Shingles suck.

So all of my regular readers (or all three members of my immediate family, that is) may have noted there was no Monday is for Muggles post yesterday. And that is because I spent yesterday going to the doctor and then researching frantically on the internet because I have shingles. Which means the happy little chicken pox virus that has been sitting dormant in my body since kindergarten has decided to come alive and make me sick. And the doctor said it is likely from stress causing my immune system to be run down.

Awesome.

And more stress entered my life yesterday when someone in the office quit. Effective immediately. Awesomeness continues.

I'd put a picture but no one needs to see the scary shingles rash (other than the people in my office that I made look at it, or the Momcat who I insisted on sending a iphone picture to). I guess I could put a picture of me clutching the medications I'm on now. Or a picture of my phone timer going off every 4 hours and 45 minutes to remind me to take the antiviral. Or a picture of me trying not to panic about when the pain will start, or hoping that we got me on the medications in time and are being aggressive enough to ward off the pain part.

Or a picture of the 17 items list I made last night with all of the things I can think of to reduce stress, since clearly that needs to be part of the plan.

Instead, I include a picture of one of my cats, because cats help reduce stress.

Yup, Friday the cat never causes stress. Ever. Except for when I'm sleeping and he pokes my head until I lift up the covers so he can snuggle in under my arm and I hold his paws in mine like he likes. 

So, goals for this week: Figure out how to reduce stress and take my drugs every time the timer goes off.

Pancakes!

 Last week when the parentals were here I was whining about how I miss the N-boy making pancakes on the weekend. The momcats solution: pancake mix! Duh! So today I made pancakes all by myself for the first time ever. I even added more blueberries for extra festiveness. Yum!

Festive for Friday...Shark Tank

Festive!
--I remembered that Shark Tank is on tonight! I'd never seen this show until the Momcat and I watched it last week and I loved it! I loved the meanness and snarkiness of the sharks, and how they squash the hopes and dreams of the applicants! But then it's even better when they invest and fight each other to get the deal.

--I'm trying a hot yoga class for the first time tomorrow morning. I used to do yoga back in college, but haven't done it in years. Even better, coupons we found at Starbucks at half off. I really hope we don't die.

--The days are getting longer! I know they've been doing this for a while now, but it wasn't until this week that I really noticed it on my way to and from work. Yay for daylight!

Less-than-festive:
-- Another round of the sickies seem to be going around the office. I've been hand sanitizing like crazy and crossing my fingers that I don't get sick again.

--My cats have not learned to do any household chores. I keep hoping I'll come home and find laundry done and dinner made, but alas.

In conclusion: Any week where my biggest complaint is that my cats don't do laundry is a good week.

Three Things Thursday: Vitamins, Spinning and Book Club

1. Gummy vitamins for adults are possibly the best thing ever invented. The only bad part is that I want to eat more than the full dosage because they're so yummy.

2. Spinning classes have resumed with the start of the new semester. I'm doing Tuesdays and Thursdays again this semester. Favorite quote for the day from the instructor, Chris: "It's a work out, friends, not an easy out."

3. We had book club last night and, for what I think is possibly the first time EVER, everyone in attendance had completely read the book. We have a strict policy that you should attend even if you didn't read the book, as we spend about two minutes discussing the book, twenty minutes choosing the next book, and two hours on catching up/gossip, but still. Everyone read the book AND it was Stephen King's 11/22/63 which was a looooong book.

And the best part about Thursday....tomorrow is FRIDAY!

Mondays are for Muggles

Welcome again to Monday. The day where I take stock of my to do list from last week, and lay out a plan for the new week. Although Mondays are not my favorite day since the weekend is now over, I do LOVE having the chance to start fresh with my lists and plans!

1. Blog 3 times here: and again I got two...ok then...
2. Start quilting baby quilt
3. Finish quilting baby quilt
4. Run two times
5. Write Grandpa
6. Work on items for Prairie Sewn Companion: Ok Momcat and I rocked this one. 
7. Make business plan with Momcat: Ok, well we talked about it. Some.
8. Paint nails
9. Knitted dishcloth
10. Fleece tie blanket

Sooo FINAL SCORE: 3/10 


Obviously not ideal. But it ended up being a busier week than expected with the parentals here. I've also been fighting some crazy fatigue. I'm hoping that it's just from my schedule being off and not getting enough exercise, and not something more. So I"ll try and get some extra sleep and exercise and repeat my newest mantra: "Do not go and google fatigue on Web MD or you will again convince yourself you have a rate and terminal illness."

Up for this week:

1. Go to spinning class 2 times
2. Go for 1 run
3. Start quilting baby quilt
4. Write Grandpa
5. Paint nails
6. Sew two fabric bowls
7. Finish 5 composition notebooks
8. Bake gingerbread for book club
9. Fleece tie blanket
10. Knitted dishcloth

Festive for Friday...To Do Lists and Colored Pens

Dokument Pencil Cup:  $1.50
20 Pack of Colored Gel Pens:  $16.68
Being in bed before 10:00 on a Friday night to write a color coded to do list for the weekend: Priceless

Possibly the most festive start to my weekend that I'll ever see. 

