Sep 25, 2007

*** Homeowner! ***

Well, I’ve done it. I am now a homeowner and proud of myself for doing it all on my own! The closing was last Friday and went very smoothly. The previous owner brought me a ton of keys – multiples for every door! Wow...

For more info on my new home, click HERE.

After the closing, S asked: “Did you feel like you were gonna throw up at closing?” No, I felt nauseous on the way there. I was too involved in the paperwork and the attorney during closing to feel sick. S did say he wished he could be there for moral support. Awww, ain’t that sweet?


After closing, my Mom and I moved 5 truckloads of stuff. I was beat… she was still raring to go! Where does she get that energy? The back of my Dad’s truck was filthy dirty. I was the one who crawled back there and pushed/stacked boxes. Think Pigpen from Peanuts. That’s what I looked like by the end of the day. I told my Dad that my Mom said I needed a bath. He said: Why? What’s wrong with the way you look? LOL!

Saturday was another busy day of moving. My Dad/Mom moved 2-3 more truckloads before my brother and 2 of his friends showed up with more trucks and a big trailer to move the furniture. S also came with his truck and trailer. All of them had to work in the morning, then came to help me move. Troopers, they are! I’m very miffed at the fact that they were slamming/slinging furniture around (They were in a big hurry… not being careful) and my $800 oak roll top desk ended up not only scuffed (a lot!), but also needs the bracing underneath repaired.

I am very disappointed that a "good" friend of mine offered to help move did not show up, or even call. Every week for the past month she said she'd help me move. The day of closing, she said she'd help. I text messaged her to call when she got off work on Saturday and I'd let her know where we were. No call on Saturday -or- Sunday! Heck, here it is Tuesday and she hasn't even called. Yup. Very disappointed. Especially because whenever she's needed me, I was there for her. I even helped her move! :( *sigh*

I spent Sunday moving 4 more car loads (who’da thunk I had so much stuff!). I took my time...

During my lunch hour on Monday, I managed to move another car load. S came and we moved another truck/trailer and car load before going out to eat and then relaxing for a bit before he went home.

This morning before work, I loaded up another car load! LOL – I think I may have one or two car loads and a truck load left!

Boxes and furniture are stacked everywhere!!!

Sep 20, 2007

To Think I Was Worried...

My worries about the seller being at the walk-thru pale in comparison to what happened after that. Let me start at the beginning:

4:30pm *** I’m having a conversation with the administrative assistant who I share an office space with. I’m telling her about how unsettling it was that the seller was going to be at the walk thru, and how odd I thought that was. Maybe it’s a regional thing because she thought it was odd also. But some of my blog readers have informed me that it’s standard practice where they’re from. Anywho...

5:10pm *** I stop at home to let little Celeste out and to pick up S. He re-arranged visitation with his tot so that he could do the walk-thru with me.

5:30pm *** We arrive at the new house. The seller’s realtor and the seller was there. My realtor was not. Yikes. We start the walk-thru without her… actually S starts the walk-thru. He’s so thorough!! He checked everything inside and out, including the garage and basement. My realtor did show up… She was just a little late. The seller was very nice and helpful, and not at all what I expected.

6:40pm *** My realtor and I were chatting about personal stuff, and S walks by rubbing his belly in circles (LOL!) and softly says to me: “Me hungry” The realtor and I wrap it up so S and I could get something to eat. We went to a local Mexican restaurant.

7:00pm *** My phone rings. It’s my parents. I said to S: “That’s odd they’d call me on a Wed night.” I called my Dad back. In what I thought was a shaky voice, he tells me he needs a ride to the VA hospital, which is an hour and half from their house (almost 2 hours from me). He was having trouble with his leg and they wanted him to go to the ER and have it looked at, possibly be admitted. *Ack*

So S and I box up our food. I drop him off at my house so he can go home. I rush over to my parents’ house.

