When Sir Arthur Becomes a Bigger Bitch Than You Are

I know I haven't been the best in and around here for awhile. However, a few have asked after me and it's just so much easier to update everyone at once instead of trying to write everything out each and every time....

As ya'll know, about a year, year and a half ago, I decided that I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I know a great deal of the problems could be corrected with substantial weight loss (and maybe a trip or five to a therapist..) so I got myself to a nutritionist. She put me on an eating modification and I took up riding a stationary bike. Boy I was doing so well too. I'd lost 50 pounds and was feeling great. That's when my "good" knee decided that the grinding in the "bad" knee obviously wasn't enough to aggravate me and decided to give me a great deal of pain, heat and swelling. A couple days rest and things were fine, so I carried on. I did, however, make an appointment with the dr and then went to an orthopedic regarding my knees.

The dr had x-rays done on both knees and the ortho and I sat down to review them. I was diagnosed with severe arthritis, bone spurs and knocked knees. Great. I was also told the latter problem I'd more than likely had all my life and was I prone to falling? Yeah, I was and had. The damage had been done and there isn't much they can do but suggest OTC painkillers or shots (I chose the former). It was recommended I find a good cane and take some of the weight off that bad knee. This was October of last year.

By November, my right knee had taken a rather alarming turn for the worse and developed a bad wiggle. It didn't just give out slightly, oh no. It gave out enough that my whole right side fell downwards and as a result gave me a lurching walk and placed extra stress on my knee, hip and back when I walked. By December, I was walking with a cane and by Christmas the knee went one step farther and started a back and forth wiggle on every step. I could no longer walk at a normal speed. A normal speed gave me the double wiggle, a slower pace gave me the lurch and the only way I could get around cane-free was to take little half steps.

By January, I was begging for the shots. I kept putting it off because I knew they were going to hurt alot. By February, my knee was popping several times a day and my hip would join in 2-3 times a week. It grew extremely painful to get around and any thoughts of getting on my bike had gone out the window. Actually, thoughts of the bike were shot by December by the knees being so very uncooperative.

In April, I caved in and went in for a shot in the worst of the two knees. I also broke down and bought a wheelchair suitable for my weight (it's not, that's another story though) so I could still go to DC (pictures are slowly getting loaded to the Flickr account) when my friend (NYBro) came down from NY.

I was told in my appointment that my knee "crumpled due to severe pain", but this shot would "make my knee feel as good as new", that it would "hurt for a few days after" and that "it took a couple weeks to feel the effects". What's this tell you? Told me that I shouldn't have much of an issue getting around, just a bit of a wiggle once in a while. They were kind enough to sign some papers for me to get a temporary handicap placard for the truck because I simply couldn't make the walk from the back of the parking lots anymore. After the shot, I was totally LAME for the entire night and had a helluva time getting around my home. The next day? I felt great. I was able to get around the store during our weekly shopping trip with minimal to no pain. Awesome. The next day, however, I only got a half day pain free.

Since then, it's been all down hill. The Icy Hot I'd been using on both knees does nothing, the OTCs don't work and the shot most definitely has done nothing. The pain's actually increased in both knees. The left knee, which had to start taking all the weight 80% of the time as opposed to only half the time, has increased in pain and has started giving out a couple times a day. This was the way the right knee started so many months ago. It's very painful going up and down stairs now. The right hip, which had cleared up there for  bit, is back to popping 2-3 times a week. The right leg tends to drag when I'm super tired. The cane's not doing much good anymore. Oh and I seem to also have developed another pain in my left leg. If it doesn't feel like a bug climbing up or water dripping down my leg, then it constantly feels like it's wrapped in an ACE bandage and it always feels like it's on the brink of falling asleep on me. This pain developed a couple weeks ago. I guess it's time to bite the bullet, get over the fact that I gained ALL of that 50 pound loss, and just go to the doctor again.

Today and yesterday have been a real joy as getting in and out of chairs and any amount of walking is almost enough to bring tears to my eyes. Lying down hurts, sitting hurts , walking hurts.....

Oh... and my shoulders have decided they want in on the action. The right one I'm fairly sure got jacked up with my purse. In December, after a week of pain and the acquisition of the third leg, I decided that it was in my best interest to wear the purse cross my body. Go figure it's "in style" now. All I can say is thank God for adjustable straps. The left shoulder has just recently started acting up (as well as my hand and forearm) but there's not much that can be done. It's doing that because it's being worked constantly with that cane.

I'm suspecting the temporary red handicap tag is going to get made into a permanent blue tag by September....

Any bets that I end up in that damned chair for good and we'll need to move simply because this townhouse isn't built to handle a handicapped person?

322

So.

I got a call today.

322 days and the letter was dated August 30th. This means there's only actually 318 days left.

Until when?

