We're now experiencing more normal spring weather. We may have had a light frost last night. By the time I looked at the temperature it was 8:15 and it was 34. So all the plants are back in and crowded onto the plant shelf and the windowsill.




They wouldn't have to be so crowded except the top shelf has seedlings that need to be close to the light and that takes up the whole shelf. This whole week looks to be upper 30's for lows and 50's for highs so I may do some rearranging indoors.

And then I ordered more hoyas... So, in the Hoya world there was this guy named David Liddle who lived in Australia and he collected hoyas in the wild, discovered and named tons of new species over several decades, did research, and sold generous cuttings at reasonable prices. Each year people would gather together in their online forums and put together a group order. Well, last year (or maybe the year before) David Liddle died. It is very sad. And his wife now has the greenhouse and the collection up for sale so this may be the last time anyone has the chance to order cuttings from the Liddle collection. Naturally, I couldn't pass up this opportunity! I have never ordered from the Liddles before so I had to this time. I chose the following:

IML 0256 australis ssp. australis 'Brookfield'
IML 0144 australis ssp. melanesica
IML 0774 bordenii
IML 1174 callistophylla
IML 1556 caudata
IML 1590 aff. clandestina
IML 1428 erythrostemma
IML 1742 macgillivrayi 'Rocky River Red'
IML 0850 merrillii

If available: IML 0511 erythrina

I chose species that were a. difficult to find in America, b. expensive to purchase in America, c. would ship well without drying out too much, and d. were most appealing aesthetically to me.

The order should be submitted soon and I think it takes a couple of months to recieve the cuttings. I'll probably end up dropping about $100 on this. And that's chump change compared to many of the others in the group. Fortunately, I will be recieving a $100 bonus soon for referring a new employee at work.

Speaking of work, a couple of weeks ago I asked to be moved to a position with more desk work because of my Stupid Tired Disease. Well, they said no. I was really upset on Friday when I got my answer but I've got a better perspective on it now. They really can't move a bunch of personnel around just to make me feel better. I think what I was most upset about is that my boss assumed I hadn't tried any other methods of getting more energy, losing weight, eating nutritiously, etc. He would start to suggest a common solution like, "You need to eat 1200 calories a day or you'll starve to death", or "You're tired because you're not getting enough nutrition" and then I'd counter him with all my research and the actual facts of my situation and he'd be like, Oh. It irks me when people act like they're better than you and tell you common knowledge like they discovered it themselves but they don't actually know anything about the subject other than that one tidbit. I have researched nutrition extensively for about 5 years. I have researched Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and all the treatment options. I have tried many of the coping mechanisms/treatments already and some of them have been a great help. I have done 28 years of intensive research on my own body and I know what my signals mean. So don't go spouting off "CFS is just a name they give you when they don't know what's wrong". The rheumatologist suggested CFS because I fit the profile of specific symptoms, blood panels, and illness history. It may be over dignosed by some doctors, and I may not actually have CFS, but as of now it is the best conclusion based on the evidence. Also, when I treat my body like it has CFS I notice a huge improvement. So there!

Personally, my theory is that CFS isn't a disease by itself but actually a set of symptoms caused by the underlying disease, mainly autoimmune attacks on the body. In my case, my bloodwork shows I have two possible reasons for my CFS symptoms. My Epstein-Barr antibodies are too high to have fully recovered from mono but not high enough to have the full blown disease of Eptsein-Barr. In the doctor's experience, the intermediate antibody levels are almost always accompanied by CFS symptoms. The official research is divided on this subject however. The second thing is my Hashimoto's. Every doctor agrees that I have Hashimoto's and that my immune system is attacking my thyroid and will eventually kill it. Right now my thyroid is still functioning withing the normal range but the effect of a constant immune system attack is the same as a normal person who has a virus or bacterial infection. If you take away all the symptoms specific to the virus or whatever that the person has, you still are left with feeling totally wiped out because the immune system is working so hard to defeat the invador. That takes energy and saps reserves. So since my immune system is working so hard to destroy my thyroid "invader", I am left feeling wiped out all the time. I wish that made sense to people who don't have an autoimmune disease. Just sleeping a little more or excersising a little more won't fix the problem. In fact with exersise you have to be very careful. If you overdo and get you heart rate up for too long, you feel even worse for days afterwards. It isn't like sore muscles either. It is almost a paralysis of sorts. I can move my arms but it takes such a monumental effort that most of the time it isn't worth it. Some studies show that the weakness is caused by damage from lack of oxygen in the muscles during the exersise.

Also, my left arm feels weak a lot because my back muscles are so tight around the nerves that go from my arm to my spine. And since I'm left handed, it causes a problem. I get one massage a month but it doesn't keep those muscles loose. Hmm.. since I do work with my massage therapist, maybe I can pay her to do mini massages in between the full body ones.