Internally, I was frantic... the unknown is a scary thing! When I got there, I relieved to see that Dad had changed into his “good” clothes (worn mostly for doctor visits, these days), and he seemed pretty “normal” (LOL, normal for him anyway). So, I felt relieved.

On the way over to my parent’s house, I called my sister and told her what was going on. She called the rest of the kids. Halfway to the hospital she calls, text messages, more text messages. She was worried.

Then I get a call from my brother who chews me out for not calling him, yet he already knew what was going on because 1) he’d talked to my Mom and 2) my sister called him. Dork.

9:00pm *** Arrive at hospital. He spent maybe... MAYBE... 30 minutes in the E.R. before they sent him to the pharmacy to antibiotics.

10:00pm *** We’re on the road home. Toward the end of the stretch, it was all I could do to stay awake. Plus, I don’t like driving at night because I can’t see very well.

12:00am *** I crawl into bed. By this time my arm is in so much pain I wasn’t sure I’d be able to fall asleep.


6:30am *** I wake up thankful that my arm isn’t hurting anymore.

8:00am *** Chiro appointment. Woo Hoo… for once it went well!

8:20am *** Traveling down the street, minding my own business when a car driving from the opposite direction barely slows down and tries to “whip” a turn into the gas station. Guess what? Hello?!? My car is *right* there. Talk about heart stopping!!! I swerved into the other lane (2 lanes there) and he slams on the brakes. I continued on to work, almost on the verge of tears. My heart was still all bundled up when I got to work and was explaining to the administrative assistant what had just happened. Yikes.


So my point to the title of this post... is that the walk-thru was a piece of cake compared to the events that followed. Glad I am that everything turned out OK, even though they were nerve racking.

Sep 19, 2007

How Many?



Donna's comment from yesterday's post prompted this little contest. She wants to know...




"How many of the boxes
are filled with stash?"


So here's the deal: Right now, I don't know how many boxes there are, but I do know all my stash is packed. You get to take a guess at how many boxes.

I will count the boxes as I unpack them. The person who guesses the correct amount (or closest without going over), will win a little sumthin-sumthin from my stash. If two people guess the same number, names will be put into a "hat" to determine the winner.

If you'd like to participate, leave a comment on my blog with your guess. If you sign in under Anonymous, be sure to leave your name and email address.

Contest ends September 30th. Winner will be announced sometime in October. Good luck!

Sep 18, 2007

If I Never See...

... another corrugated box again, it will be too soon! Here's what my house and garage look like now. The garage is half full of packed boxes. I still have more packing to do!

What Is This? 9/7/07 Answer

Anyone a fan of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? The wicked stepmother said, "Mirror Mirror on the wall..."


Yes, that was a pic of a mirror I had hanging near the entryway of my dining room. What's the story of the mirror? I found it in the clearance section of Hobby Lobby several years ago. It was a battered, rather unattractive looking pale yellow piece of work. The mail/calendar rack you see next to the mirror... It was a bright colbalt blue color.

I took a trot on down to the local Menards where I found a rainbow of spray paint cans in a menagerie of textures. I picked out a gray granite and set about creating my new works of art. The end result was two matching pieces that fit well into my decor. Years later, I still like what I did!


The winner of this episode of "What Is This?" is....

PATTY SMITH in Canada

Congratulations, Patty!


Past winners have been:
• Anita Sorrells in Illinois

Thank you all for reading my blog and participating!

Tuesday Update 9/18/07

Stitchy Stuff
I'm working on the last and final installment of "No Place Like Home" by Pine Mountain Designs. This one is mine! I went to Walmart to take advantage of the 10cent clearance they're having on DMC floss. I thought I'd get the colors needed to stitch the accessories to go with the Pink Carnations piece. Wouldn't you know they were out of ALL the colors I needed!