Until that fkn idiot who made my life a living HELL is maxed out in his sentence.

Maxed out meaning that he's spent the entire term of punishment incarcerated with no parole.

Maxed out meaning there more than likely will NOT be a half-way house because he got out early.

Maxed out meaning that no one else is going to be accountable for his whereabouts except him.

Maxed out being that I will have no damned clue where he will be and that I could turn any corner and end up face to face with his ugly, nasty self (especially considering that he LOVES the Civil War and I do live near a battlefield).

Worried?

Fk ya.

So I did it

I finally sat down and composed a letter to the person that prompted that 3rd Wordle. I'm not going to go into detail about it here, a couple people know what's going on. Let's just say I had a huge decision to make and I threw the gauntlet down....drew the line in the sand. Told her that her behavior was simply not acceptable any longer. If she couldn't straighten up than to not bother writing me back. This was a big deal because there are ALOT of years invested in this friendship but it's gotten to the point where I simply cannot allow this treatment anymore. At this amount of time, there should be a level of respect given to each other and I simply wasn't being given it. Oh granted, she's going through a bad patch...but I've been there and done that already. I can be a great resource if you just ask. I'll help where I can....all I ask is the most basic of courtesies.

Anyhow. I've steamrolled over one speed bump and I think I feel a little better. There are a few more that I need to deal with. At least I am now aware of what the problems are, the hard part will be dealing with them. I won't go into them here. They're fodder for another entry.

Well aint THAT just special!

and now for a word from our author

Ok, I think I just about have this blog to where I want it. I'm actually pleased with the look I have so it shouldn't change too much....well until autumn shows up in the next few months!

Anyhow, you'll notice a few additions and changes. Some will be staying for a while and one or two, well they'll be on their way out the door at month's end.

I've got a new profile pic up. There's this cam sitting on my monitor that I haven't used so I was playing around with it a bit last night (early this morning). I liked some of the effects it did, especially the one that's in the profile pic. It kinda reminds me of Hula's profile shot. Does anyone else miss her? I do. Alot. Anyhow, if ya reading this...that pic is a tip of the hat to you, my dear.

Since I changed my profile pic, I knew Pop N Ice would be going thru withdrawals so I reposted the pic of the kids. I may put a slideshow up of them later just so she can get her Dharma fix in.

The pictures I've been posting that I took are also over in my Flickr account. If you look to the right, you'll see a section called Styx Clyx (originial, I know)... click over there and it'll take you to the account. Feel free to poke around and check the other Clyx over there out. Some pictures have notes and descriptions and in some cases, additional stuff that I don't mention in the entries. I'm trying to decide if it's going to be worth my money to go pro there. It depends on the traffic and if I'm clicking enough to make it worthwhile.

Oh...I found out last night, while going through my brother's Flickr that he'd done a shot similar to my banner one. And here I thought I was being original. Sheesh. Anyhow, that'll change in a few days because I think I found a better shot (I was aiming for the words on the mirror) of it.

Some of you have noticed that I added an email to the profile. Well I'm here to say that I absolutely hate the fact that I caved in to those that clamored for it. Sorry y'all. Why? Because all the updates of comments on my blog go to my main account... it's the account I check multiple times during the day because I generally have a certain IM service running. The yahoo account that the account sends you to, well I don't check it as often so sending something there doesn't always guarantee that I'll get it in a timely manner. I've had a few emails show up and I'd completely forgotten why I left the comment I did. I'm really kinda pissed I caved and NO, I'm NOT about to change it to the main account I check frequently. Most of you know why. The year 2012 is coming fast and I need to make sure the hatches are battened tightly. Anyhow, I'm leaving the email hooked until the end of July, at which point it will be removed again. I figure by that time anyone who really WANTS to contact me will have been given the other email addy. Either way, the fastest way to get a response is to drop a comment here.

I've mentioned some weeding. this will happen sometime this next week I think. I'm following about 50 blogs and only have 24 followers... well 23 that I can see, someone is obviously following as an anonymous because I can't see them (wuss!). Anyhow. Since I've been following everyone's blogs and have been more or less faithful on leaving a comment or three daily and I'm getting so little in return, I have to venture a guess that the bloggy love is only going one way and to be honest, I aint up for a one sided friendship. I've got many other things I could be doing than following all these blogs and not hearing anything back. I've got a pretty good idea on who is leaving the love and who aint but I'll be watching and tracking back a month or so to check out the pattern. Anyone who is following me, is pretty much going to be kept in my "must read" area. Those that comment but don't follow, well I'll be keeping you around too. Those that don't bother? Pbbbbt! If this means dropping a couple that I enjoy because they don't visit...ah well. I've done it before and after a few weeks I simply won't miss 'em.

