Friday Things (Some Frugal)

Guys and gals, both my m and u keys are almost non functional. Not sure why, nothing spillled in terms of liquid that I know of. I am working on it, but meanwhile, I have used spell check twice, edited myself, but there may be a couple of those letters missing in at least one word. Bear with me, bear with me!

So while I still haven't gotten back into the exercising mode that I should, I am mainly recovered from my three and a half day cross country trip. My son, on the other hand, finally got the flu (yep, he had a flu shot, the first year it has ever happened to him).

 Flu or cold, as a "recovering" asthmatic, all turn to pneumonia in this particular offspring, because of his health history. Today he is rasping, miserable, feverish and taking prednisone, using the inhaler he hasn't used in more years than I can count, and many other drugs. This too shall pass. Medical folks will appreciate the hilarity the looks on the faces of ER and urgent care intake workers: "What kind of symptoms are you having today?".  "I have pneumonia, but just in my left lung".  If I had a dollar for every nurse or intake who has responded to this with some form of "Let's let the doctor/nurse decide that shall we", and stood open mouthed after they put their head down to his chest and said "Yep, you have pneumonia in your left lung!", I would be rich. While I appreciate the need of triage workers to be specific and neutral, occasionally we actually know our bodies, and this kid has had pneumonia more times than I have had fingers.

Meanwhile, onward and forward:

1. Many of y'all are from the south, and will appreciate what a "House Party" is in terms of a wedding. Basically, when someone has a fairly large wedding and has more friends or relatives than will fit into a bridal party, they also have the "house party". They dress in similar colors, do stuff like man the guest book and sit at the front of the church venue.  More explanation here. Anyhoo, I misunderstood the pink dress thing. My daughter the female cousin has been asked to wear pink as part of the house party (the bridesmaids will be in blue). The rest of us can wear whatever we want-which has headed me more in this direction than those other pink dresses. A brief discussion post funeral had my niece also explaining that there will be no assigned seats. She's not gonna try and figure out who should sit with who. Which I think is lovely. Because we're all adults, really. 

2.  My only "house-leaving" other than exercise this week was on Wednesday. First to my knitting group, and then to a soup, salad, bread (and cookie ) dinner followed by a program. I didn't even do my normal take myself out to lunch and explore time. On the other hand, I did get to finish more than one book this week!

3. My two big quilt projects and my two big knitting projects are on hold for some big pieces of fabric. I didn't find what I wanted online, and I am determined to only shop on Tuesday-groceries, yarn store, quilt store, lunch and bookstore. I have my priorities, you know. Meanwhile, I had a bunch of blocks and strips that were of fabric I decided I didn't like. I re purposed these into large blocks, am sewing them together and they will become throw quilts for the women in my transitional shelter who have finally moved into a "place of their own".

4. I had my quarterly fasting blood work including my A1C (blood sugar test). While I expect all my other numbers to be exceptional, I'm holding my breath on that one. I wold rather not go back on meds and fully admit my exercise/diet attitude had not been as good as it should be the last few months. I'm always worse in the winter-partly because of my balance/fall issues, but partly because of laziness. I admit it. I also had a trans-vaginal sonogram (guys,you don't want to know. Really), because I have a fat module/cyst in my ovary. With my family history I have to be radical, and will probably have an MRI next week as a precaution. Oh Joy.

5. Although I love to be creative, I don't always actually follow through when it comes to writing or photography or drawing/painting. I need that little jump start, especially since my studio also serves as a sewing/quilting room and a room for making salves and lotions among other things. A bit of set up or preparation is sometimes required, even for me. Which is why I have joined a couple low key challenges and email prompts. I hope to do one art journal page each week, write one family history story each week no matter how short, do one creative writing exercise a week, and try oh try to get a picture a day with my camera. Beyond the dogs. I won't get upset if none of this gets done, but it's a chance for me to stretch and at least start using some of my materials and creative ideas in a different direction. On Monday, I've already planned to just take my different colors of blue and perhaps lavender paints, glitter and a while crayon and make a wintry background on a page. And that's it. 

6. And finally, after feasting on restaurant food, eating too much fast food and using up what was left in the fridge pre-trip so nothing would go bad, I am back to cooking. At least cooking at my skill level, which generally includes an easy but hopefully gourmet meal and some easy sides. Tomorrow, Tuscan chicken (with Alfredo sauce, garlic and Parmesan, sun dried tomatoes and spinach) and both vegetables and a fruit salad.

Happy Weekend, wherever you may be!