Hexagons everywhere.

I'm finally starting to feel better after the stomach flu of death earlier this week. Work was a little rough on Wednesday, but after forcing down some more ramen and cherry coke I really started to turn around. I even managed to eat two pieces of pizza at a work event Wednesday evening before coming home and promptly collapsing on the couch. 

Luckily I have the perfect project for sitting on the couch. I didn't have the energy to sit at my machine and quilt for an hour for National Sewing Month, but I did have the energy to hand baste some hexagons. These are for a new project idea I've been working on for Prairie Sewn Companion for fall and winter craft shows.

Do you have go to projects for when you're low on energy? 

Sick.

Ugh. It was a tough day yesterday. I spent most Monday night throwing up and then when I woke up the N-boy was sick too. Fail.  Needless to stay we both stayed home from work and slept most off an on all day. I started feeling better around lunchtime, but still wasn't feeling super. Soup and ginger ale for the win.

Last Meal.

The N-boy comes home tomorrow after ten months of dissertation research in provincial Russia. I get a lot of people asking me why I didn't go with him. Just read that first sentence again one more time: "ten months of dissertation research in provincial Russia." I love my husband and I love Russia, but that would not have worked for either of us.

So instead I've been at home with the cats. The N-boy does most of the cooking in our house, so his absence has been a challenge for me in terms of eating. I lost about 13 pounds the first month he was gone. My weight has gone back up some, but meals are probably one of the hardest things I've had to deal with in theses ten months of living by myself.

I've eaten a lot of cereal. And frozen waffles. And bagels. And my personal favorite, pizza rolls. Purchased 150 at a time from Sam's Club, I just opened opened my fourth and final bag of 70 little pieces of happiness. Or at least of calories.

I know this won't last after he gets home. Oh sure, it'll be nice to have home cooked meals again, but I'll sure miss my little pizza rolls.

And lest the Momcat worries, don't fret; I had a salad with dinner, too.

Festive for Friday...Not far and not fast, but enough.

I've felt a bit blah this week. Stress about an upcoming conference I'm planning at work, trouble sleeping [it's like my brain wouldn't turn off this week!], adjusting to some changes I've made in medication, the countdown until the N-boy gets home from Russia (13 days!) just lots of things. But I did have an aha moment on Wednesday.

I'm working really hard at keeping to a fitness schedule. Wednesday is a running day. I don't run very far and I don't run very fast, but running is good for me. It helps me clear my mind and I feel less stressed. But when I'm feeling blah it's sometimes super hard to get out the door and do anything, much less something that takes actual effort.

Luckily for me, BabyBrother has been super supportive of, well, pretty much everything lately, even though he's three time zones away. So we were chatting online and he kicked me off and said to go for a walk. So I shut the computer and walked to the front door and literally could not get myself out the door. I don't know what it was. Finally I realized this was silly and that if I didn't want to go outside I didn't have to, but that I could go down to the basement to Floyd the treadmill instead. Where I ran two miles at an 11:00 pace. Not far and not fast, but it was enough.

So this week my festive comes from realizing that I do have choices when it comes to my health. Festive is making healthy choices even when I don't always feel like it at the time, because I know it will make me feel better in the long run. Festive is know that I may not be fast like my new running shirt says, but knowing that putting on that shirt and going for a run is sometimes enough.

Starbucks Gold Card.

I reached a new high last week. Or a new low depending on how you look at it. I received my Starbucks gold card in the mail.

And I know you're wondering how I received this high honor. Basically it's a tangible demonstration of how I have been subsisting on skinny vanilla lattes, non fat caramel macchiatos and, my new personal favorite, caramel frappucinnos for the last nine months. It says, "Congratulations! You've been to Starbucks at least 30 TIMES!"

See. It literally says "Congratulations." And they gave me a gold star!

There are worse crimes in life than getting gold stars.

And I'm pretty sure that my Starbucks habit is what can be held accountable for me NOT continuing to lose weight at a highly rapid and unhealthy rate for the last six months. (That and my pizza rolls, of course).

Look at all the nice things they said! 

So now I'll get a free drink on my birthday, a free drink every 15 drinks and free refills on coffee and tea when I'm drinking in the store. Which hey, sounds like a reason I should take my computer and work on stuff in the store. So really, thank YOU Starbucks, for giving me inspiration to be more productive.

Or at least more caffeinated.

Eating Out(side)

At the beginning of every summer I get the urge to create a summer bucket list. All of the things that I should do during the summer to truly enjoy the long days, warm weather and general happiness that comes in stark contrast to the month of February filled with lake effect snow and frigid temperatures (please, ask me how I feel about February). 

I'm still putting the 2012 list together (and possibly writing it down this year so I don't forget!) but I know there is one thing I've already started trying to do more of: eating outside. 