As for the invisible reader... please drop a comment otherwise I'll take this puppy private and you won't be invited. I'd rather lose readers and keep those that really give a damn to keep the friendships going than to be over stressed and cranky because I have little to no time for anything else (painting, needlework, READING!). I have no clue how those with many more followers manage to keep up with everyone but ya know, I'd be much more than willing if I was being shown the same in return.

NYBro, if this goes private, I'll email you the blogs so you don't miss out.

(*^(*^#)*^$!!!!

FkFkFk

*sigh*

So the computer started acting up a couple weeks ago, I'm sure Chicagolady could tell me exactly when. It started throwing an error code on certain people's blogs (some that I participate on regularly!). I was an unhappy camper to say the absolute least. In order to read some of them, I had to resort to using Firefox. After a few days on FF, I tried those blogs again via my usual IE7. Imagine my surprise when, they not only worked, but the Google reader link started working properly again! YAY! So I chalked it all up to Blogger being a piece du merde at times and taking their sweet-assed time fixing problems. Things were good for almost a week now. Last night, the computer decided upgrades were needed and what did it do? Upload IE8 on me. *ugh* Ok, I can deal...right? Well the above video shows ya what I got today. I only checked the two sites so far and I think I'm going to walk away from the computer (actually, Im gonna hobble because the cold's got my knees achin this morning) for a while. I'm really kinda pissed off today so I may not make it in to the blogs at all. A real shame as I have loads of pictures I wanna share, a day and a half of blogs to read and emails to deal with. Between a computer that seems to be bound and determined to make me use FF, and knees that don't want to stop achin... *checks calendar* oh damn...*sigh* ya, and THAT too. It's not likely to be a good day around here. Someone bring me a couple heating pads, a cuppa catnip tea and a cinnamon muffin please?

mental blow up

Ok. So first and foremost, Im going to apologize to all of you as I havent exactly been the best bloggy buddy lately. The green-eyed monster likes to pay me a visit around the end of December when people start talking about going to visit (or having over) family for the holidays . Why? Well because my family happens to have gypsy tendencies and is scattered to the 4 corners of America so the ONLY family I manage to get to see during the holidays is my hubby's family (who all conveniently live in one place). God forbid if we were to plan a trip to see my family or my friends because somehow we'd just have to visit his family anyhow (cutting the trip to see mine in at least half). Ok, his gramma's in her 90's and frail...I'll give them that... but still. We wont even go into the fact that they ask every other phone call (and both sis AND mom call once a week each) when we're coming back in.


If the family issue wasnt bad enough, Christmastime is usually when some blogs go into high gear posting about the kids in their lives....sharing videos and pictures of little ones having a great time opening presents and joining in on the festivities. I CANT be telling others that they can't discuss these things as they're THEIR blogs and I have absolutely no right to tell others what they can and cant discuss such matters. All I ask is that you understand why, at times, I seemingly just fall off the planet. Thing is, I was married before for more than 10 years.....and there are no little ones (other than the furbabies) gracing my home. Although some days Im grateful that one didnt come along at that point of my life because the divorce would have been worse than it was, the fact still stands that Im going to be 40 this year and the clock's ticking away. I know there are a few of you out there that know exactly what Im going through.

The end of January was a little rough too. I was running on a high from my appointment and a low from the bug (discussed below) that I almost forgot a couple of very important dates. The 28th is an important date for me.....this year is Independence Day 4. On the 31st, was my daddy's 63rd birthday and my gramma's 2nd year Heavenly Birthday....man I miss her.

The last month or more hubby and I have had a cold going back and forth between the two of us. For the most part it's been lasting a day or so with me and then pops back over to spend time with him. The same bug's been going around his work as well. This past Thursday, after that wonderful appointment, I came home and wasnt feeling so well. My cheekbones were hurting and my face felt warm. I felt so unwell that I took the first dose of that antibiotic that's been sitting on my counter (it was issued to me over a month ago "just in case")...I even skipped my bike ride. Yeah, I felt ~THAT~ sick. I crawled upstairs to watch my usual Thursday night line up and ended up putting on my long sleeve night gown AND the plush robe.....and I was still cold. I ended up cancelling my shot for Friday because I cant have it if I've been on antibiotics. Friday I was still ill enough to keep me off the bike. Saturday I felt a bit better so I did a gentle ride that day as well as Sunday and Monday. I was schedulled to go to level 8 on Monday *IF* I felt well enough but when I went for my ride, I felt I better not push things. Im going to give it another week or two and see about increasing at that time. It'll all depend on the dr's appointment on Friday. The ZPak didnt seem to do too much good this time around and I suspect by Friday I'll be miserable again. I've been so out of it that I not only failed to keep up in the blogs in a timely manner (there are more than 50 I follow and some of ya'll write many times a day!!), but it was also Monday evening before I switched my tunes out in my MySpace..... Oh man...and I still have a few awards I'm meant to be posting (and then update in the Awards entry) but for the life of me I cant remember who all awarded me ones lately. If you'd be so kind and check...if you have one you awarded me and I havent posted it yet.....leave the link to the entry in my comments and I'll get to them............................I promise.

