vacation Monday, don't you?" 

This being a G rated blog, I can't repeat what Fernando said. 

Let's just say he wasn't happy.  That's when I decided to come clean and tell him that I would be off through Thursday.  That's when he said he was going to make life very unpleasant. That's when... well, you know the rest.

He said he was going to do TP one day, paint one day, eggs...I told him to make sure he got the right house, because he's liable to get shot.  What with all the rednecks in my neighborhood (including yours truly), yeah, that's a real possibility.

And that's when I decided to go ahead and stay home tomorrow. 

I won't just be laying around all week, though.  I've got doctors appointments Monday and Tuesday, and I want to go to the zoo Wednesday or Thursday, but they're predicting rain.  I'll have to keep an eye on the weather. 

And of course, there will be knitting

And there will be Dr. Who,

And probably some Sherlock, as well. 

And all too soon, I'll be getting up and going back to work.  Maybe by then, Fernando will appreciate me a little bit more, and maybe he'll have figured out that I'm not quite the incompetent idiot he seems to think I am. 

But knowing him, probably not. 

Blankie Progress

I've got the second layer of blocks done on Kyle's blankie.  Here it is stretched-- well not quite stretched-- across my couch. 

I think once it's off the needles where I can really stretch it out, it'll be plenty big enough.

Here's a close up of the squares, all scrunched up on the needles. 

That's about it for tonight.  I've got a real blog post coming soon, but I'm still getting used to these 9 hour days. 

You were lucky to get this much. 

Chats On The Farmhouse Porch

1. Do you have any fun plans for the summer?
   
   No. Summer is our busy season at work, so I'll be working 6 days a week. That doesn't leave a lot of time for fun. I am going to go up to the zoo one day next week, though. That's about it.
   
   
2. Are you currently dieting or following a specific eating plan?
   
   Not right now. I was watching what I eat, but this medicine they've got me on for the RMSF makes me so hungry. I decided to just wait until I'm done with it to go back on my diet.
   
   
3. How often do you wear blue jeans (or any other color of denim)?
   
   Every day except Sunday. I wear jeans to work, but when I get home, I change into shorts-- or flannel pants/sweats in the winter time.
   
   
4. Who is your favorite singer?
   
   King George, of course! Um, that's George Strait, for those of you who may not be fans of country music.
   
   
5. Have you cooked anything interesting lately?
   
   Not really. I did try an egg free white cake recipe Sunday. It tasted OK, but has a very dense texture.  Almost like a pound cake.  If anyone knows of a light and fluffy egg free white cake, I'd love to have the recipe.  I've got a good chocolate cake recipe, but can't find a white cake recipe to save my life.   Today I made chicken and sausage gumbo. One of these days I'm going to figure out how to make decent gumbo.
   
   

Thanks for joining me for this week's chat.  I hope you enjoyed the cake and coffee.  Be sure and come back next week for another chat.

Stay safe, friends.

A Couple Of PSAs

Lesson for the day #1:  When resetting your alarm because you have to be at work an hour earlier than usual, make sure said alarm is turned ON before going to bed.

Lesson for the day #2:  Heed the warning in this video BEFORE getting Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever because you didn't check yourself for ticks.




You're welcome.

Seedlings

I've got lots of little stuffs coming up in my flower bed.

I can't wait to see what they become.

Yes, I know there are weeds in there, too.  I'm not going to pull them, though.  I did that last year and ended up pulling up stuff I wanted to keep.  So, I'll leave the weeds.

They're flowers, too, once you get to know them.

A New Strategy

I've come up with a new strategy for coping with men.

When a man starts getting on my nerves, I just imagine him wearing a kilt.  

When I do,  one of two things happens.

Either he looks so sexy I can't stay mad at him,

Or he looks so ridiculous, I dissolve into gigglefits.  And who can stay mad when you're dissolving into gigglefits? 

Either way, I feel a whole lot better. 

So, what'cha think?  Will it work? 

Bad News

Ever have one of those days when you wish you were a little kid again, and you could crawl up into your daddy's lap and just know that no matter what, everything was going to be OK?  I seem to be having a lot of those here lately.

I got my lab results back from the doctor today.  I have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. 

Yeah.  No wonder I felt so bad. 

I have to keep taking my Doxycycline and go back to see Dr. Lee in two weeks.   I also have to go down to Jackson to see the infectious disease guy.  The lady at the doctor's office is going to set that one up for me.  I'm kind of irked, because she didn't even ask what day would be good for me to go.  I sure hope she doesn't set it up on the day when I already have several appointments scheduled.

That could really throw a wrench into my works. 

Sigh...

Updates

Despite the nausea which typically accompanies Doxycycline,  I am feeling much better now.  The fever is gone, and the soreness in my neck is nearly gone.  The rash is still stubbornly hanging on, but it's starting to fade just a little bit.  They still haven't gotten the blood test results back, but he said it'd take 4 to 5 days to get them.  No matter, as long as I'm getting well.