We have a nice patio in the back of the house, with a door leading directly onto it. With a wrought iron table and chairs set that is also quite nice. So there's no reason that when the weather is this gorgeous (look at that sunshine in the background!) that I'm sitting on my butt in front of Netflix eating pizza rolls. Summer calls for sitting outside, with SALAD (I hope the MomCat doesn't pass out when she read that), and with Caprica the Computer so that I can catch up on blogs. Huzzah for Summer!

Huzzah for Summer!

I know I've been lax about posting when BabyBrother starts to send text messages requesting a blog update. Thanks, BabyBrother, I didn't realize you cared so much about my quilting and crafting! You're the best! ;)

Although, to be fair, BabyBrother has a valid point. I got super wrapped up with the rest of the Momcat's visit after our grand Paducah adventure that I didn't even finish posting about that. Top that off with our second craziest time of the year at work (leading up to graduation, second only to the mind numbing chaos that is new student orientation), beautiful weather and lots of travel and I'm just a bloggity blog fail.

Thus we kick off the first full week in June with a(nother) attempt at getting back on the blogging bandwagon. So for all of your faithful readers out there (which seems to consist solely of BabyBrother), thank you for hanging in there.

Mondays are for Muggles...Hop hop hippity hop

It was a fabulous Easter weekend, and I am very sorry to see it over. Here are the highlights:

- I visited my aunt, uncle, cousin, his wife and their awesome children, plus five dogs, two cats, two tanks of fish and a very unwilling toad. Which meant that there was lots of this...

- I got to stay in "my room" at my aunt and uncle's house...

- I had a SUPER amazing time at the craft fair for Prairie Sewn Companion. Although I only sold a total of three items over the weekend, I had so much fun and made some great connections! 

 -How can any weekend that includes these two faces not be absolutely fabulous...

Let's do a quick recap of last week before setting up this week's goals.

LAST Week:
- Work out five times [three out of five]
- List five new items in our Etsy shop [two out of five]
- Prep for the craft fair on Saturday [finished!]
- Finish Bel Canto for book club [not quite done]
- Four blog posts [three out of four]
-Start a running list of correspondence and cross off two items [made the list, but didn't cross off any items]
- Shine my sink each night [of the four nights I was home, I'd say two out of four]

THIS week:
- Work out two times
- Run 5k on Saturday! Try and PR!
- Inventory and organize items from the craft fair
- Post three items on our Etsy shop
- Finish Bel Canto for book club
- Three blog posts
- Two items of correspondence off my never ending and ever growing list

Sundays are for...

Having Einstein Bagels all to myself to eat everything bagel-y goodness.

Festive for Friday...Taking it Easy

Oh thank goodness it's Friday.

Festive! this week:

- The meds the doctor put me on for shingles seem to be working! Since I started them in the first 72 hours, it kept them from spreading, and the pain has been confined only to that area. I saw the doc again this morning and she seemed really happy.

-My shingles provided endless glee to my coworkers today with fodder for bad jokes about how I'd be going to a "shingle's bar" this weekend. Luckily they also provided me with donuts.

- I've already done my grocery shopping for the next week! Although that was largely out of desperation since I was completely out of milk which would have been a crisis come coffee time tomorrow morning.

- Since I went grocery shopping tonight, I went to the salad bar at the grocery store for dinner. Yummo!

Why yes, I am eating my salad while lying down. 

-Since then, I've been on my couch, with my salad, a cat and Lois the Kindle reading a new book that I checked out from the library: The Happiness Project. Which I had on hold and seems to have arrived at a good time since it's all about how to be happier and less stressed.

Picture taken in Salzburg, Austria a year ago. But still a festive shot of Lois. 

Less-than-festive! this week:

-Yeah so the shingles still really suck. I ended up going home at lunch time yesterday after wearing a camisole that wasn't loose (it wasn't tight, but wasn't billowy, either). I thought I was going to throw up from the pain. It was seriously awful.

- When I found swollen lymph nodes under my arm on Tuesday night, I had a total freak out. Like called my parents in the middle of night because I thought I had arm pit cancer freak out. My parents, the cancer researchers, were finally able to calm me down and then informed me there was no such thing. Of course then Daddo mentioned that you can have cancer in your lymph nodes. Fail.

-I'm frustrated because this is the most random disease ever. I had no idea that a three inch strip of skin could cause THIS much pain.

-I am SO sick of the timer going off on my phone every 4 hours and 45 minutes to remind me to take the antiviral. Again, I'm very grateful to have the drugs, but waking up in the middle of the night sucks.

-Waking up now is especially un-fun since the other medication makes me really dizzy. Which is why I only take it at night. But doc told me this morning she wants me on it for the full 60 days.

-While eating my delicious salad tonight, I managed to drop chopped broccoli down the inside of my shirt. Twice. This is what I get for eating a salad while laying down and balancing a cat and a kindle, trying to keep everything off of my side.

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.