I'm baking again. Last Saturday I made a cookie cake for one of my coworkers because his kid is doing so well in school after having a really tough year last year. Kevin (coworker) had never managed to get one of my baked goods home. He'd take cookies for his family but he'd always eat them before he got home. So his family apparently decided they liked the cookie cake because I'm making two more for them tonight. One is for the game (OU-Texas weekend) and one is a birthday cake for their friend. The thing I'm most proud of is that I got the crimson color right! I tried for the other cake but it was a disaster. It was red, and then I added some yellow and then it was Texas orange. So I added more colors and made it brown. Brown is better than Texas orange!
But this time I did some looking around on the internet and discovered the secret is adding a little cocoa powder. I got a really nice crimson this time. Maybe not quite red enough but close.
Work is still insane. I hurt all over. I'm going to shower and go to bed now. DH is going to give me a backrub because he's the bestest!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Baking Again
I am making chocolate chip cookies. I haven't had the energy for baking in a while. Work has been really hard on me. But tonight I'm making brownies for home and cookies for work! People have been hinting a lot lately. Hehe! It feels good to be appreciated like this.
However, I have toyed with the idea of teaching others to bake like me. Like little one on one classes. I think good food should be shared with everyone but I don't have what it takes to run a bakery. So maybe if I shared the skill with others they could share with more people than I can on my own. It makes me sad when I try biscuits or cookies that someone has made and they made some very common mistakes. They think it tastes fine but I want to share with them how wonderful things can taste.
Anyway. Enough of tooting my own horn.
I think I'm about to start another crochet cycle. I made a baby hat for a baby shower I went to on Saturday. It got the itch going again. That, plus the cooler weather, well, yeah. Also, I joined Ravelry.com. That's where I found the hat pattern. It has earflaps and tie strings to hold it on the kid's head. You know how they are about pulling stuff off their heads and feet and what-not. So I think maybe I'll make some of those mittens on a string and some booties. Then the baby will have matching cold weather gear. Everyone will coo and smile. There will be sunshine and rainbows and bunnies.
Maybe I'll find patterns to make hats and mittens for all the kiddos I know. I am an honorary aunt to the kids in my boss's family. They'll need Christmas presents.
Did I talk about that yet? I work for a family-run company. One of my bosses has a two year old girl, Paisley, that thinks if you give her something, then you're an aunt or uncle. The whole family thinks it's cute and now I'm an aunt to her and to her cousin, even though Maggie can't even talk yet. But I am really happy that my bosses think highly enough of me to perpetuate the aunt thing. They could have just laughed nervously, like I did, and let it go. And since I'm not going to be a biological aunt for at least a few more years, this is good practice. I see the girls for maybe 10 minutes at a time every month or so.
I already talked about all the things that aren't work. Work isn't bad, just lots to do all the time. I'm starting to take on some more responsibilities. By choice, not by request. The production center doesn't communicate well with the stores. I'm not really sure why either. So I'm starting to call the stores on my own to ask questions. Today I saved some butts because an email didn't go through and everyone was waiting on everyone else but no one was calling anyone. The sender of the email should have done one of those things where it lets her know when the message was read. And then called when it hadn't been read in a couple of hours. She's on a really tight deadline. And as it is, she's not getting her job tonight like she wanted. She's getting it Thursday. To make it worse, it's one of those annoying jobs that is on funky paper that we have to special order, then the press doesn't like it and the ink won't stick. Also, it's for a really special event with lots of high paying donors.
There's a law that the more complicated and rushed a job is, the more things are going to go wrong. And guess what! We specialize in rush jobs! Yay! At least we're a small enough shop that I can be aware of things that are happening all over the place and try to stop problems as they come up. That's kind of a daunting thought. Maybe I'll just try to fix the problems that cross my path, like I have been doing.
I ate too much cookie dough and now my stomach hurts. Ugh.
However, I have toyed with the idea of teaching others to bake like me. Like little one on one classes. I think good food should be shared with everyone but I don't have what it takes to run a bakery. So maybe if I shared the skill with others they could share with more people than I can on my own. It makes me sad when I try biscuits or cookies that someone has made and they made some very common mistakes. They think it tastes fine but I want to share with them how wonderful things can taste.