Home Buying News
It's only a matter of time, now. Three, count them: 1 2 3, four days until closing! I have all my ducks in a row. Day off work... *check* Rate locked... *check* Confirmation from loan processor/closer/title company... *check* Homeowners insurance... *check* Walk-thru... Wed *check* Yes, I do believe I'm ready to go. :)

I made a third trip to the grocery store this morning to get more boxes. I must have at least 70 boxes packed already! I'm hoping this last stash of boxes will be it. The "kid" who was working in the produce dept today, actually wheeled the boxes out to the car and loaded them for me. How's that for red carpet treatment?!


Where Is My Bumper?
Remember back in June when I went to the retreat in Indianapolis? Would you believe that the auto body shop is *just now* getting around to fixing the damage? Actually, it was done last Thursday (after how many months? 2½). I find it totally unacceptable and you can bet my last dollar that I will not be using them again. They wonder why I took the "advertising" sticker off my car after I bought it from them 8 years ago. Hmmm, gee..... ??


School
My plans of finishing the online class had a wrench thrown in them. I whizzed through the assignments and first quiz the first week of class. The instructor graded about 3 of the assignments. I waited and waited and waited for the instructor to grade the rest. Finally, I emailed him about it. I wanted to have at least the quiz graded before I went on. I received an email response from him telling me that he would *only* grade the assignments if 4 or 5 people turned them in, or if it was *that* week the assignments were being worked on in the walk-in class! I thought: What the ??? Two weeks later now, I get an email telling me that he'd thought over his "policy" for grading and that it wasn't fair to hold students back if they want to work ahead, since it's rare that students want to. Well hey! I wanted to be DONE by now. I'm moving in 3 days!! I checked my gradebook and sure 'nuf he graded everything. So now I can work on...

Sep 13, 2007

Choices... Choices... A Dilemma

I've been having a hard time picking out a coordinating fabric for Pink Carnations. I think I'm going to make it into a bourse with matching stitching accessories (needlebook, fob, etc.) so the coordinating fabric will be used with those, too.


The fabrics look a bit darker in the pic than they are in real life. Help! I need help...

Look What Came Today!

What a pretty package... What could it be, I wonder...


It's the pink gingham linen I ordered. Yay, now I can stitch up the accessories I charted out to go with Pink Carnations by Sweetheart Tree. I also ordered a few of the nail files. Aren't they cute?


I placed my order with Needle in a Haystack upon the recommendation of Milly. It only took 8 days to get from CA to IL. The neat thing about Needle in a Haystack is that they have a "frequent buyer's" program where you earn points for each dollar you spend. The FB card is free. Neat, eh?

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Last night, I decided to go through the 4 file crates of financial info I had stored in my attic. I went through every file and purged anything that I didn't need. Along with cancelled checks (that go back to the very first checking account I opened!), I am going to have my Dad burn the purged stuff. After purging, I am now down to 3 crates.

The mere act of purging files was not the "trip" down memory lane. What I found was a file folder that detailed a car accident I was in when I was 21. I was hit head-on by a drunk driver. Back then wearing seatbelts was not the "norm", however I always wore mine. One of the first things my mother said to me was "Thank goodness you were wearing your seatbelt!"

I worked for a hotel on 3rd shift at the time, which was why I was out and about at 10:45pm. Can you believe the guy I was with at the time chastised me for going *that* way to work instead of the way I normally went?

Even though I was driving a big "heavy" car, the collision did major damage to the front end of my car, pushing the motor against the dashboard.


The other guy had a smaller car and his car was totalled, too. He didn't fare as well. He had to be hospitalized, as the report states. I heard he was blind for two weeks after the accident due to his face hitting the windshield. He was not wearing a seat belt. A short time after the accident, I saw him at a party DRUNK!


I felt all right after the accident, so I went to work. When the girl came in to take relieve me of my duties, she was all upset and freaked out because her friend had been in a car accident the night before and was in the hospital. Well, her friend was the drunk driver!!!