So anyway, when I was distraught on Friday I thought maybe I should find another job. But I really like my job. I get satisfaction from working with my hands and making things. I get affirmation from my coworkers because I do good work. I feel like I make a difference. I like the feeling of skill mastery. Right now I'm doing ok. I'm taking an appetite supressant to help me get to a healthy weight and it is giving me lots of energy and motivation to do things. It's also giving less pleasant side effects (I feel like I overdosed on caffeine big time) but it is helping me not feel hungry so I can eat smaller meals and shrink my stomach down and that will help me maintain my healthy weight. I have lost 5.5 pounds total and about 3 of those pounds left this week when I started the appetite supressant. I think I'm about to level out to 2 pounds a week or so. The first couple of days I was dropping fast but that happens on any diet program. I'll be satisfied if my average weekly loss is between 1-2 pounds. I could be at my goal weight as early as June. I don't think I want to stay on this medicine for more than 8 weeks though. All the literature recommends short term use. But, by that point my body will have adapted to eating less and won't rebel so much. I could be as close as 10 pounds away from my goal at that time so keeping the momentum will be easy. I expect to feel much better at a healthy weight and it might relieve some of my fatigue. Wouldn't that be nice.

Also, everyone thinks I'm trying to lose weight to look better and they get all bent out of shape because they think I look good already. The looking better thing is relatively minor compared to the real reasons. I want to feel better. I don't want my extra fat getting in the way of my movement anymore. I want to bend over without squeezing all my breath away. I want my blood pressure and cholesterol levels to stay in a healthy range. My cholesterol was borderline even at my lowest weight (which is 5-10 pounds less than my goal). I want to feel more confident and it is much easier to feel confident if you don't look 5 months pregnant. Unless you actually are 5 months pregnant, which I'm not. I want to be happy with my own body. I want my outside to reflect my inside and as my mind gets healthier I want my body to be healthier too. I have a closet full of really nice clothes that I would love to wear again. And yes, I do want to conform to the American standard of beauty to a degree. I don't want to be a stick but I don't want rolls either. And that is that.

Here's a picture of my Hoya carnosa 'Krimson Princess' in bloom.



And these are the tags I made to help me remember who I pollinated with who and when.

Vacation, continued

It posted! Look at that!

Anyway, Last week I was tired and my back hurt a lot. By the time Wednesday came I was more than ready for some time off. Mom came on Tuesday night and we got ready to go to Fort Worth on the train. The train was really fun except for Hayley. She was a 7 year old who was used to being bombarded with entertainment but her family brought nothing for her to do on the train. Not even a book or crayons or a game boy. Nothing. No 7 year old is going to be content to look at 4 hours of scenery! So she was very active and talkative the whole time. We were ready to feed her a Benadryl by the time we got off the train. They were headed to San Antonio. We felt really bad for that family.

Then we spent 3 days doing NOTHING!!! I used 8 skeins of yarn and got about halfway done with my big afghan. I downloaded some fact sheets onto Mom's computer about woodlots and stuff. We walked around downtown Fort Worth. We ate at yummy restaraunts. I showered in a huge shower with body spray nozzles and two shower heads. I took a jacuzzi with epsom salts and lavender oil. I slept a lot. I feel so much better!

We were there visiting my aunt who was on location there this week. She does computer training for her company all over the US. She's in Ft. Worth about a week each month so all the hotel people know her and love her. We got the best service I've ever had! She asked me to take pictures from our window at night but I didn't have my tripod. I did the best I could but I really want to go back and try again with my tripod.





Also, my Red Lion Amaryllis is blooming. My white wedding is about to open and I'm really excited to be able to cross them! Last year I crossed Red Lion and Minerva. I have 28 babies from that cross. In two more years they should start to bloom and I'll see what I got!



All my plants are outside tonight. I put them out when I got home today. They should be able to stay out into next week. Some of them are really hurting. Spring is a good time to be a plant.

But now I'm going to go to bed and cuddle my husband. I haven't cuddled in days.

Back From Vacation

Ok, I'm trying to remember what I've done since march 7th. According to my pictures, I went to visit Mom last weekend and we played with ceramics. On Friday night my Dad and aunt and mom and I went to Mom's office to look at the ceramic pottery that she's already made and helped her get ideas on what to make next. Here's a pot that she accidentally broke but we think it turned out even better this way.

Here are a couple of african violets and the Hoya lacunosa "Royal Flush" that I gave her a few weeks ago. It is looking very happy.


Here are some others.

Then the next day Mom and Dad and I went to the ceramics lady and picked out stuff. I found a Scentsy warmer to make and we found lots of pots. The morning was spent cleaning greenware and then I went out and took pictures of her daffodils.





We came home and hung out for the rest of the day. We looked at options for the house they want to build on the family property. And I took pictures of Mom's cat. She is quite photogenic!


Also easily annoyed. But she was suprisingly patient with me as I flashed her with light some 30 times.