I havent written my review for Idol yet. There werent too many I was really thrilled with. Alot of "I likes" and not enough "Hell yeahs" to fill an entry...even with 3 night's worth of notes. Im wondering if this will be my last year watching ...or if I'll even make it through the whole year. So damn many plants this year. We'll see once we get through Hollywood week. The big question is, do I really want to put myself through that work again this year?

My SCSis is presently staying with her sister and mom in Ga. The last call I got was loaded with boo-hoos because she'd had a ~really~ horrid day. I wont go into details here. I will say that I finally had enough for the most part and as she was raging at all the things she wanted to do to the man (and I can understand those feelings...I had them at one point or another myself)...I told her to "shut up". Yeah...I used that term with my bestie of nearly 30 years. I told her that yeah I know she wanted to do all this mean, hurtful stuff and it's ok to feel that way BUT she shouldnt ACT on it and proceeded to tell her why she shouldnt (can anyone say stalking and harrassment with the intent to do harm?). I then gave her a suggestion to check out a certain not for profit organization that might be able to help her out, if not directly...then certainly they may have certain resources that will get her steered on the right path. I told her she needed to go sooner rather than later. She did do one thing right though....she called ME at 1230am...and NOT her x2b. Im so proud of her for that. She's also started taking steps for life after divorce.....address change and bank account changed so he has no access to her funds (not that she has any to work with anyhow). I wish she would have done all this sooner to be honest. She IS facing the fact that she's "screwed" and has actually used that term. The one mistake she made during this call was when she asked me how I'd feel in her shoes. It's a mistake because Im likely to be alot more blunt with what I say when Im feeling poorly. I was extremely blunt with her. I told her from day one I would have been packing, getting my ducks in order, changing accounts and would have been talking to a lawyer already. It would have all been done BEFORE I lost my job (not that that was expected but you have to figure if the jerk you're living with gets you thrown in jail, it's highly possible they're going to find a way to leak info to someone in Human Resources or a Co-Owner and manage to get you fired from your job )...at least I would have gotten the first meeting out of the way so I had an idea which steps I needed to take. I qualified it with a "but then again, Im much more pessimistic than you". Boiled down, I told her "I told you so" without being overly cruel about it. Yeah, I know it wasnt really nice, but it was stuff she needed to hear.

We started getting some mixed precip last night (Monday). When I peeked outside, it looked like we were getting some white stuff on the ground again. YAY. The weather's calling for a couple days worth of snow. It'll be nice if the ground gets fully covered over again.

We're on the night shift here. I havent decided if I'm going to stay up real late as per my usual or if Im going to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Im leaning towards the latter to be honest. Not today, obviously....maybe the next sleep cycle. I could use the extra sleep....

I have scads of stuff I emailled myself that I've meant to blog. With any luck, I'll be getting the email cleaned out in the next few days and get some of it put up. I think there's a game or three in there that I saw in other blogs that I wanted to do in mine....I know there were a few jokes that will be going up in the appropriate blog area.

I think that's it....if you can think of something that I didnt cover that you're wanting to know about....put it below in the comments.

Oh...and if someone could kindly talk me through those nifty little messages that some people have up near their comment boxes (Jeannie....Dorky.....someone.....anyone....)...Im thinking I'd like to add something like that to my blog as well.

packages, plates and preparing for a trip

A package showed up today from my folks in California. YAY!! In it were 2 packages for each of us, one for BOTH of us and a big gold pressy with a strip of "Happy Birthday" paper across the front of it. In the emailled instructions I received a few days ago I was told that "there is one package among the shipment that you'll KNOW that you can open right away". I would gather that since all the other boxes were labelled "no peeking" and "dont open until Christmas" that the one gold box was the one I was to open right away. So, like a child, I ripped right into that package and what to my eyes should appear but a beautiful porcelain dolly dressed in blue and white. According to her tag, her name's Melissa.

I called mom and let her know the pressies arrived and we talked for a bit. We decided that since
we'll be busy tomorrow with the dr appt and travelling AND because we wont be home for Christmas Day (and we didnt want to haul all the gifts to TN and back NOR wanted to wait til we got home), that hubby and I could open the gifts tonight. He got a couple pairs of really warm lounger pants for when he steps outside to pollute his lungs and a new watch. I guess the latter will be set aside for when the one he has now (one that my mom bought him last year...) finally kills. I got a nice fleece button up jacket and a Donna Karan Cashmere Mist perfume and body lotion gift set (hmm...ummm....same exact set I got from her last year...). Also in the box was cosmetic bag (I dont wear makeup *usually*) filled with perfume samples (I dont normally wear alot of perfume and am still working on the samples from 2 years ago....), and a caddy for all our small electronics stuff (like the cell phones). The caddy is going to go upstairs on the dresser. Im sure it'll come in handy. I think next year Im gonna steer her to my Amazon wishlist. I know how some people feel about those things but it's the one way to make sure I dont end up with yet another DK Cashmere perfume set ...again. Better yet, I'll hint that I need some painting supplies....or a nice piece of jewelry...I dont have much of that. Oh wait...no not that, I'll end up with another watch...

