Yet Another Quiet Day

But more fruitful. Major kitchen clean, including cleaning out and organizing my pantry. Yay. Found FOUR bottles of bay leaves, and couldn't find one to save my life last weekend. Baked chocolate muffins with cranberries, chocolate chips and orange peel (don't laugh, they're delish!) to take to work tomorrow. Thawed out a frozen lobster tail and broiled it -- OK, nothing to go bezerk over, but I don't really go bezerk over lobster anyway. Molly, on the other hand . . . she is a lobster fanatic. Have to keep that in mind. Such frantic mews. She licked the shells for at least a half hour. She and Fiona slept curled in a knot most of the day, and now they're in their separate spots in the living room, next to fireplace (log on fire) and Christmas tree. Oops, here's Molly now, blinking sleepily at me. I have a kettle on, for hot cocoa, and am looking forward to a relaxing evening, and preparing for work tomorrow.

It was very stormy and cold today -- rain, wind, and cold -- time to get the sweaters and coats cleaned! Great day for stew, and I have beef stew in the crock. Should be ready by tomorrow morning.

Quiet Saturday

After two days of cleaning, cooking, organizing, putting up the Christmas tree (not decorated yet!), family history research, chores, etc. . . .

The girls are KONKED.

I'm neck deep in family history, curled up in front of the fire, admiring the lights on my tree (who needs orgnaments!!!), and thinking about dinner.

What, you may ask, am I doing? Aren't I supposed to be working on school. I finally succumbed and will be withdrawing. I'm regrouping, trying to reconcile my decision, and feeling a little shell-shocked. But HAPPY and RELIEVED. I'm looking forward to focusing on my health for the next year or so, as well as rediscovering the things I love (painting, drawing, baking, writing, gardening, making jewelry, reading, etc.).

Turkey Day

Molly and I are curled up in a warm knot after a very busy day!

Great Turkey dinner that I made: turkey breast, homemade cranberrry sauce, and cranberry/pecan dressing with pinenuts, pecans and whole wheat bread cubes.

Massive housecleaning, and it's still nowhere near clean. Also set up our very gorgeous, but HEAVY, new artificial prelit tree. Can't decorate it until I finish cleaning.

Also spent some time raking the back yard.

I'm whooped -- it's nearly six and I've been going non-stop since 9 or 10 this a.m. Trying to let my back decompress. Looking forward (hahaha) to an evening of schoolwork and perhaps buying a few itunes for download.

On another front, I've made some new breakthroughs in my ongoing family geneology projects, and am cautiously super excited. If I'm on the right track, we have two very well-documented family lines, one through late 900's France (thanks to a long line of lords and barons, who knew), and another extending to 1200's in Scotland including a king, and even before, I just gave up and had to go to sleep. Loving this. It's fascinating, great detective work, and will create a good excuse for travel in the near future (well, I have to confirm the online documentation, don't I?).

It's very chilly today -- too bad I didn't get to cleaning out the fireplace -- that will be tomorrow, then I can enjoy a log in the evening!

Hope all of you are enjoying family (furry or other), turkey, football, movies, or whatever you're spending the day doing.

Eeesh

Let's see . . . foot convalescing well following having part of my toenail removed thanks to a big old infection and ingrown nail (FUN). Achilles tendonitis on same foot from the limping and guarding not so well, but continuing the soaks, stretches and TLC. Tendonitis in right shoulder has my right arm nearly useless, but I keep popping the NSAIDS and going forth. Arthritis or god knows what in my right hand and fingers more of a problem, so I'm trying out a capsicum (sp?) cream.

Got a couple of hours of sleep Friday night after an entire week of writing papers, reading, working on a presentation. A little late for school Saturday, tried to stay awake. Gave a TERRIBLE presentation -- if I get a C I'll be lucky. Checked my voicemail during a break (heard my dad's cell phone ring tone just before I did my thing), message from Mom that Dad's in the ER. All thoughts fly from my brain. I got my things, told one of my fellow students that I had to leave, got to car, called Mom, Dad's in the ER with what sounds like a stroke.

Got home, started packing, then thought for a minute. Called her again, it actually sounds more like a TIA ("mini stroke" or transischemal attack). We decide that I'll put off rushing up, since we don't know what it is yet. Dad's sent home with oral anticoagulants (blood thinners) and is told it's "just" a mini stroke. He has a neuro appt Monday a.m. We'll know more then.

Poor Dad! He's doing a little better today. Hope he spent the day resting.

So, I spent most of the day getting my NEW IPOD (video/80GB) set up and importing my music to my computer/syncing to the iPod. We're getting there. I'm looking at converting all of my cassettes to CD -- a fun project.

And I just learned a painful lesson -- wash your hands very well before rubbing your eye, if you've touched arthritis cream with capsicum! Just flushed that poor eye for the last few minutes. Now I have an idea of what pepper spray's like, and it ain't fun!

TWO MORE WEEKS of school -- ONE MORE CLASS -- then SEVEN WEEKS OFF -- and I get to decide once and for all what I'm going to do: stay or drop.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Convalescing and the final push

So, while I wait for trial version of Adobe Acrobat 8.0 to install, thought I'd post an update.

This was the Week of the Toe. Ingrown toenail. Infection. Neuropathy + diabetes. None are good combos. Finally got into podiatry on Thursday. Digital block. Declined to watch (eesh). Heard the clip clip, felt the yank yank. I'm not missing as much toenail as I thought, but there is a chunk missing, it's healing niceley, and I'm letting my toe breath for the first time in nearly a week with just a bandaid (vs. my very nice dressings).

Just watched the Wizard of Oz for the eleventy billionth time. I think it might just be my favorite all time movie -- it never gets old (might if I watched it 10 times in a row, though), and it stands up to the test of time. And I always get misty at the end.

I've downloaded a gazillion articles tonight for my 10-15 page "term" paper on culture and organizational learning and my 20-minute presentation on the same. (yay.) Next Saturday = 1 6-8 pg paper + the 20-minute presentation. Then ONE more class this semester! With 10-15 pg paper, an in class case analysis, another 6-8 pg paper, and God knows what else. I don't. I'm in denial. Didn't have time to do reading or writing this week between work and doctor's appts for my darn toe. Too tired last night. Just started work this evening. I'm taking Friday afternoon off for last minute cramming and hope to take another day off this week to write. I'll be writing every night, too. FUN. I'm fantasizing about dropping out, but don't have the kind of cashola laying around that I'd need to cough up tuition. Mom and I agreed to both be OK about my not coming home for Thanksgiving -- I need the four-day weekend to write, and she has her own health issues to contend with. We'll have Thanskgiving dinner (my FAVORITE meal of the year) at Christmas. I've started Christmas shopping this week online -- goal is to be finished by first of December, 100% online (love this newfangled internet thing).

I hate to admit this out loud, but turned on the Dukes of Hazzard remake for a few minutes while typing this, and am now turning it off because -- SHOCK -- it's so bad. It's gone now. No worries.

OK, back to work, acrobat's installed and I can create PDF's from online journal articles.