Brenda's still got the crud, so we're taking another week off. It's been a pretty relaxing weekend. I've spent some time on Facebook and Twitter (I'm also never actually on Twitter, to be honest, and I tweet and retweet rarely, but I did today). YKWIA's done a lot of reading, and I've done a little. I got a free e-book for subscribing an electronic newsletter, and it turned out to be Ellis Peters' A Morbid Taste for Bones, the first Brother Cadfael mystery. It includes maps and a guide to Welsh pronunciation.
I've also requested some seed catalogues, one from Burpee's (a staple), but most from heirloom, sustainable, non-Monsanto sources (and that's harder to do these days). Most of them are available in PDF form, so I just downloaded those rather than have them send me a paper one in the mail.
Now I'm doing one super-mega-large load of laundry, and was rewarded for doing so by $12 falling out of my trouser pockets as I was going through them. I've been out twice this weekend on the roads after the snow, once to go to the grocery for soda, and then today to take YKWIA to meet with someone over lunch, and then to stop by the gaming store The Rusty Scabbard and to get a few things at the store that weren't there yesterday post-rush. The produce section yesterday looked like Armageddon was on its way, all for about 1-2 inches of snow, but they were resupplied today.
Tomorrow I work, as we do not get off for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The University of Kentucky does, however, and so the parking shuttles aren't running, so we've been told that we can park in the adjoining parking garage, although they wouldn't guarantee we wouldn't be charged. So that $12 might come in handy. Seriously, though, I suspect the gates will be up tomorrow.
Now I'm listening to some music. I was listening to Blue October's Home album, but it's made it past that on Windows Media Player and so it's Bonnie Tyler's 'I Need a Hero' right now. Have you ever seen the music video for that? I will not post it here. It is...terribly creepy and inappropriate, running right across the boundary of sick and wrong, to be honest. It's set in a young men's school (as in teenagers) and she plays a teacher. Enough said. How did we not see that back in the 80s? I still love the song, though.
Okay, I'm going to sign off here for awhile. YKWIA is taking a nap, all is quiet, save for the music. It's still about an hour-and-a-half till the animals need to be fed (although one is right by me, hoping to be). The laundry is drying. I am considering lying down for a bit while that tumbles.
Ooh, we've made it to The Box Tops' 'The Letter'. :)
Sunday, January 14, 2018
I had something a little unnerving happen the other day
I was at work. Everything was normal, and I felt a slight numbness on my left side of the face that lasted, oh, about a minute or two. It could be caused by all sorts of things, and I didn't panic or for that matter tell anyone at the time, although I let my roommate know because 1) if it happened again, he should know, and 2) he's my medical surrogate. He urged me to tell our doctor about it, even if it didn't happen again. And I will. But it was very eerie.
Saturday, January 13, 2018
I have found a T-shirt I like
It is on my Wishlist on Amazon. I hope to get it if and when I have a little extra money. Do you think it's too political for work?
Things people ask librarians [problem solved]
Him: How do I find a book chain?
Me: Why do you need one?
Him: I keep losing this book. How many times have you had to find it? It keeps eluding me. I need to chain it to a shelf. (The book in question is How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household by Blu Greenberg, which is quite excellent and used a great deal in this house.)
Me: I don't think you can easily get book chains anymore. Last I saw, you still could get cables.
[Does quick Google search. Goes to Demco (a library supply company) and has no luck, either.]
**IDEA**
Me: What about a box you could put it in? I have one I think that will fit perfectly.
Him: You do?
Me: Yes! [Takes him over to my bed's headboard. There are three nesting boxes in the shape of books. I take the middle one and empty it of papers. The book fits perfectly.]
Him: Where will you put the papers?
Me: The big box. Now don't lose the box. It looks like a book.
[Sends him happily to his home library to read.]
His library has more books than the library I worked in for twenty years [we had about 1500 books and then the various bound and unbound journals. I had about 2000 to 3000 myself at home before de-hoarding for the move, where I probably halved that. He's probably at about 4000 or so]. I have often been tempted to include 'Managed the private library of X' on my résumé for just such reasons as this, despite payment being in the form of love and affection of his animals. I have moved the books on several occasions, dusted, arranged, ordered, found lost ones, etc. The only thing I haven't done is truly catalogue them, and if he ever gets that card catalogue I had at the library, I see that in my future.
