So I’m finally getting over the salmonella I gave myself last Sunday, and as a consequence of that, started eating low-residue & am getting my latest diverticulitis flare under control, too. Now? My nose is running like a faucet. I guess I’m either coming down with another cold or my allergies are kicking up again. I really just want to get better and actually feel normal, so I have the energy to do more than sit around watching Face-Off & marveling over the contestants air brush make up skills, yelling at Dave on Storage Wars for being a butthead and sleeping on the couch.
I want to be able to eat normal food again, like fruit and nuts and cheese without it feeling like my stomach is going to tear itself apart from the inside. I’m bored with taking it easy & resting. I’m ready to play, walk and laugh again.
All I can say is that I’d better be well by the 24th, because I’m going to Vegas regardless.
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Posted on 4 February '12 by Dyane, under Living. No Comments.
I know that I’ve been talking a lot about Erin & his first guitar lately, but it’s been awhile since those memories were “safe” for me. For a long time, remembering him before the drugs and booze just hurt too much, so I didn’t.
Anyway, I’m hoping that his ex-fiance remembers to send his guitar when we meet her in Las Vegas later this month, he’s really been wanting to play lately. It would be nice to see he & Troy playing together again, or maybe see him get together with the people he used to be in the band with and start getting gigs again, now that they’re all sober again. I imagine they could make some really great music this time around. They’ve all grown up a lot, and are a lot less angry than they used to be, I’m excited to see where this journey will take all of them.
At any rate, if she also sends the game back with him that I bought him for Yule, he can play that & brush up on his skills. He said that Rocksmith was an amazing teaching tool and that it’s a ton of fun to play, too. He noticed a difference in his playing after he got here & he had only had a chance to play the game a couple of times. It’s cool because all you need is an electric guitar, the game and the desire to learn to play. You can start out as a beginner and still learn from it. Maybe I’ll finally learn to play guitar if we get it back!
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Posted on 3 February '12 by Dyane, under Living. No Comments.
We had a nice, if very small, Imbolc celebration last night. There were only 4 of us, which was fine, I know people get busy during the week and that it’s not even a hugely important Sabbat to a lot of people. It matters to me, as a Sabbat, because it shows me that we’re already halfway through Winter & Spring will be here as quickly as Imbolc came. We didn’t have our traditional potluck, because I was out of it when I bought groceries last week & forgot about it, then no one else ended up having the money to do it, either, so we just cancelled that part.
Anyway, it was quick & easy, I tried out a few new things with the altar & quarters, they seemed to work out fine! I do need to get a lot of things to fill out the quarters, but South is looking pretty nice so far.
Winter made a reappearance yesterday morning, dumping several inches of snow on us. It was very cold all day, snowed a little throughout the night last night & still feels like it’s going to be cold today. That’s okay, I don’t think I have to go anywhere today, except maybe to take Erin to a meeting or two and paying the rent, but that’ll be pretty quick. I kind of plan to just take it easy today & relax, I’ve been quite sick for the past few days & really just want to get through it so I can feel well again. I may do a little sewing, but that is far from strenuous, and if it gets to be too much, none of it is 100% necessary & I’ll quit for the day.
I spent the front half of the week on the couch, watching TV & napping, if need be, I’ll do some more of that today, while Troy plays Skyrim. Gods, I hate being sick.
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Posted on 3 February '12 by Dyane, under Holidays, Living. No Comments.
I remember when our son was finally old enough to have a job. He worked every shift he could & saved almost every dollar he made. He had a goal in mind and that was all that really mattered; some of his friends wanted to start a band & wanted him to play electric guitar, so he did some comparison shopping & found an epiphone les paul junior that he really liked and started saving up for it.
He bought it & used it often, he even had his Senior portraits taken with it. Eventually, he decided he wanted a white guitar, and bought one (which he later loaned to someone who stole it from him) and used it even more. I’m not sure how many different bands he was in here, before things got bad with him & he left, but it was more than a couple. He uses a different guitar these days, but he still owns that first Epiphone, and I’m sure it still holds a place in his heart.
These types of memories would have made me sad while ago, but now that we’re getting back to a place where he’s more like his old self, it’s a lot easier for me to remember them. I’m really hopeful that the memories of our daughter will someday be safe for me, too, but right now, it still hurts too much to remember when she was happy & carefree.
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Posted on 26 January '12 by Dyane, under Living. No Comments.
I went out yesterday, while taking Tiny out to potty & raked one of the back flower beds/garden plots that hadn’t had much done to it last year. Our daughter had planted onions in it & I noticed that they were greening up & reaching for sunlight, so I thought I’d give them some. I intend to fill all three beds with various mints, but don’t know if seeds can be bought for mint. The beds are very hard to get into to plant any seedlings, although I’m sure Troy would do it for me if that’s what I wanted. At any rate, I plan to do a little research on different types & see if that will be a good place for it.
I’m so ready for Spring, planting and longer days. I miss being outside, in the warmth & relaxing in my yard. I miss camping, grilling and smelling the grass, trees & warm earth. I know that Winter is necessary & I would hate living somewhere that we didn’t experience it, I’m just ready for it to be over & hoping these next 7 weeks pass quickly, so I can get on with my planting & relaxing!