Anyway. Enough of tooting my own horn.
I think I'm about to start another crochet cycle. I made a baby hat for a baby shower I went to on Saturday. It got the itch going again. That, plus the cooler weather, well, yeah. Also, I joined Ravelry.com. That's where I found the hat pattern. It has earflaps and tie strings to hold it on the kid's head. You know how they are about pulling stuff off their heads and feet and what-not. So I think maybe I'll make some of those mittens on a string and some booties. Then the baby will have matching cold weather gear. Everyone will coo and smile. There will be sunshine and rainbows and bunnies.
Maybe I'll find patterns to make hats and mittens for all the kiddos I know. I am an honorary aunt to the kids in my boss's family. They'll need Christmas presents.
Did I talk about that yet? I work for a family-run company. One of my bosses has a two year old girl, Paisley, that thinks if you give her something, then you're an aunt or uncle. The whole family thinks it's cute and now I'm an aunt to her and to her cousin, even though Maggie can't even talk yet. But I am really happy that my bosses think highly enough of me to perpetuate the aunt thing. They could have just laughed nervously, like I did, and let it go. And since I'm not going to be a biological aunt for at least a few more years, this is good practice. I see the girls for maybe 10 minutes at a time every month or so.
I already talked about all the things that aren't work. Work isn't bad, just lots to do all the time. I'm starting to take on some more responsibilities. By choice, not by request. The production center doesn't communicate well with the stores. I'm not really sure why either. So I'm starting to call the stores on my own to ask questions. Today I saved some butts because an email didn't go through and everyone was waiting on everyone else but no one was calling anyone. The sender of the email should have done one of those things where it lets her know when the message was read. And then called when it hadn't been read in a couple of hours. She's on a really tight deadline. And as it is, she's not getting her job tonight like she wanted. She's getting it Thursday. To make it worse, it's one of those annoying jobs that is on funky paper that we have to special order, then the press doesn't like it and the ink won't stick. Also, it's for a really special event with lots of high paying donors.
There's a law that the more complicated and rushed a job is, the more things are going to go wrong. And guess what! We specialize in rush jobs! Yay! At least we're a small enough shop that I can be aware of things that are happening all over the place and try to stop problems as they come up. That's kind of a daunting thought. Maybe I'll just try to fix the problems that cross my path, like I have been doing.
I ate too much cookie dough and now my stomach hurts. Ugh.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Spoons
A few months ago I read a wonderful explanation about chronic illness. You can read the Spoon Theory here: http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory-written-by-christine-miserandino/
I don't have lupus or fibromyalgia or anything like that. I do not live with chronic pain and I am very thankful. But I have lived with depression my whole life. If you don't understand how depression can be a physical illness then I am very happy for you because it means you've never been depressed. Depression affects the body as well as the mind.
But anyway, the spoon theory is applicable to me. Even on meds I still have bad days, or bad weeks. And even when I feel good I still don't think I have the stamina of a fully healthy person. The stamina issue really started when I got mono. Mono is very damaging to the body. I'm not sure why, but I can't push myself the way I used to. In short, I have a limited number of spoons.
The last few weeks at work have been very very busy. I have been borrowing spoons and I feel like I'm a week behind. Froggi was wonderful and gave me a great massage on Friday night. We also forked over a bunch of money at Ideal Feet and got me some really great supports and new work shoes. I am really excited about my new shoes/supports. I stand straighter, I feel aligned. Walking takes much less effort. It is actually uncomfortable to slouch. I'm expecting more spoons out of this!
I think this is turning into a complain-type post and I'm sorry. The therapist costs money. Blogging doesn't.