Me: Why do you need one?
Him: I keep losing this book. How many times have you had to find it? It keeps eluding me. I need to chain it to a shelf. (The book in question is How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household by Blu Greenberg, which is quite excellent and used a great deal in this house.)
Me: I don't think you can easily get book chains anymore. Last I saw, you still could get cables.
[Does quick Google search. Goes to Demco (a library supply company) and has no luck, either.]
**IDEA**
Me: What about a box you could put it in? I have one I think that will fit perfectly.
Him: You do?
Me: Yes! [Takes him over to my bed's headboard. There are three nesting boxes in the shape of books. I take the middle one and empty it of papers. The book fits perfectly.]
Him: Where will you put the papers?
Me: The big box. Now don't lose the box. It looks like a book.
[Sends him happily to his home library to read.]
His library has more books than the library I worked in for twenty years [we had about 1500 books and then the various bound and unbound journals. I had about 2000 to 3000 myself at home before de-hoarding for the move, where I probably halved that. He's probably at about 4000 or so]. I have often been tempted to include 'Managed the private library of X' on my résumé for just such reasons as this, despite payment being in the form of love and affection of his animals. I have moved the books on several occasions, dusted, arranged, ordered, found lost ones, etc. The only thing I haven't done is truly catalogue them, and if he ever gets that card catalogue I had at the library, I see that in my future.
We had our first snow
 |
| The street, still covered with snow, with a crow standing in the front yard. |
 |
| Said crow in the snow. |
 |
| The dogs have been cavorting in the snow in the backyard. And yes, that is a poison ivy vine on the outside of the window, complete with berries. My friend is fond of it (he's not allergic), and the birds love the berries. |
Sunday, January 07, 2018
On the one hand...
It's warmer than the terrible Arctic cold we've been having. On the other hand, it's hovering around freezing and rain is coming, so it'll be rain, freezing rain, and snow, just in time for the morning commute. Humbug. At least my boss texted us and said she'd rather us be safe than absolutely on time, that she wouldn't count us tardy tomorrow if there were issues with the weather, and to drive carefully.
This weekend has been relaxing. Friday night YKWIA watched the Australian original cast of The Witches of Eastwick (the musical), and that was fun. I'd never read the book by John Updike or seen the movie with Jack Nicholson, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Susan Sarandon, so we rented that from Amazon this afternoon. I enjoyed both the movie and the musical.
We didn't play the game today because Brenda was ill. Here's hoping she's much better soon. I did get the notes finished on Saturday, and I ran some errands. YKWIA made a salad for tonight, to go with artichoke potato soup and leek risotto he made the night before. I made some herb bread tonight right before bed, this time with parsley, dill seed, caraway seed, sundried tomato, garlic, rosemary, onion, basil, green been peppers, oregano, thyme, and black pepper. It smells divine:
This weekend has been relaxing. Friday night YKWIA watched the Australian original cast of The Witches of Eastwick (the musical), and that was fun. I'd never read the book by John Updike or seen the movie with Jack Nicholson, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Susan Sarandon, so we rented that from Amazon this afternoon. I enjoyed both the movie and the musical.
We didn't play the game today because Brenda was ill. Here's hoping she's much better soon. I did get the notes finished on Saturday, and I ran some errands. YKWIA made a salad for tonight, to go with artichoke potato soup and leek risotto he made the night before. I made some herb bread tonight right before bed, this time with parsley, dill seed, caraway seed, sundried tomato, garlic, rosemary, onion, basil, green been peppers, oregano, thyme, and black pepper. It smells divine:
Thursday, January 04, 2018
Baby, it's cold outside...
In case anyone missed it, Fayette County Schools are closed tomorrow due to extreme cold. High tomorrow should be 18 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas tonight and in the morning the low should be 5 or 6 degrees with wind chills to minus fifteen. Brrr. Stay warm. Dress in layers. Drip your faucets. Keep your gas tank fairly full - - all that stuff.
The cold continues...