By the end of my shift, I started to have instense pain in my neck, shoulders and down my arm. I was taken to the emergency room. From then on, I had the most excrutiating pain for over 3 weeks. I had to go to physical therapy, an MD, and a chiropracter. I couldn't drive, couldn't shower, couldn't brush my teeth, or even comb my hair! Obviously, I couldn't work either. I kept a diary at that time and in reading it last night, the chiropracter had said out of 50 cases, mine was one of the top 3 or 4 worst whiplash cases he'd seen. Imagine that!


I'd always had a suspicion that the problems I've experienced over the last 5 years or so had something to do with that accident. In looking at the chiro reports, the suspicions were confirmed. The same areas that were affected then, are the ones that are causing my pain in the neck, shoulders, and arm now. Same kind of pains, too! I wouldn't have remembered the details of the suffering I'd been through had it not been for the chronicles I did during my medical treatment.

Ahh... I feel like an old woman today. My spine is stiff, and of course my arm is always in pain -- Just a matter of what degree.

Sep 12, 2007

No Place Like Home #3

3 down, 1 to go...

No Place Like Home by Pine Mountain Designs

As The Grass Grows

Setting the scene: It's 7:15am. I'm in my bathroom getting ready for work. I hear a lawnmower. I look out my bathroom window which faces the backyard. What do I see?

The neighbor's daughter starts to mow the backyard. (Her mother mowed the front part of the yard on Saturday.) The grass in the backyard is now about 6" tall and drenched in dew. It's 7:15 for goodness sake!

I chuckle to myself as I finish getting ready for work. There's a conversation going on in my head: "She's so dumb. You *never* mow the grass in the morning, and definitely NOT when it's wet. Where did she learn to mow? Oh yeah... probably the mother. Fruitcakes don't fall far from the tree."

7:25am. I hear the lawnmower sputter. The lawnmower dies. I look out the window again. The daughter managed to get a small square of yard done before the mower died. Gee, wonder why? Maybe because the grass is LONG and heavy? Mower is started again. I watch her for a few minutes. She starts to push the mower... it sputters... it recovers... she starts to inch the mower along... lol, about 5" at a time. The mower dies again. She starts it up, and looks around to see if anyone is watching her. I think about waving, but her back is to me so it would've been a wasted effort. I finish getting ready for work.

7:40am. The mower stops. I hear the garage door slam down against the concrete. (The landlord *still* has not replaced the garage door openers that were electrified during the flood last month.) The door to their place slams shut. I look out at the backyard. She managed to mow 1/3 before it must've dawned on her *now* is not a good time to mow.

Bwahahaha!

Update: 6:54pm. I came home from work and the backyard has not been mowed. What's wrong with these people?

Sep 11, 2007

It's Becoming Reality

Up until now, I hadn't allowed my brain to wrap around the idea that I am going to be a HOME OWNER! With being so busy with going to the doctor, chiropracter, starting school, and packing I really haven't allowed myself to get too excited.

It started to dawn on me that it's becoming a reality! I'm going to have my very own home! No more listening to 5:30am arguments. No more wet newspapers angrily thrown at my front door. No more "signs" telling me what I may or may not do. No more hearing stomping up and down the stairs from the neighbors. No more, I say! No more... LOL

So what brought me closer to this reality? I received my homeowner's insurance policy yesterday. :) Today, I locked in my mortgage rate. For 3 weeks, I've been calling the 800 number and getting the rate. Up until today the rate had stayed the same with cost of points rising. Today I called and not only had the rate dropped, so did the cost of points! Incidentally, I just heard on the radio that mortgage rates are the lowest they've been since May. Yay for me!

"Would you like to lock in your rate today, Ma'am?"

You bet I would!

I also received confirmation today for the walk-thru before closing. On Friday, I will call and have the utilities switched over. The big day will be here before I know it! :)

Sep 10, 2007

What is THAT smell?!?