Now for my garden progress. Here's how things looked on the 11th.



Now here's the 13th



Now the ice follies are fading and a few new varieties are starting to bloom. THe show isn't as spectacular from here on out but I enjoy all the different flowers blooming at different times.

This is Bones and Lillibutt watching something in the backyard.


I managed to get pansies to survive the winter and I'm kinda proud!


I'm not sure I can put this many pictures in one post. I'll put more in the next post.

I was going to post yesterday. Really, I was. But then I tried to upload 5 pictures at once and it gave me an error message and then I gave up.

Last Sunday we had the massage class. It was really good. DH learned a lot and he is making huge strides in massage therapy. :-)

Tuesday DH went to the doctor and had blood tests. The doc wants to see him to talk about the results so we go back tomorrow. Work was busy all week.

Saturday morning we went to the National Weather Service Storm Spotter Training. It was very informative and cool. We learned about some great online resources and we learned the best ways to report storms, hail, tornadoes, etc. We went with Dave and Froggi and afterwards they took us to their fish store. It was cool and DH once again resolved to get his fish tank back out.

When we got home I took a nap because I got like 2 hours of sleep the night before. I had had a margarita without any additional acid control meds. No amount of gaviscon could fix it. Ugh. At least tequila doesn't do other nasty things to my digestive system like other forms of alcohol. I don't think I could ever become addicted to alcohol; I'd be sick all the time! I'll just stick to chocolate!

After I woke up I went to pick up my newest family member. He's a California King Snake. He's very docile and doesn't seem to mind being handled. I fed him for the first time tonight and he's the easiest snake I've ever fed! He grabbed it on the first try and...well... I won't go into the details. Many snakes are very tempermental about feeding but this one sure isn't!


I did a bunch of seedling things and plant things on Sunday. DH cleaned out more of the garage while I repotted some things. Here's a small tour of the front yard.

First, we have my redbud tree. I found it in the backyard our first spring in this house. Now, in its 4th spring, it has three little buds on it!! I'm a proud tree momma!

Here's the daffodils just starting the show. This is spring #3 for them.

One of the forsythias I brought back from the family land last summer. Blooms!!

The lenten rose is blooming its little heart out. I really want more of these. They're great plants! Yes, that is a Great Dane nose.

Lemon Balm. I brought it home from the Plant Swap last spring. I haven't done anything with it in the kitchen yet but it sure smells good. I love the texture of the leaves.


Here's Bones in the windowsill. Oh, and that's my Hoya pubicalyx Red Buttons in the background that blasted its buds this week. I am very upset!


Tonight I made peanut butter cookies for one of my coworkers. It's her last day tomorrow. The babysitter is retiring and they can't find another for the price so she's staying home with the kids. I'm all for SAHM's. I would have turned out (more) wierd if Mom had worked. Love you Mom!! :-) But anyway, while at home she's going to work on some of the website stuff so she'll be in to the office occasionally.

Our power went out for a while yesterday. Apparently a backhoe knocked over a power line or something and disrupted the supply for almost 40,000 customers. Bet he feels 3 inches tall right now! Oops!

I went to Home Depot last night and found roses. I got a double knockout rose for work and an orange climbing rose for me. I also got some clearance trellises. Then we went to Walmart and I found the same knockout rose, but bigger, older, in better condition, and $2 cheaper. We took the first rose back! I planted it today. I hope it does well.

Ok, time to get ready for bed. DH fell asleep on the couch before 7:00 and he moved to the bed about 8. I get to do the closing duties tonight.

Baking, but Faster !

I ordered bigger cookie sheets and they came today. I am celebrating by making double chocolate cookies. I can bake 20 cookies at once now instead of 12! The cats are celebrating all the paking paper that came with the cookie sheets.








Here are the tulips again.



This week has not slowed down at all!! Sunday I did get the rest of the plant shelves painted. Now we just have to install the light fixtures. The massage class was very helpful. DH is already able to help my back feel better. And its a good thing too, with work being crazy.

It looks like I'm going to adopt a king snake. My friend's kid wanted it for Christmas but since he's 10, he really didn't understand what it meant to buy food for the snake all the time. He feels really upset that he can't afford the snake plus all the other things he wants to do with his allowance. I've been wanting a snake for years now, and this one is free and comes with all the stuff. I can get food online for pretty cheap (they didn't have the freezer space for bulk food). The snake has been well taken care of and he's really docile. I hope my housecleaner doesn't quit! Maybe she won't notice (the 40 gallon aquarium with the 3 foot snake in it...). One can hope. :-)

I swear by the time I'm dead I'm going to have had at least one of every type of animal there is! There are worse things...

I wish I could keep this good mood when I'm at work. I wonder if I could get Bones certified as an assistance animal so he could keep my spirits up all day. He'd keep everyone smiling!

DH worked late tonight and he's ready to come home as soon as the cookies are out. I'd better get the kitchen cleaned up.