It's supposed to be six degrees tonight (Fahrenheit) with a wind chill down to minus 15. I went to the store on my way home tonight and it was so cold going out, as the wind had picked up. We're not really getting the snow you see further South, just a few flakes here and there, and I'm thankful, as it's too cold for salt to do much good. A lady on the UK shuttle was talking about a friend in Myrtle Beach freaking because they'd had a lot of bad weather. When I lived there in 1972, we had an ice storm followed by seven inches of snow. We wound up piling into a neighbour's recreational vehicle and driving to Garden City so that we could plug up at a K-Mart parking lot--all nine of us. It was miserable. So yes, it does happen, but rarely.
Today started a bit shaky. I didn't get paid till about 9 am (it's usually there at midnight) due to the New Year's holiday, so I didn't get breakfast at the University of Kentucky Dining but rather ate some homemade bread that I'd brought for lunch. But it all worked out. It was a slower day, especially about mid-day, and we got a lot done on queues. I showed one of our co-workers who helps out in her department how to do check out. All in all, it was a pretty decent day. I didn't get a shower this morning, mainly because I couldn't contemplate it as cold as it was, I wanted to save time, and also because my friend went to the bathroom and I didn't realise he was finished for ten minutes. He said he told me, but I didn't hear. Anyway, by that time I was past the window for the shower, but really, the idea of getting wet and then going out in this didn't appeal to me. So my hair wasn't as nice, but really, I have thin, baby fine hair, so it pretty much never really does much of anything. This afternoon they sent an e-mail out saying that we were going to rebuild the employee directory on the intranet, where employee photos are listed by department and name, so you get to know your co-workers. We had it at the old place, and apparently, they took it down when they moved. I was trying to show one of the new co-workers in our department who the care managers were, for example, and the doctors, and it wasn't up anymore. Anyway, they sent out the e-mail stating that they were bringing it back and instead of having pictures from our badges (which are usually bad), they invited people to send in a favourite self-portrait, take one in our work area (for which they are giving a prize for best 'selfie'), or the public relations department will take one if we'd like. So I looked through some pictures and didn't really like any of them, and decided to take a picture in my work area, even though I didn't feel like my best. It came out pretty well, actually. Here it is:
YKWIA says I always do this thing in portraits where I put my head out like a turtle. He's right. But this isn't too bad. I could use some makeup, and the hair isn't as bouncy as usual, but they always say hair is easier to style when dirty. Of course, I just combed it. But anyway, that's what I sent in for my 'selfie'.
I did better with my blood sugar. They've been running normal, but I haven't eaten much lately and yesterday it was hard to gauge how much insulin to take. I wound up testing my blood sugar AFTER lunch, and it was 56 or 58. I downed quite a few glucose tablets, as that was all I had with me, and brought it back up. But I was pretty shaky. Today I dialled the insulin down, taking 55 units of Lantus this morning, I think, rather than the normal 70-80. That definitely helped. If I can come down on the two insulins, I think that would be a wonderful thing.
We ate some wonderful soup with egg and homemade bread along with a lentil salad for dinner, then shared an apple that Brenda left on Sunday for us to try--it's the Opal variety. It was very good. I found some 'lunchbox'-sized McIntoshes at Kroger and got some. That is my favourite variety, and I hadn't seen any at Kroger in probably a good three or four years.
The cat and the dogs have been fed; I didn't leave the dogs out but a few minutes. The night is not fit for man nor beast. The cat's in his post-prandial cuddling phase. He likes to curl up with us afterwards. YKWIA is reading, and of course, he wants in his lap. I think I'll go listen to some music in bed, and so he'll probably come in and climb up on me.
Tomorrow I have two doctors' appointments, with my psychiatrist at 8 am, which is pretty early, about the time I usually get to the University, but it's further away. I have to take a shower before I go, either tonight or tomorrow morning. I think I'll try to do the latter and wake up earlier. My ophthalmologist and field of vision test are at 2 pm. On the bright side, because I'm coming and going for appointments, my boss put in for me to have one of the five spaces in the back parking lot. Yay. They're doing a lottery for any spaces that aren't used on a daily basis, which is fun, too. But tomorrow, I get one for its intended purpose.
So, I think I'm going to sign off here. Have a good night.