My back hurts. I know I don't have chronic pain but for the last few weeks my back, my leg and my thumb have all been hurting more and more. These are all overuse injuries from the past that are flaring up. Froggi's massage made it to where there were points of pain instead of one giant bone between my shoulders. She worked on some spots I didn't even know were messed up. But she said they were swollen and my skin had a rash. Froggi is the best friend ever. She had to take anatomy for her degree and since she works as a vet, she uses the basic mammalian structure info on a daily basis. She knows where the muscles attach to the spine and what nerves are attached there. She know were my shoulder blades are supposed to be and that the bulges next to them aren't supposed to be there! She knows about lactic acid and that the tingling and burning halfway through means my muscles are finally relaxing enough to give up the extra acid. And all she wants in return is a german chocolate cake. BFF!@!!
My right thigh hurts. It started at my current job (the back spasms started at my desk job). I was talking to my aunt about it who went to college for personal training. She feels that I have a torn muscle. She told me what to do for it and you know what? It comepletely slipped my mind until just now! I missed a great opportunity for two days of intensive healing because my brain is so full of other stuff. Grr..
My thumb started acting up because of repeatedly lifting large stacks of paper. I have tendonitis in my thumb. I have a brace I wear when it hurts but it gets in the way of doing my job. You know, the job that caused the injury. *eye roll*
I'm depressing myself.
My dog is awesome!!! He is so wonderful and loving and cuddly! He makes me smile.
DH has a cataract in his only eye. He needs surgery but it will be much more difficult and risky than a regular surgery because of the damage the cancer did to his eye. We went in and met with the surgeon last week and got some measurements. The cornea machine couldn't recognize his cornea because it's shaped funny. We have to go back in for a laser machine to measure his cornea. Then the surgeon has to sit down and look at all the info and see if she really wants to do the surgery. There's a significant risk of blindness or death. But he's going to go blind from the cataract if he does nothing. Needless to say, DH has had a bad week. He is really depressed and I don't know what to do for him. You'd think my experiences would help me but his case is so different from mine. I don't know what to do. I think getting him outside for a walk would help and also some temporary meds but I don't have what it takes to get him to do stuff he doesn't want to do.
I also love my cat!
Sigh...
I'm going to put heat on my thigh and go to bed.
I don't have lupus or fibromyalgia or anything like that. I do not live with chronic pain and I am very thankful. But I have lived with depression my whole life. If you don't understand how depression can be a physical illness then I am very happy for you because it means you've never been depressed. Depression affects the body as well as the mind.
But anyway, the spoon theory is applicable to me. Even on meds I still have bad days, or bad weeks. And even when I feel good I still don't think I have the stamina of a fully healthy person. The stamina issue really started when I got mono. Mono is very damaging to the body. I'm not sure why, but I can't push myself the way I used to. In short, I have a limited number of spoons.
The last few weeks at work have been very very busy. I have been borrowing spoons and I feel like I'm a week behind. Froggi was wonderful and gave me a great massage on Friday night. We also forked over a bunch of money at Ideal Feet and got me some really great supports and new work shoes. I am really excited about my new shoes/supports. I stand straighter, I feel aligned. Walking takes much less effort. It is actually uncomfortable to slouch. I'm expecting more spoons out of this!
I think this is turning into a complain-type post and I'm sorry. The therapist costs money. Blogging doesn't.
My back hurts. I know I don't have chronic pain but for the last few weeks my back, my leg and my thumb have all been hurting more and more. These are all overuse injuries from the past that are flaring up. Froggi's massage made it to where there were points of pain instead of one giant bone between my shoulders. She worked on some spots I didn't even know were messed up. But she said they were swollen and my skin had a rash. Froggi is the best friend ever. She had to take anatomy for her degree and since she works as a vet, she uses the basic mammalian structure info on a daily basis. She knows where the muscles attach to the spine and what nerves are attached there. She know were my shoulder blades are supposed to be and that the bulges next to them aren't supposed to be there! She knows about lactic acid and that the tingling and burning halfway through means my muscles are finally relaxing enough to give up the extra acid. And all she wants in return is a german chocolate cake. BFF!@!!
My right thigh hurts. It started at my current job (the back spasms started at my desk job). I was talking to my aunt about it who went to college for personal training. She feels that I have a torn muscle. She told me what to do for it and you know what? It comepletely slipped my mind until just now! I missed a great opportunity for two days of intensive healing because my brain is so full of other stuff. Grr..