Ever since the flood, the basement just reeks whenever it rains. When it's not raining, I smell *that* smell (faintly) if I walk near the wall that separates the neighbor's basement from mine. I don't know if the odor is coming from there, or if it's my imagination. Or, maybe the smell is coming from the drain the floor of the basement. Whatever is the case, it reeks! Today, it's been raining all morning and the smell is terrible!

How long before I move out?

NINE DAYS.

Oh yeah... Nine days!

Monday Update 9/10/07

Stitchy Stuff
Today was a good mail day! Last week I was turned on to a 60% off clearance page at Village Mountain Stitchery. When I tried to place my order last week, the shopping cart function wasn't working properly, so I emailed them. They answered the email promptly, offered to process the order via email, and were quite helpful. Shipping was inexpensive and fast. I received the package today! They take Paypal, too. Plus, my order was 60% off. I'm a happy camper! Here's what I ordered:




Waxing Moon "Christmas Quickies"








Lizzie Kate Flip-It Bits for January, February, April & June







Lizzie Kate Snippet
"Just Married"








Bent Creek "Wedding Row"







Bent Creek
Red Thread Snappers
"Heart of Love"





Lastly, a chart that I did not order was included. It's a Snowman of the Month for November. It's a snowman dressed as a pilgrim, complete with turkey and gun. LOL

If you think that's all I got in today's mail, think again... :-) From Jana, I received a bunch of Little House Needlework Freebies. Thank you, Jana!

They say things come in 3's. Believe it or not, there was also a package from Rene in NV. She sent me the cutest little magnet for the refrigerator in my new house! :D Thank you, Rene!

OK, I guess I can't count! There was yet another stitchy-related envelope in today's mail. This one was from Carla. She sent me a cute little ladybug chart. I'm tempted to start this one tonight! She says it's a really quick stitch.

Just so you don't think all I did this week was shop, I managed to put a few stitches into NPLH #3. I'm about 3/4 done with it.


A Night at the Theatre
Friday night marked the opening of the 82nd continuous season of the local threatre. It is the oldest continuous amateur theatre in the United States. The 82nd season started out with "The Nerd" by Larry Shue.

Willum Gilbert has it all - a promising career as an architect, devoted friends, even, maybe, a serious girlfriend. But then Rick Steadman, the ultimate social misfit, comes to visit and puts everything in peril. The Nerd escalates into madcap farce as Willum tries to out-nerd his sanity-destroying houseguest.

This was a hilarious production! The entire audience was rolling in their seats.


Health
The chiropracter swears that the muscles and verebrae in my spine are loosening up. Sometimes, I have to wonder! Today he did more work on the thoracic area, which he did get to "crack" not once, but twice. After the first time, with methodic heavy breathing, I said "You're gonna do it again?!?" Apparently, that was funny because he laughed and said "Yes, we're gonna try it again." Great....

Sep 7, 2007

What Is This?

Since it was so much fun last time, I thought I'd do an installment of "What Is This?" from time to time.


Here are the "rules":

In addition to your guess, you have to make up a little background story to go with your answer.
The answer has to be specific. For instance, "clothing" is too generic. You have to say what *kind* of clothing. Saying "Clothing I that was found at Walmart" is too generic for the story. Think: Who, What, Where, When, Why, How. Of course, we all know this is not clothing!!

Use your imagination!

The winner will receive a little sumthin-sumthin from my stash, so be sure to leave your email address! If there's more than one with the correct answer, names will be put into a hat and one winner will be drawn.

To qualify, you have to leave your answer, and the story that goes along with it in a comment on this blog. If you don't have a blogger account, you can sign in under "Anonymous"... just remember to sign your name so I know who you are. :) Contest ends September 15th.

Good luck!

Previous "What Is This?" winners:
8/18/07

Breast Cancer Awareness








Blue Ribbon Designs in conjunction with Elegant Stitch designed "With All Your Heart" to raise funds for breast cancer education and awareness programs. Isn't it beautiful?