While I was at it, I opened the package that had arrived from a dear friend in Pennsylvania. It's been sitting on my computer cart downstairs for a few days now, just waiting on an approved Christmas wrap unwrapping day. Normally, it would have waited for Christmas morning as per my usual behavior. Why? Because when I was married to The Jerkus, we never had any money to do for each other and the only presents under the Christmas tree were ones we'd gotten from family, friends and the students at the school we'd been working for. There were some really nice things in those presents. Many times, that's where our Christmas meal would end up coming from. Sad really. Anyhow, I opened the pressie from our OCHA Santa himself, iggy, and there was a small calendar (and the autographs of the people from the company he works for) and a decorative box with 2 cds of Christmas music and a dvd with a cozy fireplace! Oh lookit this! One of the songs is one I sang in choir....I dont think I've ever found that song anywhere else!!

Well I guess I better go. I have to get a shower and get packed and clean up the kitchen and and and...well you get the idea. Oh! Before I forget, I got another one of my license plates posted over at http://horriblelicenseplates.blogspot.com/2008/12/sorry-about-your-inferiority-complex.html . Thank you for the honor Mr & Ms HLP!

Oh and today's ride is the last for about a week as we'll be headed outta town tomorrow, unless the obgyn decides I MUST be sent somewhere the day after Christmas, then I wont be going anywhere. We should be back by the 28th or 29th.

Today's ride was a nice comfortable ride, not overly working it (like yesterday) but not exactly lazing off either.
Calories burned: 373.8
trip miles: 10.68
ave mph: 21.36

Everyone have a Merry Christmas, Happy Yule or whatever you're celebrating this time of year and I'll see you next week. Oh and steer clear of the inflatocrap whenever possible.

Today was a busy day!

Last night, we had some great temperatures. When I went to bed at around 10pm (three nights in a row now and last night I went willingly AND it wasnt because I was exhausted! Yeah...I'll wait for a minute while the shock wears off), it was 61 degrees out. You didnt even need a coat to sit outside. When we got up, however, Omigoodness!!!! It had dropped over 20 degrees overnight! Brrrr The low 40's aint bad when the weather has been slowly sinking over a few days, but a 20 degree drop in 10 hours or less???


Today started a little early than usual. No, we didnt have a new schedule for hubby... just a few things to do. The mini-hoover (aka: da pooch) has been doing alot of clicking while walking on tile floors lately so we decided to take her in for a grooming.

While we were out we got some breakfast at IHOP (Im seriously addicted to the blueberry-lemon coffeecake pancakes) and then headed over to WalMart to get this week's shopping done. May as well because neither of us likes to be out in the stores on Saturdays as it's too busy. In addition to the usual stuff, I popped over to the men's department to check out the coats. A couple weeks ago, I'd looked at the ones in the ladies department and found one I really liked at a very nice price. I dont want to spend a great deal considering the fact Im losing weight and it's likely that anything I get this year will not fit come next winter. The one I liked was a good length (past the butt...gotta keep the glutes warm!), a wonderful color (a deep purple) and had a hood (which is the most important thing right now). However, when I tried the size that *should* have fit on......it fit everywhere BUT in the upper arms (Im kinda meaty up there). Do you think they'd have that coat or any other in the ladies section in a size larger ?? Nope. Infact, even though they sell other clothes in sizes up to and including size 5x....their winter coats do NOT go past a size 3x!! I mean WTF?? Why the hell would you increase the range in sizes for everything BUT winter coats?? If ANYTHING, that should be the ONE thing that is actually SOLD in a size larger than the standard range of sizes!!! *sigh* Needless to say, I found it discouraging and very depressing....especially since I've lost at least 10-15 pounds.

So the last few days, Ive been checking out the different stores that cater to the larger woman. There were a few coats I liked, but didnt like the price on. I mean why spend $80-120 for a coat that will last only the one year? Today, I popped into the men's department in hopes to find something that will "do" until next year. Something with a hood and that was long enough to keep the important stuff warm. Hubby found me a nice one in a chocolate brown with a hood in a men's 2x (which fits just nicely) for $40. Top things all off, I had a $10 gift certificate for WalMart that I got from Classmates for enrolling in their Gold Membership...so the coat only cost us $30.