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Posted on 26 January '12 by Dyane, under Living. No Comments.
I was on Pinterest the other day & saw the funniest, most appropriate picture for our group of friends. It was a picture of a merit badge; like the ones you get in Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts? It said “Asshole Merit Badge” around an image of an “a” in a circle with wings. The reason it’s perfect is because occasionally, when we’re all spending a lot of time together, someone will say something extremely snarky, and another will look at them & say, “I guess you just earned your title.” the title being “Asshole” of course.
If I could afford it, I’d have some of those made, or barring that, custom pins with the same thing on it & hand them out to my friends as they earned them. I’m sure it would take no time, at all, before we were all proudly sporting them around town!
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Posted on 25 January '12 by Dyane, under Living. No Comments.
When we moved into this house almost 2 years ago, we also emptied our storage unit & moved everything over here to sort & dispose of at a later date. It’s long past that later date & we need the space that junk is using up. So, should I carefully go through everything & decide what to do with it, either donating the good stuff or grabbing some cheap yard signs and sell them, or do I just load up the truck & haul it all off. One option reduces the load in the landfill, the other saves me time & is probably more likely to get the job done.
The more work a particular job is, the more likely I am to keep putting it off until I have no choice but to do it, which would be never, unless we end up having to move. I guess I’ll stew on it a bit & see what plans feels better in the end.
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Posted on 21 January '12 by Dyane, under Living. 1 Comment.
The wind is blowing like crazy here today. Part of the time it blows & rains, then the sun comes out, the wind calms & the sky is blue. Then it starts all over again. It’s definitely cold, I can feel it in the house, and really ought to get out of my pajamas & into something I’m not freezing in.
I have a bit to do today, I’d like to cut out the homemade swiffer pads I have the leftover polar fleece for & maybe make a couple of mop pads for the O’Cedar mop thingy I own out of a couple of old kitchen towels I’m not using. I ought to wash the bath & hand towels today, too, while no one else is using the washer & dryer. I’m obviously putting off a very simple sewing task by filling my day with chores that I hadn’t really even planned on doing today, even though one of those chores also involves sewing.
I guess the weather isn’t the only crazy thing around today!
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Posted on 21 January '12 by Dyane, under Living. No Comments.
I have to admit, I’m a fan of Valentine’s Day. I like the sentiment behind it & have never thought of it solely as a day for lovers. I use it as a day to shower my friends, children, grandchildren & husband with tokens of my affection, a day to remind them that they are precious to me.
I know that it can be a stressful day, from trying to find the perfect valentines day gifts for girlfriends, to being single and feeling completely alone in the world. I get that, I do. Find other ways to express your love for people, get out of the “day of lovers” box and plan ways to show other people in your life how much they mean to you, and take extra time for yourself, too. You are important, too.
If you’re single, spend the day pampering yourself, then go out for dinner, drinks or dancing with your other single friends. Don’t waste time and energy being resentful of the happy couples out there, be happy in your own life and situation; it’s where you’re meant to be right now or you wouldn’t be there.
If you’re in a relationship, take the stress out of the day by setting some ground rules about how you’ll celebrate the day & a price limit, too. This is a day to show your love, not go into debt and it shouldn’t be about buying an extravagant gift. Plan a date night together, maybe not on the actual day, as most places are very crowded & you feel rushed to get in & out. Fix a favorite meal at home together, watch a favorite movie or play a game that helps you bond and get to know each other better. Take the focus off of the material aspect, and put it back where it belongs; on the emotional.
Buy or make your children a small, but special treat, so that you can begin to teach them about the real reason we celebrate the day, so that when they are older they don’t feel so much pressure and conflict about it. Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be a horrible day, it’s all about your attitude.
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Posted on 20 January '12 by Dyane, under Holidays. No Comments.
What’s wrong with people in this country? We have millions who have no healthcare, no insurance and no way to provide for themselves. My best friend is diabetic, with dangerously high sugar levels and can’t even go to a doctor. What will eventually happen is that she’ll end up having to be admitted to the hospital, go further in debt & never be able to pay the bill. I know of a woman in Texas with thyroid issues & she’s looked into every doctor that does hypothyroid treatment austin has to offer, and had to take the one she could afford, just hoping they’d have the answer, because she also has no insurance.
So instead of trying to solve the real problems in our country, people are bashing on Paula Deen for admitting she has diabetes & taking an endorsement deal from a pharmaceutical company? She didn’t have to tell anyone about her diabetes, it’s her personal business & her’s alone. It isn’t the way she cooks that caused her diabetes, there is no proof that high fat diets cause diabetes, or that obesity itself does. Do fat people get diabetes? Yes. Do skinny people get diabetes? Yes. Does eating fat & sugar give you diabetes? No. Should any of this matter to us? No. It’s her life, her business & her career, we don’t get to choose or judge.
Let’s fix the real issues in our country & help the people who are dying because they can’t go to a doctor & stop playing food Nazi with everyone out that who doesn’t eat like you think they ought to.
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Posted on 19 January '12 by Dyane, under Ethics. No Comments.