I've been in touch with Lois (Who was very helpful!) at Elegant Stitch and have been told "With All Your Heart" will be released on Saturday, 09/22. They have a pre-order list, if you'd like to get on it. The complete kit (everything you need except the stuffing) is $28.00 plus shipping. For more information on this project, the link is:
http://www.blueribbondesigns.com/With%20All%20Your%20Heart.htm.

If you're interested in the Breast Cancer cause, click on the Stitch Pink logo on my sidebar.

Sep 5, 2007

Tagged! My Middle Name...

I've been tagged by Deidre.

The rules:
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.
3. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My middle name is Ann (Shhh... Don't tell anyone!).

A is for Annoyance. Annoyance is waking up to a "bug bite" that swell up to the diameter of an egg, turn red, itch like crazy, and hurt for two days.

N is for Northwest. I've lived in the northwest Illinois my entire life.

N is for November. November is when I am getting my tonsils taken out. *Ack!* My first surgery.

I tag Anita, Nobody, and No one (because I have no blogger friends with names that start with "N").

Sep 3, 2007

Tuesday Update 9/4/07

The Three H’s – Hot, Humid, and Hazy
That describes last Tuesday’s weather perfectly. The humidity was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. So what do S and I do? We meet at a state park for a picnic supper and hiking. It was much cooler by 6:30pm but the humidity was still quite high. By the time we got done hiking a “hard” trail (as indicated by the difficulty sign), both of us were dripping with sweat, our clothes were quite damp (romantic, eh?), and our glasses were getting fogged up! On my 45 minute drive home, I could see heat lightning storms in the distance.

Heat lightning is flashes too far away for its thunder not to be heard. During hot, humid weather, short lived thunderstorms may occur in regions driven by heat and humidity. Some storms bring relief with cooling rain and brief wind. Other pass over noted only by cumulonimbus clouds and flashes of lightning, which is what I saw last night. I’d never seen a heat storm before, so I found it noteworthy.


In The News
Last week marked the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death. Her sons planned a 10th anniversary memorial of her death which was televised in the UK. I find it a bit odd to celebrate a death.

President Bush has declared my county a federal disaster area due to the Sept 7th flood we received. Homeowners who had devastating losses now may be eligible for funding from FEMA.


Weekend Fun
Last weekend was On The Waterfront Festival. It's held every year over the Labor Day weekend. The company I worked for sponsored a corporate party which included passes for the 3-day event, a covered tent with tables along the waterfront and within seeing distance of the Miller Lite Great Lawn Stage, and catered food/drinks. The Friday night band was Black Crowes. I'd never heard of them prior to the concert. Not really my type of music, but S enjoyed them a lot. The music was REALLY loud and I think we left there with less hearing than we started with. LOL Since the corporate tent was along the Rock River, we had an excellent view of the fireworks display.

On Saturday evening, S and I had a picnic with his mom/stepfather along another part of the Rock River in another city. The river was really high and we could see where it had flooded (at least 20 feet from the banks) from the rains in August. We were practically devoured by mosquitoes!


Freecycle
Peturbed doesn't begin to describe emotions associated with a recent Freecycle transaction. I put out an ad for Maternity Plants that I am giving away (I need to thin out my plant). LOTS of people asked for cuttings. I told each one that I'd put some cuttings on the window sill of my front porch WITH THEIR NAME ON IT. On Friday, I put three sets of cuttings out. One lady took the cuttings with another lady's name on it. How do I know who it is? Because two plants were picked up, and the one lady said she stopped to pick up and there wasn't one with her name on it so she didn't take any of them. So with deductive reasoning, I figured out who took what. I emailed the culprit who "collects plants" and asked if she picked up her plants.... No answer. My guess is that she took the one she thought looked the best. If she'd been smart, she would've switched names! I'd heard from other freecyclers that people take items that aren't marked for them, but until now it'd never happened to me. Shame on them! On a good note, my plant is really thinned down now. It lives up to it's name of Maternity Plant, as it reproduces like rabbits!