After WalMart, we decided we may as well go to the Shopper's and get the groceries bought for the week too. We've gotten everything but the bananas and hubby's bread (he's still eating white while I've switched to wheat), but we get all those over at the Bottom Dollar store in the mall just behind us. We'll pick that up tomorrow when we come home from the dr's office.


While I was in the blogs today, I popped into Cassandra's blog at Momma Needs a Time Out! (http://mommaneedsatimeout.blogspot.com/2008/12/check-out-this-giveaway.html) and she had a heads up about a give away. I generally dont bother with the give aways but this one...I cant resist.

http://ravingsofamadhousewife.blogspot.com/2008/12/its-fiesta-giveaway.html

FIESTAWARE! I used to have 2 place settings of this stuff courtesy of a secondhand store in Pennsylvania and of all the dishes I've ever owned, they were my favorites. Personally, I'd love to replace all my dishes in the cupboards with them but at $50 a place setting...and I like to have at least 6-8 settings available....you see what I mean. Ka-chingville. I'd settle for a 4 place setting of it to be honest and if it comes free...well that would be even better.

I think that's it......I didnt miss anything did I?

















oh yeah...I got my ride in
Calories burned 403.6
trip miles: 11.53
ave mph: 23.06

I dont know if I'll even top that....but yeah, I was really workin it today.

decorations, gifts, and something else

So far, most...not all, of the niece and nephews' gifts have showed up. Im just waiting on one more thing for a couple of them. Im not sure I'll be dealing with this particular company again. I would think that if you order from one company that the stuff would all arrive from one place...especially since it says NOWHERE on their site that the stuff will be coming from anywhere OTHER than the location listed on said site. So needless to say, the gifts (which I'd hoped to have this week to pack and ship) are coming in piecemeal. We had to make 2 trips to the UPS Store to pick up packages this week...actually 3 because hubby went just yesterday too. Well one of the trips was on Saturday.

The house with the white bikes was pretty much decorated up nicely. On the trip home, I wish I'd had the camera ready and anticipated the pretty sight that was going to meet me while coming from the opposite direction. They'd had all the white bikes trimmed out with red umbrellas and bows. Going out to the UPS store, however, I saw these pretty, rather LARGE snowflakes hanging from their trees.

While out and about sometime in the middle of last week, I saw a display that brought to mind a certain someone's blog entry...at this point, it's eluding me who's it was though. Anyhow, I made a mental note to have the camera on hand when we went out the next time. We had cause to be out in that direction again on Saturday afternoon and so I was ready. The traffic was horrid because there'd been a parade in town that morning. Imagine my surprise when I was able to get 2 birds in one shot!! The OCHAs must enjoy a good parade too! You can see behind them the decor I was aiming for. The WHOLE PROPERTY that the rehab center is on is decorated in those tacky inflatable ~things~ (said with a sneer and wrinkled nose). Now I can understand one or two...ok, even 3 because it's a large property.....but there must be at LEAST 2-3 DOZEN of those inflatables in the yard!! The picture on top was taken on the trip back towards home..

Yeah, that's SNOW you see!! It started Saturday evening after we got home.The first of the season here. I suspect, considering our location that it's going to get a bit worse come the end of December and into January. I got lucky with the shot. The flakes were small enough that if it'd been daylight out, I seriously think that they wouldnt have shown up in the picture at all. However, it was just dark enough that the flash went off and got a few of them making their trip down to the ground.

We actually got enough snow that it accumulated. It's really NOT enough for me to be happy yet, but enough to be satisfied for now. I suspect after the one decent snowfall...when I have to shovel my way out to the dryer (which located in the shed) and just a couple more laundry days where I absolutely HAVE to wear my winter gear just to get it done....I really do believe I'll end up not liking it too much. Well, at least until we get into a new place. Im going to insist on the washer and dryer being IN the unit so I can do the clothes in relative comfort.

Sorry...it's been a wee bit of a fight over here

Damn I hate this Metformin. I started back on the 3 times daily dose last Friday and it's been a fight to stay functional around here. I've gotten so I do not want to even eat because I KNOW I'll have to take one of those damnedable pills just afterwards. I think you were right the other night iggy, it's possible the sugar keeps crashing out. Just enough to tire me out, but not enough to do anything worse yet. So do I wanna be tired because I havent eaten OR do I want to be tired because I had to take my medicine? Not that I have a choice...Im supposed to be taking the stuff for something OTHER than my blood sugar anyhow. The first pill makes me drowsy...kinda like I hadnt eaten in hours OR hadnt gotten enough sleep (not that I normally get much sleep but I do get enough to function on). By the second pill, Im ready to crawl into bed for the night. Hubby came home last night and took one look at me..."Honey, what's wrong?". Ok this tells me I dont look right either...gee thanks. By the 3rd pill....well I gotta apologize to Chicago...sorry hun, I did mean to come back into MSN.... At 1015pm I was in bed and by 1030pm I was snoring. Does this mean I got a good night's sleep? Hardly as I was awake half the night for one thing or another. It took me 2 hours to get fully awake today....I ate my first meal about 2 hours or so ago but didnt bother with the pill yet because I really need to get things caught up first. I *think* I got all the blogs read and pretty much commented on. I do have another 1-2 entries planned but I suspect once I take my first dose, I'll be out of it again so this will have to suffice. I've written the obgyn's office again and Im hopin to get a note in the next day or so (she's out of the office until Thursday) so I plan on staying the course until then. *sigh*

I have, however, managed to get my rides in daily...tired or not.