Since I didn't really feel like doing anything for several days, I watched a lot of Dr. Who, and did a lot of knitting.   The sock is coming along. 

I'm almost to the heel flap.  Just a couple more inches to go.

I also cast on a new hat with one of the yarns I bought the day Christi and I went shooting and shopping.

I didn't really think it would be making a spiral stripe like this.  I was hoping for a more variegated look.  This color is called Lotus.  Hmmm, I would have called it Fall Foliage, myself.  But they didn't ask me.

And the blanket is coming along, as well.

Kindly ignore my foot.  Thank you.

In better news, I'm taking 4 days off work week after next-- May 20-23.  That's a Monday through a Thursday.  I couldn't get the Friday off, or I would have taken the whole week.  Anyway, I've got my eye appointment and mammogram scheduled for Monday.  The rest of the week, I'm going to take a vacation. 

Well, it'll have to be a staycation, since I can't really afford to go anywhere.  I want to go up to the zoo on one of those days, and I want to try to get together with Christi and/or Amy another one of those days.  The third day, I don't know yet.  I'm sure I'll think of something.

I'm open to suggestions. 

Chats On The Farmhouse Porch

1. How many load of laundry do you do each week (about)?   Well, it's just me, so I only do three to four loads per week.  I'm not complaining.   2. Where do your household pets sleep? If you have no pets, please skip to the next question.   Rylea sleeps on either the couch or the love seat.  Jesse sleeps on my bed during the day.  I don't let him in the bed with me at night, so he sleeps right beside me on the floor.  The cat sleeps wherever she wants to.   3. What is your favorite thing to listen to while you drive?   Music.  I recently found a real country station, that plays music from the mid 90's and earlier.  I don't like today's country.  It isn't country any more.   4. Do you have to do a big clean-up when you have company, or are you always ready for guests?   I don't have guests.  I'm a pretty extreme introvert, and I can't stand having people in my house.   On the rare occasion that I do have guests, they just have to take my house as it is.  I keep it pretty clean, though, so it's not too big of a deal.    5. What's your favorite breakfast food?   Eggs!  Fried, especially, but I do like them scrambled, too.  Unfortunately, I'm allergic to eggs, so my favorite breakfast food that I can actually eat is cream of wheat.  The cooked kind, not instant.   
That's it for this week's chat.  Thanks for joining us here on the porch.  Be sure to come back next week for another chat.

I've Been Sick

It was Wednesday when I pulled the tick out of my head. 

I didn't think too much of it.  When you spend any time out of doors, and when you have dogs, you run into the occasional tick.  So, I just pulled it out and flushed it, like I'd done dozens of times before.

Thursday, I noticed a little tenderness behind my left ear.  By Friday evening, both sides of my neck and ears were swollen and tender, and I was running a fever.  It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before, and I finally began to wonder if it was related to that tick bite.

Saturday morning the rash appeared and I knew, so today I went to the doctor.

He gave me a prescription for an antibiotic, and drew blood to test for Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.  The treatment will still be the same, but I expect if it's one of those, he'll have to report it to the CDC.

He told me to keep taking the antibiotic even if it wasn't one of those, because there's no telling what a tick could be carrying. 

So, that's where I've been the last few days. 

What's new with you?

Presents!

Yep, I got presents in the mail!

Real presents, too, not ones I ordered myself.  I opened my mail box, and inside was a package from my friend Bobbie Jo.  And inside that package were these:

How funny are they?  The one on the left is a sticker book, with a three ring circus background, and lots of stickers.

And they're not just picking on Democrats.  Here's a whole page of Republican stickers, too.

There's Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain, among others.

The book on the right is a book of paper dolls, with clothes and everything.

 There's Obama,

And Romney

And look! My own governor Rick Perry!

OK, OK, he's not really my governor.  But he is the governor of Texas, and you know what they say:

You can take the girl out of  Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of the girl.

Yes, I know who the governor of Mississippi is.  It's Phil Bryant.  You're welcome.

Anyway, thanks Bobbie Jo.  This was just the little pick me up I needed after a rough week at work.

Who says internet friends aren't real?

Wet Wednesday

The rain started sometime during the night last night. I know this because the thunder woke me up. The rain continued for most of the day-- and is expected to continue through Friday. Then it is going to get cold again. Some say down into the 30s. It's MAY, people! MAY!

Since I couldn't get outside and shoot, I stayed inside and knit.

I started the gold row on Kyle's blanket.  Yes, I know the picture is sideways.  No, I don't know why.  No, I'm not going to fix it. 

I did put on my archery glove-- which I finally found after weeks of diligently searching.  OK, OK, I was trying to get something out of the back of the closet and I looked down and there it was, in a box I'd already looked in at least three times. 

Um, where was I?  Oh, yeah, I put on my archery glove and pulled my bow a few times, just so I wouldn't lose my strength.  Didn't dry fire it.  You never dry fire a bow. 

I just pulled it to give my muscles a work out. 

And that, friends was the highlight of my day. 

Yeah, I know you envy me my exciting life. 

Word.