violetismycolor

sinus hell...

I have been suffering with allergies all autumn long and now with winter upon us, my sinuses have attacked and are trying to kill me.  I thought for the last week or so, that my allergies had just gotten worse and so I was so stuffy that I couldn't breathe and I couldn't sleep.   My teeth have been aching and I thought that I had been grinding them at night or something.  I had headaches and I thought that maybe it was just caffeine withdrawal (though I seem to be drinking the same amount of caffeine as usual).  I am totally exhausted by doing just about anything.

But now, I have added it all up and I am pretty sure I am in the midst of a full-blown bacterial assault.  A sinus infection.  I have finally started to attack back, though my weapons are more meager.  I have saline spray (with eucalyptus and menthol).  I have essential oils to drop into boiling water and breathe in with my head under a towel.  I have an ever-full Nalgene water bottle. I have rest...laying on my bed watching marathon-amounts of Gilmore Girls videos, with the companionship of my daughter. 

This may not be enough.  I may need antibiotics.

We are going to a Pink Martini concert tonight, and then to my friend Heidi's NY Eve party (if I last till midnight, it will be a miracle).  Tomorrow is a holiday, so doctors are scarce.  I am thinking of more bedrest, more Gilmore Girls, more hydration, more saline solution. 

Hopefully, things will look up for me, healthwise, next year...I mean, tomorrow.

different strokes (and colors) for different folks...

(click on the photos...especially the one of the yarn!...to see them better.)

I took my Sister-In-Law (in town from Amherst, Mass) to The Yarn Garden and to the Pine Needle, today.  At The Yarn Garden, we both chose yarns for future projects...mine in blues, greens, pinks (soft and fluffy colors, as I think of them) and hers in reds, browns, blacks. 

Then at the Pine Needle (quilting store), we again chose opposite things.  Mine was a blue, pink, and creamy brown fabric with flowers and curvy lines and shapes (for a summer halter top).  Hers were various fabrics with lots of geometric prints, very modern, in reds, blacks, browns.  She is quite an accomplished quilter and was buying for her stash of quilting fabrics.  We are totally opposite in the things that attracted us and the things we chose. 

How interesting, I thought.  If I were the store buyer, I would have a hard time buying for a customer like her.  Not that I think there is anything wrong with her choices, because she makes gorgeous things.  But because I would want to buy for ME, for my tastes.   

Anyway, we had a great time, each wallowing in the beauty of the things we loved, both in the same stores but at opposite things.  It was a fun way to bond, since we have similar hobbies but don't see each other much, living on opposite sides of the country. 

My brother-in-law Alan, nephew Colin, and son Adam had taken the day to go skiing up on Mt. Hood and also had a great day.  So, great all around.  Tonight our little family is off to see Night at the Museum.  I think I am coming down with a sinus infection, so just sitting there and being entertained is a good option for tonight.  Off now to make grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for supper...

and the little robot spins in circles...

John was so excited on Christmas morning...and not because of the presents he might be receiving but because of something he was giving me.  It was one of those little robot vacuum cleaners.  Right now, it is buzzing around downstairs, picking up lint and Christmas tree icicles and cat hair.  Oh yeah, and freaking the cat out, too. 

The interesting thing is that we all (immediately) starting thinking of this little machine as a live thing...like a pet, almost.  We talked about how cute it was, spinning around and hitting the wall and bouncing off.  How smart it was.  How it was chasing the cat...as if it could do that on purpose.  Bonnie immediately wanted to name it, though we've not come up with anything clever yet.

It reminded me:  Years ago, we gave Adam a Lego Robotics kit for Christmas.  We were spending Christmas in Florida with my MIL then.  He put this little robot together and it raced around Grandma's apartment.  We named it Waldo, as in Where's Waldo...since that was a question we all kept asking.  It kept going underneath her bed and we tried to coax it out.  How naughty it was, we exclaimed.  Grandma was quite attached to the little fella, and seemed genuinely disappointed when we packed it up to take it back to Oregon with us. 