Mondays are for Muggles

And the recap for the last muggly week: 

1. Blog 3 times here: Two out of three works for me. 
2. Prep baby quilt for quilting
3. Prep Etsy listings for Prairie Sewn Companion: Woohoo! I'm going to work with the Momcat when she's here this next week to see if we're ready to go live!!!
4. Write Grandpa
5. Repaint nails
6. Run. Even just once
7. Start quilting baby quilt
8. Blog once on Prairie Sewn Companion
9. Start knitted dishcloth
10. GET HEALTHY: I think we're more or less there. I'm still a little sniffy, but sleep and medications have done wonders. 

FINAL SCORE: 6/10

Yes, I do keep score.

For this week: 

1. Blog 3 times here
2. Start quilting baby quilt
3. Finish quilting baby quilt
4. Run two times
5. Write Grandpa
6. Work on items for Prairie Sewn Companion
7. Make business plan with the Momcat!
8. Paint nails
9. Knitted dishcloth
10. Fleece tie blanket

Muggly thoughts: Being sick has made me feel totally unproductive. Ugh. But now that I'm definitely feeling better (at least when I keep taking the sudafed), I'm hoping to ramp things up for the rest of January. The parentals are here for a week again starting tomorrow and I'm looking forward to getting things done! (Note they are slightly less enthused about my new ability to write color coded check lists for them to accomplish while I am at work.)

Festive for Friday...Snowfall

Hello friends and welcome to another Festive for Friday. The day where we thank our lucky stars we made it to the end of the week and celebrate all of the festive (and the less-than-festive) happenings of the week. 

Festive!

• I'm on antibiotics! Turns out my whining about being sick wasn't completely unjustified, as I have a sinus infection and an ear infection. My doctor even prescribed my favorite antibiotics! (Yes, I have a favorite. I'm allergic to penicillin so the Zpac and I are best friends when I'm sick.)  

• Antibiotics also mean I'm feeling better, although not 100%. I've been dragging all week, and while I've enjoyed watching a million episodes of Pawn Stars on Netflix, I have other things I'm looking forward to working on this weekend. 
• After missing two and a half days of work, I managed to be SUPER productive today. Which is good because the student's come back next week. 
• My parents got us a programmable thermostat for Christmas, and then I made Daddo install it before they left. So now, when I get up in the morning or come home from work the house is already warm and toasty! 
• I've consumed a copious number of bagels this week. When I'm sick, I don't want to eat anything. This has always been a problem-to the point where they threatened to hospitalize me when I had mono because I lost so much weight. So the rule is, when I'm sick, I get to eat whatever I want as long as I eat something. So bagels it is this week.  (Past favorites have been potato soup, fudgesicles and Chinese food). 

Less-than-Festive

• So that snow that melted away last week...well it's back. I'd guess we're at about 10 inches now with 1-2 more to come overnight. 

• I'm still sick. Yes, I'm feeling better. But I would really just like to be totally healthy. 
• A cat threw up. And I stepped in it. Eww. 

Wishing a festive weekend to all!

Mondays are for Muggles

Mondays are not my friend. Personally, I think anyone who DOES like Mondays need a sharp poke in the side to make them see reason. For me, Monday doesn't only signal the beginning of the work week (highly less-than-festive) but it also reminds me of all the mundane things I need to do. Like pay bills. Wash clothes. Cook food. Blargh, as BabyBrother would say. 

Thus I launch "Mondays are for Muggles" (can you tell I'm in a theme mood lately?). Which is basically where I recap what shit I did manage to get done last week, and what the overly-enthusiastic-and-less-than-realistic plan for this week is. The mundane, the magical, the muggly. Yes, muggly is a word. 

First, brief recap of last week. 

1. Continue working on organizing my studio space.  Pretty much done! Organization FTW!
2. Run 10 miles-- HA! I am STILL sick. I know some people say it's safe (and even good) to exercise when you're sick. But since I'm the biggest whiner and wimp when it comes to being sick, I abstain. Really though, since I have a history of little colds turning to sinus infections or bronchitis, I do try and take it easy when I'm sick.
3. Start book club book 11/22/63--And I finished the book too! When I'm sick, reading helps me rest so I've done a LOT of it in the past week. 
4. Write Grandpa M and Grandma O
5. Paint my nails
6. Post 3x here--Two out of three. I'll count this as half done. 
7. Post one time on Prairie Sewn Companion--Hardcore fail. 
8. Prepare baby quilt for quilting--Ha. But I did find all the pieces for the quilt, which I think should count towards something. 
9. Start knitted dishcloth--Blargh.
10. Prepare business plan with Momcat--So I'm counting this as a finish (and now Mom is reading this and asking herself if she missed something this week). I've written out a bunch of things about this from my perspective. I also managed to get our EIN and sales tax license this week. So I really did make business organization progress. The Momcat arrives back again on the 17th, and I've promised her a fun-filled week of business talk!