Today started a bit shaky. I didn't get paid till about 9 am (it's usually there at midnight) due to the New Year's holiday, so I didn't get breakfast at the University of Kentucky Dining but rather ate some homemade bread that I'd brought for lunch. But it all worked out. It was a slower day, especially about mid-day, and we got a lot done on queues. I showed one of our co-workers who helps out in her department how to do check out. All in all, it was a pretty decent day. I didn't get a shower this morning, mainly because I couldn't contemplate it as cold as it was, I wanted to save time, and also because my friend went to the bathroom and I didn't realise he was finished for ten minutes. He said he told me, but I didn't hear. Anyway, by that time I was past the window for the shower, but really, the idea of getting wet and then going out in this didn't appeal to me. So my hair wasn't as nice, but really, I have thin, baby fine hair, so it pretty much never really does much of anything. This afternoon they sent an e-mail out saying that we were going to rebuild the employee directory on the intranet, where employee photos are listed by department and name, so you get to know your co-workers. We had it at the old place, and apparently, they took it down when they moved. I was trying to show one of the new co-workers in our department who the care managers were, for example, and the doctors, and it wasn't up anymore. Anyway, they sent out the e-mail stating that they were bringing it back and instead of having pictures from our badges (which are usually bad), they invited people to send in a favourite self-portrait, take one in our work area (for which they are giving a prize for best 'selfie'), or the public relations department will take one if we'd like. So I looked through some pictures and didn't really like any of them, and decided to take a picture in my work area, even though I didn't feel like my best. It came out pretty well, actually. Here it is:
YKWIA says I always do this thing in portraits where I put my head out like a turtle. He's right. But this isn't too bad. I could use some makeup, and the hair isn't as bouncy as usual, but they always say hair is easier to style when dirty. Of course, I just combed it. But anyway, that's what I sent in for my 'selfie'.
I did better with my blood sugar. They've been running normal, but I haven't eaten much lately and yesterday it was hard to gauge how much insulin to take. I wound up testing my blood sugar AFTER lunch, and it was 56 or 58. I downed quite a few glucose tablets, as that was all I had with me, and brought it back up. But I was pretty shaky. Today I dialled the insulin down, taking 55 units of Lantus this morning, I think, rather than the normal 70-80. That definitely helped. If I can come down on the two insulins, I think that would be a wonderful thing.
We ate some wonderful soup with egg and homemade bread along with a lentil salad for dinner, then shared an apple that Brenda left on Sunday for us to try--it's the Opal variety. It was very good. I found some 'lunchbox'-sized McIntoshes at Kroger and got some. That is my favourite variety, and I hadn't seen any at Kroger in probably a good three or four years.
The cat and the dogs have been fed; I didn't leave the dogs out but a few minutes. The night is not fit for man nor beast. The cat's in his post-prandial cuddling phase. He likes to curl up with us afterwards. YKWIA is reading, and of course, he wants in his lap. I think I'll go listen to some music in bed, and so he'll probably come in and climb up on me.
Tomorrow I have two doctors' appointments, with my psychiatrist at 8 am, which is pretty early, about the time I usually get to the University, but it's further away. I have to take a shower before I go, either tonight or tomorrow morning. I think I'll try to do the latter and wake up earlier. My ophthalmologist and field of vision test are at 2 pm. On the bright side, because I'm coming and going for appointments, my boss put in for me to have one of the five spaces in the back parking lot. Yay. They're doing a lottery for any spaces that aren't used on a daily basis, which is fun, too. But tomorrow, I get one for its intended purpose.
So, I think I'm going to sign off here. Have a good night.
Tuesday, January 02, 2018
Tired (but it's been a relaxing evening)
I only woke up in time this morning because an ambulance went by at 7:15 am. Plus I'd taken a shower last night AND Fayette County Schools were still out, so there was no traffic to speak of. But I made it. We were very busy. But it was good. I handled everything well.
So I came home and had a quiet evening, baked some bread, took care of the animals, and listened to music.
It is so cold. We've dripped the taps for days now so the pipes won't burst. I curled up in bed under the blankets and the cat for awhile. I handle cold well, but there are limits.
Well, I'm in bed on the phone, and holding and swiping is both awkward and painful. I'll go now. Hope you had a good start to 2018!
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