I also put an ad out for a display cabinet that I did not want to move to the new house. I had about a dozen people ask for it. Four people later, someone finally said they could come pick it up. I really like Freecycle and think it's a good thing, but I despise the "No Shows" -- people who say they want stuff, set up a time, and then never show up. Back to my story... I was waiting on an answer as to what time this person could come pick up. I decided to take down the curtains from the windows above the cabinet. Can you see where this is going?? I climb up on top of the cabinet (Yes, it's strong enough.). I hear a noise. As I look down... in slow motion... I see one of the sliding doors fall OUT of the cabinet and crash to the floor. Broken glass EVERYWHERE! Luckily, the doors can be re-made at the local glass place for less than $10.

I relisted it on Freecycle telling that the door was broken... blah, blah, blah. Finally had someone drive 45 minutes to pick it up. In a MINIVAN!! In the ad, I specifically said a truck would be needed to haul the cabinet. My jaw dropped and I said, "Uh... I don't think it's gonna fit in there." Of course being a man... "Oh yes. I measured and it'll fit." Uh huh. Thirty minutes later him and his wife had to take it 2/3 apart to get it in the van door. Meanwhile their 5yr old apparently was being a monkey and swinging from the bars above the van doors and HAD to go in out of every door of the van at least 3 times, including the one they were trying to get the cabinet into. Want some pop (Mt Dew)? Sure honey, go ahead an have some. Like the kid needed anymore adrenaline rushes?? When all said and done, they got the cabinet in the van. I wished them good luck in getting it back together. LOL At least it's out of my way and I can stack boxes in the corner it was taking residence at.


Health
Another trip to the ENT doc brought me some good news... and some bad news. The good news: The sinus infection I had cleared up. The bad news: I WILL have to have my tonsils taken out. They are abnormally large and as the doc put it: "They're little birdhouses for bacteria and infection." Well, duh... I've had problems with them since I was 18. With that said, I don't run to the doctor everytime they bother me or I am sick. I tough it out. Since they've started to obstruct my airways when I sleep (especially when I am sick), it causes me not to get a good night's rest so I am tired all the time. The doc did say something I found interesting. He said that when bacteria collects in the pocket, "chunks" of white stuff form back there. Earlier this year when my tonsils were hurting, I felt something back there and when I swiped it with my finger I had little white chunks of stuff that I had no idea what it was. Well now I do! It's really weird how *just* my tonsils will hurt and not my throat. For 3 days this week, the one on the left hurt when I swallow. I guess surgery will take care of that problem, too.

I want the surgery to be done the first week in November. Reasoning: It's the month after by busy time at work, and it's two weeks before Thanksgiving. I will need at least two weeks to recover. Fun. Not.


Labor Day
Holiday? What holiday?? Monday holidays always suck for me because it means that Tuesday is horrendous. Monday and Tuesday's work needs to be done by the close of business on Tuesday. I've gotten a few of my clients in the habit of getting me the data early which makes it easier on me. I ended up working 5½ hours on "the holiday". I'm hoping I can take that amount of time off on Friday.


Update on Dad
Kicking up his heels and dancing, he is! LOL, OK... Maybe not quite like that, but if you knew my Dad the picture in my head is quite funny. So what am I trying say? Dad is apparently healed up because he's been back to work for 2 weeks now. I haven't had a chance to ask him if the pain he's had in his legs for years has been reduced or eliminated.


Stitchy Stuff
I changed the white windows in "No Place Like Home" #2 to 677, a pale yellow. I think it looks much better.


I did have a mishap, though. I started frogging a window in NPLH #1 because they both were in the same ziploc bag and I grabbed the wrong one. Ooops. So, I have to re-stitch that window. I've started NPLH #3 and am about 1/3 of the way done. It's a pretty quick stitch!