Sun:
Calories burned: 362.0
trip miles: 10.34
ave mph: 20.68

Mon:
Calories burned: 370.2
trip miles: 10.57
ave mph: 21.14

Both trips were done shortly after takin my meds and boy I was whipped afterwards. I havent taken my pill yet so Im hoping for a slightly better ride. Id better go grab a snack before I hop on the bike.

a little of this and a little of that...

Calories burned: 386.7
trip miles: 11.05
ave mph: 22.10

Feelin lazy today. Im so tired. Started back to my 3 doses of Metformin today. Im going to give it a couple days and see how I feel. I need to remember who told me this medicine was going to make me lose some weight and smack em stupid because ever since I been on this crap, I've bounced back and forth over the same 5 damn pounds....even WITH staying on my "eating modification and exercise plan". Got so depressed that I fell off the wagon and dove straight into a calzone. I'd been craving pizza for a week and the calzone was as close as I'd get at the time.

Im so disappointed. I thought with the loss of weight that maybe a new jacket was in order. The wool one I was given will not be good enough as it's too damn big and the one my folks bought in January still doesnt fit well enough and it's not warm enough anyhow. So I thought maybe one of the nice ones at WalMart...they were a decent price, long enough (over da bum) and had a hood. Unfortunately, even with the 15+ pound weight loss, the arms are too tight, even in a 3x jacket. I mean WTF?? And do you think think they had a size larger? Of course not. Carry everything else in sizes up to a 5x....but not a decent coat. *rolls eyes* I guess I'll need to make due with the one I had in Texas (which doesnt have a hood but is long enough) and just put a lined hoodie underneath it.

We got the 10 by 13 we ordered of the picture of us today from Sears. I got it put up in the dining room to replace the Christmas one from '05 or '06. Looks nice...I think the frame needs to be replaced though as I think it'll look nicer in a black frame instead of those brown wood ones.

We got a call from the UPS Store yesterday. Meant to go by today and pick up the delivery. I suspect it's the gifts for the kids. At least that's the impression I got because they'd asked for me and I heard hubby say "this is her husband". I guess we'll pick it up tomorrow and I'll get it ready to be shipped for next week. I hope the stuff doesnt look too cheesy.

Hubby's arm seems to be doing better today. He aint complained about it once and he's been on the puter most the night so I guess that's a good sign.

After going for my shot, I popped into the Hobby shop next door to the dr office and bought the kit I'd been looking at. It's not really the pattern I've been wanting but I havent seen them get any more in. My luck, I'll actually enjoy doing this art and then have trouble finding kits...*again* (like the pre-print canvases of butterflies I'd done). Anyhow, the price in the store was about $5 less than the price online AND they had a sales tax free special going on so I went ahead and got it. Here's the link: http://www.woodscape.ca/store-assembled.asp ...Im pretty sure I grabbed the Old Mill one, but I could be mistaken. Im not thinking so well right now. I should get to bed....

schedule changes

Calories burned: 380.1
trip miles: 10.86
ave mph: 21.72

Looks like they'll be switchin hubby's schedule in the next couple weeks. Seems they're short handed on the front end of the week and of those on his present shift, he's the best qualified for the position..... yeah...I know....I ~should~ take this as a compliment. However, it seems more like "he's on the low end of the totem pole...we'll move him". At least this is how it looks through my eyes. Anyhow...in two week's time he'll be moving to Sun-Tues and either every other Weds or every other Saturday depending on if he's nights or days. They're putting him on days at first until January. Yeah...means we get a whole month and a half of day shifts and then back to 4 months of nights. *sigh*

riding and a lack of sleep

Calories burned: 365.5
trip miles: 10.44
ave mph: 20.88

Do you think I coulda slept in today? Nope. Not a chance. Yet again had someone ringing my doorbell in the early afternoon. I swore and then sent hubby to deal with them. *sigh* I really need to work on a posting for my front door.