My thumb started acting up because of repeatedly lifting large stacks of paper. I have tendonitis in my thumb. I have a brace I wear when it hurts but it gets in the way of doing my job. You know, the job that caused the injury. *eye roll*
I'm depressing myself.
My dog is awesome!!! He is so wonderful and loving and cuddly! He makes me smile.
DH has a cataract in his only eye. He needs surgery but it will be much more difficult and risky than a regular surgery because of the damage the cancer did to his eye. We went in and met with the surgeon last week and got some measurements. The cornea machine couldn't recognize his cornea because it's shaped funny. We have to go back in for a laser machine to measure his cornea. Then the surgeon has to sit down and look at all the info and see if she really wants to do the surgery. There's a significant risk of blindness or death. But he's going to go blind from the cataract if he does nothing. Needless to say, DH has had a bad week. He is really depressed and I don't know what to do for him. You'd think my experiences would help me but his case is so different from mine. I don't know what to do. I think getting him outside for a walk would help and also some temporary meds but I don't have what it takes to get him to do stuff he doesn't want to do.
I also love my cat!
Sigh...
I'm going to put heat on my thigh and go to bed.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Hello, Autumn!
The highs are down in the low 90's now and since it's the middle of September, I can say that Fall is here. I am ready. I like living in a continental climate. I like the seasons. And I am always ready when the next one arrives.
This week I had the opportunity to see Temple Grandin speak at OSU. It was awesome!! If you don't know who she is, google her. She's the best. I drove up with one of my friends from the zoo and we had a great time! She has land and gardens and animals and I'm going to go visit her soon. I sent her home with a bunch of seeds and my Seed To Seed book since she's all into that and doesn't have the book.
Speaking of, I've decided to scale down next year. The outdoor gardens are going to be much less. The vegetable garden in the back is going away. Like, it'll be lawn again. The long bed beside the driveway will be filled to the brim with sweet potatoes, which is the only thing I've found to keep out weeds. And then you get sweet potatoes! That only leaves the two beds by the house for weeding and other maintenance. I think that'll be much easier on me. I just have too many other interests to keep up with the gardens.
When I went up to OSU this week I also recieved a garden spider. One of Mom's coworkers brought it in for me. I've missed having garden spiders around. They named her Charlotte. I brought her home and released her outside my kitchen window. She made a web there and so when it got dark I would turn on the light above the sink to attract bugs. Yesterday when my family was here they got to see her with a moth. Mom was really happy that she was doing so well. This morning I looked out the window and there was no spider!! So I went outside and looked all over. No Charlotte, but there is an egg sac in the corner of the window! I need to do some research and see what I'm supposed to do to keep the sac protected. Probably nothing. But I want to make sure.
Today I'm going to go to the state fair and also make a red velvet cake from scratch. I also hope to take pictures of all my new plants. That's probably enough, don't you think?
This week I had the opportunity to see Temple Grandin speak at OSU. It was awesome!! If you don't know who she is, google her. She's the best. I drove up with one of my friends from the zoo and we had a great time! She has land and gardens and animals and I'm going to go visit her soon. I sent her home with a bunch of seeds and my Seed To Seed book since she's all into that and doesn't have the book.
Speaking of, I've decided to scale down next year. The outdoor gardens are going to be much less. The vegetable garden in the back is going away. Like, it'll be lawn again. The long bed beside the driveway will be filled to the brim with sweet potatoes, which is the only thing I've found to keep out weeds. And then you get sweet potatoes! That only leaves the two beds by the house for weeding and other maintenance. I think that'll be much easier on me. I just have too many other interests to keep up with the gardens.
When I went up to OSU this week I also recieved a garden spider. One of Mom's coworkers brought it in for me. I've missed having garden spiders around. They named her Charlotte. I brought her home and released her outside my kitchen window. She made a web there and so when it got dark I would turn on the light above the sink to attract bugs. Yesterday when my family was here they got to see her with a moth. Mom was really happy that she was doing so well. This morning I looked out the window and there was no spider!! So I went outside and looked all over. No Charlotte, but there is an egg sac in the corner of the window! I need to do some research and see what I'm supposed to do to keep the sac protected. Probably nothing. But I want to make sure.