What is it, I wonder, that makes us want to feel that something that moves around is really alive, and has some sort of emotional consciousness?   What will happen when robots are a real day-to-day, one-in-every-household item?  Will we grow attached to them, like our pets?  Will we give them human attributes and relate to them, sometimes instead of other people?  I really wonder...

the exercise pact...

Bonnie and I have agreed to a winter-break-long exercise-a-thon.  We are doing weights three times a week, with a twice-weekly addition of a 20-minute abs class...OMG, they try to kill us in there!  On non-weight training days, we are doing cardio.  Except for one day a week, when we rest...yay for rest!

We have been very good at keeping each other honest in regards to keeping our schedule.  We prod each other to go on days when we just don't feel like it.  I like the fact that I am already feeling better and feeling more fit, too.  I had only been doing hour-long walks before, but I noticed that without the weight training, I just wasn't in the same shape. 

So, I am happy to have my exercise-loving daughter to help me out here.  Especially with all the stuff we have had to eat due to the holiday.

...and they shall descend upon us...

This is a photo taken before the Christmas madness descended upon us.  The pressure of having the perfect holiday did intrude a bit, I admit.  And as yet no Christmas letters have been written, half my decorations are still in their boxes, and so much else just never got done.

We DID have a wonderful Christmas Day, complete with all three of our kids, my MIL, and my nephew Colin.  We whooped it up from early in the morning (well, 9'ish) till well into the evening.  John had received a free ham at work, and we feasted on that plus homemade (and very yummy) Au Gratin Potatoes, fresh Green Beans, Rolls, and many and various desserts. 

Tonight, we have my parents, Colin's parents (John's brother Alan and wife Barbara, in town from Amherst, Mass), my sis Ann and family, and my MIL.  We are having our FREE turkey (obtained at John's work at Thanksgiving and since residing in my MIL's freezer), mashed potatoes, carrots, rolls, and many and various desserts.  Should be great fun, too. 

And then the present exchanging will begin (taking back shirts that don't fit, etc.)...but that's for tomorrow.  We have so enjoyed having the kids home, and hearing all the teasing and laughing, that we hate to actually do much when they are around.  There is such joy around our house right now, it's hard to believe.  What a grateful woman I am to have such a wonderful family. 

ack...so overwhelmed and out of it...

Can we please put Christmas off for at least two extra weeks?  I have a to-do list the length of my arm and so little time to get it accomplished.  Again, ack....            

The good news is that I got to have lunch with Tracy of Daretodream and that was so much fun.  We went to Three Lions Bakery on 23rd Street and just gabbed away, as I am perfectly suited to doing. 

Other than that, I have been working on Christmas stuff, kid stuff, and work stuff. 

I finished the thing that I was making for Bonnie (can't say what it is, since she may or may not be paying attention to my blog). 

I have bought all the hardware to put up the new curtains (which I have yet to finish) in the redesigned playroom...my sis is showing up on Saturday and is staying there, so I'd better get cracking. 

I have a client who wants her photos fixed and printed by Monday, and I haven't finished processing much less printing her photos. 

I have not had the time to read or write in the blogosphere in  a week.  Life is falling apart.

But I do have a fun thing to put up here:  my niece, the fencing phenom, had a great article in a local paper. The link is HERE.

bunko time again...

My friend Susan is having her annual bunko party tonight.  I always have  alot of fun doing this.  Her family and friends are always a kick to be around, and last year I won the prize for most bunkos.  Though the year before, I got the booby prize for fewest bunkos.  hmmm...

In other news, I got a new car over the weekend.  Actually, so did John.  This was not planned but we couldn't resist the end-of-year discounts and both of us were planning to replace our cars this year anyway.  Mine is chili-pepper-red and John's is sage-blue.  We have twin Saab 9-3's...how too-cute is that?