"I've already got a religion, thanks, I dont really need another..." I think that's how my SIL has it on her page. *makes note to go check*

burning rubber, civic duty and other schtuff

Calories burned: 368.9
trip miles: 10.54

ave mph: 21.08

Not as good as yesterday , but still burning rubber. Oh and YAY!!!! While I was getting my shot today, I wandered down the hall to where my dietician's office is to set my appointment. I was supposed to set it right after my appointment with her but I was so disgusted with myself that day that I didnt bother. Since 2 weeks have passed, I told the receptionist to set it for somewhere between 2-4 weeks. I have an appointment on Dec 1st (*checks hubby's schedule...oh dang Im gonna have to reschedule that because he has class that day*). I got talking with the receptionist and was telling her I couldnt wait to get on the scales because I KNEW I'd lost weight. She told me to just pop on back and use the scales now if I like. I was sceptical about if I really should because I'd already had a full meal today (3oz steak, 2 eggs, a bowl of oatmeal and an English muffin)....unfortunately, this cant be helped because it looks like I really do need that full meal before my shots. Laugh if you will, but the reactions arent as bad if I've eaten a full meal beforehand (as opposed to a small snack). I got on the scale anyhow. Since I started riding my bike and adjusting my eating habits I've lost 6 pounds. Better yet, since the "non-appointment" in August..... *whispers excitedly* I lost 10..... SQUEE!!!

So I went out and did my civic duty today. I had to laugh though. They had volunteers out front of the polling place doing their last minute shovingoftheliteratureinyourface dances as is typical for election day. They had both sides staked out so there was absolutely no where to go but straight down the walk between the two of them. We were slightly closer to the one so I manuevered hubby so he was between us as a buffer. I was right to do so because not only was that one the first to approach us, but he was also the Democrat. Considering the problems we've been having with the excessive harrassment from that party, we can all agree that it was a very good idea (not to mention damn lucky) that I put hubby there because it would have gotten ugly....very Very VERY ugly. The laughing part comes here....the Republican, seeing that my husband had waved off the Democrat hauled ass over to perform his dance only to get a firm wave off from me. That's right, I made my choice. My choice more than likely wont win but the choice was MINE....not because someone killed a tree to shove litter in my face and NOT because I got harrassed on the phone (and yes, all those calls amounts to harrassment).

I do feel sorry for anyone that got turned away today because

they didnt have the proper documentation. This poor little PCHA was evidentally turned away after waiting several hours in line. Someone failed to tell him the early voting for the non-residents was yesterday. Poor guy.

We took a drive into Gainesville today to buy some stuff for hubby's hobby and boy were the leaves out that way extra pretty! It's too bad we had a grey day with light drizzle because I think they would have been fantastic with the sun out. Im posting just one of the shots I got. I chose this because it had the leaves of one of the bright red trees in it as well as the yellows and oranges in the back. Seems I caught another green-boxy alien lurking about as well. The only touch ups I did to any of these pictures is run them through an auto correct in a picture program so yeah, those leaves were really that bright even in the grey gloom of the day.

We went to WalMart after the dr's office as per normal and I found this really cute hooded zip front sweat jacket. The one that caught my eye was hanging in the wrong location and was a size too big but I was too lazy to go see if they had any more. The way I figure it, this way I can layer something else underneath and not worry about it getting too tight. Besides the print was just way too cute!!!
Oh...and when we got home....we found ANOTHER flier from the same friggin political party in the door. Mind you, we threw the one from this morning out so this is TWICE today they visited. Maybe it's a good thing I wasnt home.....

*(%(&%(*&^(*!!!!!!!

You'll have noticed that I've been making my rounds a whole lot sooner today than is usual. Why? Because some freakin zealot who's been dippin in the freakish Kool-Aid was (to borrow a term from my dear friend Marmie) banging his nuts off on my door.....at 11*(^)*&%&%^am this morning. Did I mention that I didnt get to bed until 6am (which is early for me these days) and I dont sleep well as it is??? I wanna thank iggy for the above cartoon he'd adjusted. He sent it a couple days ago and I've figured to hang on to it until the 2012 elections. Im beginning to wish I'd printed it out last night. Not that it woulda made a difference. Jerks been at my door EVERYDAY now....

The phone calls have mercifully stopped though. Oh, wait, I remember why now....I unplugged the bugger Saturday night. Good thing too. Hubby got on the Comcast site to see out "missed calls" and there were about 15 for yesterday alone and one already this morning....I've only been up since 1130am when the ()&*&*( was ringing my doorbell.....

Well today's shots day...and banking day....and WalMart day.....and voting day....and and and

so I best get my move on if I plan on getting some grub beforehand......

today's ride

Calories burned: 363.1
trip miles: 10.37
ave mph: 20.74



Ok...Im thoroughly pissed. I had a huge long entry done from the laptop downstairs and all I had to do was add the proper coding up stairs for the links I had and *just* LOST the entry I spent 2 hours on. I quit for tonight. I may do it tomorrow, I may not. Dont care at this point...so fk it.