Today I'm going to go to the state fair and also make a red velvet cake from scratch. I also hope to take pictures of all my new plants. That's probably enough, don't you think?
Sunday, September 12, 2010
It sure has been a while since I blogged. Let's see...
August 20th was the Relay For Life in Stillwater. My family is a team. We all really enjoy doing the Relay each year. But this year we had a squall line come through about 11:00 so we all had to pack up and go home. Phooey. (For those of you not in the midwest and/or not an amateur meteorologist, a squall line is a line of thunderstorms.)
The end of August was filled with work, ...aaaand heat. It was hot. I continued to be tired and lethargic. One day while walking through Home Depot, DH thought maybe his bad reaction to my Hashimoto's diagnosis could be fueling my funk. I figured it was a pretty good theory and he stopped being so upset about my fatigue and viola! I stopped having so much fatigue. Funny how that works.
So far September has been a pretty good month. It is much cooler. We are getting lots of rain. Work is good. I almost feel like baking again! I haven't felt like baking in weeks. That alone makes me depressed!
Labor Day weekend helped to get my energy level back up.
Thursday DH and I went up to Stillwater to hear one of my old high school friends play. He's a very accomplished pianist and it was his junior recital. I am so glad I went! He was amazing in high school but he is phenomenal now!
Friday afternoon DH had an emergency appointment with his opthamologist (eye cancer doctor) because people had noticed his vision getting worse. He was really scared that his cancer had come back but it turned out to just be a big nasty cataract. It had been there for a long time but was too small to mess with. Now it is operable so we meet with the surgeon on the 21st. DH is worried because he doesn't want to lose his only eye. This is one of the best surgeons around and I am confident that she'll do fine, but it's not my one and only eye that's going under the knife. Friday night we sat on the couch and watched TV. DH was still reeling from the stress.
Saturday we got up early-ish and moved some friends to their new house. They had already moved the kitchen so the hard part was done and DH and I and the DH of that family were able to get the rest of the house moved in a few hours. The physical labor was good for me and helping others always makes me feel better. Saturday evening DH and I painted his new office. It has windows!!
Sunday we went to Perkins and visited my family. I helped settle a "dispute" between my mom and brother. My family's disputes are very, very mild. Mom wants to paint the house and she picked out a pre-done color palette. My brother didn't like any of the colors for his room. Mom wants the house to all go together. I told Mom, "He's 22. By this time most guys have a bachelor pad of their own. Let him have his room like he wants and you can just shut the door when you want the whole house to match." I guess she hadn't thought of it that way. By the way, my brother isn't really a bum or anything. He has 2 jobs and is very responsible. Technically Mom and Dad were supposed to move out and leave him the house but that didn't work out. They're kind of in limbo until Dad finds a job back near home and then I think they might try to build a little cottage/cabin on the family land or something.
Sunday evening was my 10 year high school reunion. It was interesting. I was barely recognized, which was my goal. Perhaps I can find a picture of me then and now so you can see. I was a really funny looking kid.
Monday DH and Froggi and I finished painting the office, and then Froggi and I went to Stillwater to repot the Toxic Plant collection at the Vet College. It was Froggi's project when she was in vet school and nobody had really messed with it in 5 or so years. So we worked on that. I brought home sooooo much plant stuff! I'm going to try to rehabilitate some of the plants and take them back to OSU, and some are just extra from 5 years of growing.
So from Thursday to Monday I didn't get to bed before midnight even once. This last week was kind of difficult! But this weekend DH let me sleep in as late as I wanted and I feel much better now.
Yesterday we went back up to Stillwater for the football game and we also checked on the plants and brought up some more that they needed. Again, not to bed until late. Blah.
Here in a little bit Froggi and I are going to the museum to check out the chocolate exhibit.
