Getting crafty

The first bracelet I designed and made myself, plus earrings I made a few months ago. The earrings are amethyst, and the bracelet is amethyst, lava, howlite, and black onyx. Not sure what that combination means in gem lore, but I thought they were pretty. Wish I'd had room for three elephants, but my wrist is smaller than it once was. I had just enough cord to knot the other end onto. Next time I'll know to allow a little extra. Fortunately, the cord is stretchy, so that was helpful. Anyway. I'm happy with it, and it was nice to do something creative. (And the other day a child complimented me on the first pair of earrings I'd made from amethyst chips. It felt very nice, and it inspired a little more effort).

UPDATE: Apparently, I made a nice combination of stone properties. Howlite is for emotional healing, and amethyst is for clarity of thought, calmness, and spiritual healing. Black onyx is for grounding and balance. Lava rock, which is basalt, is also grounding, but can also be used to diffuse essential oils. 🙂

I woke up early, despite going to bed late

and I feel like my blood sugar's high (I'll check it before I eat breakfast), but otherwise I'm not as groggy as usual. I have actually put on the support hose I'm supposed to wear due to the ankles and feet swelling, and let me tell you, that's a process. But I'm trying to do what I can for my health. I also checked my e-mail and my labs came back and while most things were normal (my cholesterol/trigycerides are lovely, for example), my diabetes scores suck. The A1c, which had been pretty normal while I was off with the ankle surgery, was quite high, the highest it's been in three years. I know some of that has to do with me not taking care of myself for part of the last three months, but my frustration has given way to downright panic. My scores, with the exception of being inactive for those three months I was recovering from the car accident, have been abysmal since my doctor took me off of the oral meds and put me solely on insulin. As much as I like my doctor, I think it is past time for a specialist. I'm going to look up endocrinologists today, make an appointment, and bring my lab printouts with me, and see if they can help. Also, I'm going to try to get with someone I know who knows a lot more about diabetes and nutrition than I and see if she has suggestions for what I can do in terms of limiting my carbs and sodium. Between that and the pescetarianism, I think it's high time I developed a good working diet.

On a happy note, I was transferring things from my gym bag to my backpack in the hopes of doing some exercise this afternoon, and I found the missing butterfly pendant I thought was lost to Goodwill in a purse. This makes me happy.

The little betta is doing well. I wish I could move him to the small tank, which is still 'curing', so to speak. I'll put him in Saturday sometime. I think that will be enough time. I also need to vacuum out the goldfish tank (which is much larger, 29 gallons) and consider putting in a few more fish, as I'm down to only two.

Okay, I'm off to work. Hope you have a great day, and remember, at least it's Friday (which means I get to wear jeans, yay!)