FINAL SCORE: 5.5/10 

Ok, so not awful for being deathly ill. Or at least mildly ill. 

This week I wil attempt to:

1. Blog 3 times here.
2. Prep baby quilt for quilting. 
3. Prep Etsy listings for Prairie Sewn Companion.
4. Write Grandpa.
5. Repaint nails.
6. Run. Even just once. 
7. Start quilting baby quilt. 
8. Blog once on Prairie Sewn Companion. 
9. Start knitted dishcloth.
10. GET HEALTHY.  

Festive for Friday

Welcome to Friday! And a new series on the blog where I share some Festive (and ok maybe not-so-fesitve) happenings for the week.

But first...the backstory on the button image. The kitty (grown up cat, I suppose, but he'll always be my kitten) is named Friday. My Brother-in-Law named him that when we adopted him on Black Friday in 2008. He was the last of his litter to be adopted from the shelter because no one wanted a black cat! How silly is that. And he has the cutest little white socks and little white mittens. I digress...And festive is my favorite word EVER! I use it all the time. Seriously all the time. And thus Festive for Friday was born (because I'm clever like that!)

Festive!

• It's Friday! This first week back to work after a week of vacation and a week of holiday was un-festive, so today actually BEING Friday means an extra dose of happiness today. 
• I figured out how to borrow books on my Kindle from our local public library. And the cherry on top is that it was super easy. 
• The snow is melting and it was 48 degrees today. In January. Amazing. 
• We're going to a new restaurant tomorrow night for a double birthday celebration. It's a rib shack, so not only do I get to eat lots of meat, but I also get to cross something off my Accompl.sh list! 
• I made an awesome two page to do list for the weekend. Which is festive since I LOVE making to do lists. 
• Friday the kitten has been snuggling with me on the couch all night. And he's even stayed on his own couch cushion instead of doing his "I think I'm really a dog so I must climb onto your chest and do three full circles before I sit down and impede your typing" schtick. Which sounds cute, that little cat can somehow occupy a lot of space and has very pokey paws. 

Less-than-Festive

• I have a cold. I'm super whiny when I'm sick, so it's probably good that the N-boy is out of the country and doesn't have to put up with me. 
• I've missed out on some fun social activities this week because I've been sick. I have, however, seemed to learn after almost 29 years that the best thing I can do when I'm sick is to rest and take care of myself. I think the Momcat is very happy that I've finally listened to her and learned this lesson. 
• I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to sync contacts from my iphone Audrey to icloud. It is driving me nuts!
• My to do list is two pages long. Yes this is both festive and less-than-festive. I have a tendency to make exceedingly long and ridiculous to do lists and then feeling like a failure when I don't finish everything on it. Oh well. 

Here's to a festive weekend for all!

Oh hai 2012...Oh hai...

I haven't blogged here on almost a whole year. And not really for any good reason, either. But I suppose this is my blog and I can do what I want to!

Some of you (or at least the devoted members of my immediate family and kind and loving friends who visited me at the Craft Fair) know that I'm working on starting an Etsy store with the MomCat: Prairie Sewn Companion. I've blogged a couple of times on our new blog, but I've felt weird talking about the random and yet festive things there, so I'm going to give this one a try too. And use that one for things about our business! Or something like that. It's my Etsy business so I can do what I want to! (Maybe that should be the motto for the year: "It's my life so I can do what I want to." Not an awful motto, actually.

I hate New Year's Eve. Staying up to midnight is never a reason to celebrate in my book. But I LOVE New Year's Day. I love making lists of goals/resolutions/projects/wishful thinking ideas/household chores. Love love love. I ran across this web app a few weeks ago and started building my 2012 list. I've changed things a ton of times on it, but finally settled on the final items last night while I was desperately trying to stay awake until midnight. Now that my list is locked I have 366 days to get everything done. Yes....good realistic plan.

 I have no illusions that anyone else on the inter webs have any interest in reading my list of 101 lofty ambitions, so I'm not going to put the whole list here. But should you REALLY have nothing else to do, it can be seen on my Accompl.sh page.

For your viewing pleasure, here are a few things I'm hoping to accomplish this week:

1. Continue working on organizing my studio space. 
2. Run 10 miles.
3. Start book club book 11/22/63. 
4. Write Grandpa M and Grandma O.
5. Paint my nails.
6. Post 3x here.
7. Post 1x on Prairie Sewn Companion. 
8. Finish prepping baby quilt for quilting. 
9. Start a knitted dishcloth.
10. Write a business plan with Momcat.

Hopefully I'll get other things done this week too. Like eating. An showering. And maybe washing my sheets. But doing some of these would be a good start to my new year. 

And to leave you with a festive picture, taking from my visit with the parentals to our relative in Fort Wayne. 

I call it "And the Adults are more Fascinated that the Children by the new Cotton Candy Maker."