Also, the iPhones are totally awesome!!! This little gadget takes the place of so many other things and I can do a ton of stuff on the go and it's just great! I think it can do even more than I have figured out but the things I'm doing with it now are already so cool! Anyone thinking about getting one should totally get one. Unless you don't have good cell service or 3G in your area. Then it might not be so useful. But in populated areas- totally awesome!!!
August 20th was the Relay For Life in Stillwater. My family is a team. We all really enjoy doing the Relay each year. But this year we had a squall line come through about 11:00 so we all had to pack up and go home. Phooey. (For those of you not in the midwest and/or not an amateur meteorologist, a squall line is a line of thunderstorms.)
The end of August was filled with work, ...aaaand heat. It was hot. I continued to be tired and lethargic. One day while walking through Home Depot, DH thought maybe his bad reaction to my Hashimoto's diagnosis could be fueling my funk. I figured it was a pretty good theory and he stopped being so upset about my fatigue and viola! I stopped having so much fatigue. Funny how that works.
So far September has been a pretty good month. It is much cooler. We are getting lots of rain. Work is good. I almost feel like baking again! I haven't felt like baking in weeks. That alone makes me depressed!
Labor Day weekend helped to get my energy level back up.
Thursday DH and I went up to Stillwater to hear one of my old high school friends play. He's a very accomplished pianist and it was his junior recital. I am so glad I went! He was amazing in high school but he is phenomenal now!
Friday afternoon DH had an emergency appointment with his opthamologist (eye cancer doctor) because people had noticed his vision getting worse. He was really scared that his cancer had come back but it turned out to just be a big nasty cataract. It had been there for a long time but was too small to mess with. Now it is operable so we meet with the surgeon on the 21st. DH is worried because he doesn't want to lose his only eye. This is one of the best surgeons around and I am confident that she'll do fine, but it's not my one and only eye that's going under the knife. Friday night we sat on the couch and watched TV. DH was still reeling from the stress.
Saturday we got up early-ish and moved some friends to their new house. They had already moved the kitchen so the hard part was done and DH and I and the DH of that family were able to get the rest of the house moved in a few hours. The physical labor was good for me and helping others always makes me feel better. Saturday evening DH and I painted his new office. It has windows!!
Sunday we went to Perkins and visited my family. I helped settle a "dispute" between my mom and brother. My family's disputes are very, very mild. Mom wants to paint the house and she picked out a pre-done color palette. My brother didn't like any of the colors for his room. Mom wants the house to all go together. I told Mom, "He's 22. By this time most guys have a bachelor pad of their own. Let him have his room like he wants and you can just shut the door when you want the whole house to match." I guess she hadn't thought of it that way. By the way, my brother isn't really a bum or anything. He has 2 jobs and is very responsible. Technically Mom and Dad were supposed to move out and leave him the house but that didn't work out. They're kind of in limbo until Dad finds a job back near home and then I think they might try to build a little cottage/cabin on the family land or something.
Sunday evening was my 10 year high school reunion. It was interesting. I was barely recognized, which was my goal. Perhaps I can find a picture of me then and now so you can see. I was a really funny looking kid.
Monday DH and Froggi and I finished painting the office, and then Froggi and I went to Stillwater to repot the Toxic Plant collection at the Vet College. It was Froggi's project when she was in vet school and nobody had really messed with it in 5 or so years. So we worked on that. I brought home sooooo much plant stuff! I'm going to try to rehabilitate some of the plants and take them back to OSU, and some are just extra from 5 years of growing.
So from Thursday to Monday I didn't get to bed before midnight even once. This last week was kind of difficult! But this weekend DH let me sleep in as late as I wanted and I feel much better now.
Yesterday we went back up to Stillwater for the football game and we also checked on the plants and brought up some more that they needed. Again, not to bed until late. Blah.
Here in a little bit Froggi and I are going to the museum to check out the chocolate exhibit.
Also, the iPhones are totally awesome!!! This little gadget takes the place of so many other things and I can do a ton of stuff on the go and it's just great! I think it can do even more than I have figured out but the things I'm doing with it now are already so cool! Anyone thinking about getting one should totally get one. Unless you don't have good cell service or 3G in your area. Then it might not be so useful. But in populated areas- totally awesome!!!
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