Oct 15, 2012

Marvelous Monday Update 10/15/12



WEATHER
The temperatures are getting cooler and the rain has set in.  The leaves are changing and the cold winds have picked up.  Fall is definitely in the air.  Two weeks ago, my only tree in the backyard was filled with beautiful golden leaves. Now all the leaves are on the ground soaked with the rain we've received over the weekend.
COOKING
When it's cold, rainy, and dreary outside, what's better than some yum-yums in the tum-tum? I made a humongous crockpot full of soup. What kind of soup, you ask? I call it my "everything but the kitchen sink" soup. I pulled all the vegetables out of the refrigerator and freezer and threw them in -- broccoli, green pepper, potato, spinach, onions, mushrooms, green beans, tomatoes, celery. I also added a can of rinsed chili beans, a couple chopped chicken breasts, beef broth, leftover crushed tomatoes, a handful of barley, along with various spices. As the BF put it, "It's awesome!"

I also had a few bananas that needed to be used up so I made banana crunch muffins. Out of two dozen, I have none left! No, I did not eat them all... I sent a few home with my Dad and some home with the BF.


HEALTH
For the past 5-6 months, I've had numbness in my thumb and pain in the medial area of my palm. Last Friday, I had an EMG done on my wrist and found out that I have carpal tunnel syndrome. While performing the test, the neurologist asked me if my elbow had been hurting me. When I told him it hadn't, he touched my elbow by the funny bone area and asked me again... "Yeah that hurts!" He did some testing of my elbow and told me that I have a compressed nerve in my elbow. Ya know how it feels after you hit your funny bone on something? Well, that's how my elbow feels almost all the time. The neurologist wants me to see an orthopaedic surgeon to determine the next course of action. She offered to prescribe me some drugs, but I said I'll just manage with ibuprofen or motrin like I have been. The drugs she wanted to give me are also used as anti-depressants. She also said to continue to use the wrist glove and ice, if necessary.

NEIGHBORS
Last week, I forgot to mention the backyard breeder neighbors. The female dogs were in heat again and for over a week, I endured the whining and carrying on by the males. After calling the police 5-6 times over the course of a week, I finally signed a complaint against them. Now we'll all have to go to court over it. The last officer I talked to "said" he was going to get animal control involved. My guess is that it didn't happen. However, while I was away at the stitching GTG last week, the neighbors decided to move the plywood in this photo:


They moved it to the fencing between the two kennels that butt up to each other (Ever see a male try to hump a female through a chainlink fence??) so that males can't see the females, and the females can't prance in front of them or stick their hoo-hoo's in the males faces.


It looks terrible! I feel like I live next door to a bunch of rednecks! We'll see if it works... and BTW, the neighbors don't look at me or say anything to me, LOL.

STITCHY STUFF
I did do a bit more on JG, but not enough to warrant a photo. I have a new start to share, though. Donna at By the Bay Needleart is hosting another SAL. I did the summer and now the autumn one. I started it a week late, but am almost caught up with Part 2 already.


I did a few color changes: I swapped the WDW for two GAST that I blended together. I also changed the Ecru to white for the clouds so they show up better on my fabric.

Until next time,

22 comments:

Unknown said...

Love the stitching!
Sorry to hear you have carpel tunnel syndrome, not nice at all.
I really hope things get resolved with your noisy neighbours.

Anne Sans Tete said...

Lovely weather~ just like here except I'm always cold!

DH loves to make "everything but the kitchen sink" soup! It's really good, too. Your muffins look tasty.

I hope you get things resolved with the neighbors.

I keep meaning to ask: where do you get your blog signatures?

- Lisa N.

Berly said...

At least they've finally found the source of your pain - now, hopefully, they can fix it! Your soup sounds a lot like my potato soup. I start with a Bear Creek cheesy potato mix and add whatever leftover veggies, meat, and cheese I have to it. It's yummy!

As always, your stitching is beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Meari I enjoyed your blog update -

we too had soup last weekend - turkey and chicken broth with lots of veggies. My mom always makes a huge 10l pot of broth and freezes most of it for future use. Last night she added the remaining portion of the pumpkin soup and it was 'to die for'. A few weeks ago we made spicy tomato soup with the tomatoes from the garden and froze a couple of portions of that as well - it will be lovely once the cooler weather comes.

Your SAL looks great - good choice on the white.

Tara

cucki said...

I love your stitching so much..
soorry to hear you have carpel tunnel syndrome,..sending you lots of hugs...thinking of you so much
Hugs xxx

Faith... said...

Your soup sounds delicious and the best part is it is never the same twice! Sorry to hear about the carpal tunnel and the nerve...hope that doesn't mean surgery is in your near future.

Your BTB SAL looks great! I have not started mine yet.

valerie said...

Hope they find a treatment plan for your carpel tunnel and elbow. And good luck with your neighbors. What drama! Love the progress on your JP and the By the Bay mystery stitch. I'm really liking this one and debating myself! :)

Unknown said...

It so is the season for soup. Wish I had the guts to just throw something in a pot, without a receipe to follow... Carpel tunnel YUK!!! Will be thinking of you.

Nancy said...

Hi Meari,

Ok now you have a diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome. That means that the doctor can write you a prescription for massage and your insurance might cover it. If you are seeing an orthopedic surgeon, I would suggest the massage before you opt for surgery. Like I mentioned before, carpal tunnel usually starts from tight neck muscles and then tight upper arm muscles and then tight forearm muscles which cause the space at the wrist to become smaller due to the the inflammation. Or you could come to Vegas and let me work on you!!!! Get the idea, that I am trying to tempt you? Hahahaha Your soup sounds really good but Mark and I are trying to go gluten free so the barley would have to be left out and maybe use rice instead. Your SAL is looking great! Looking forward to seeing more progress. As for your neighbors...don't wait for the police to get animal control involved...call them yourself. Then they can check to see how often a complaint has been filed and go from there. You probably can even contact animal control by email.

Anonymous said...

Your soup sounds delicious and your muffins look yummy.

I am glad they found out what was causing the numbness in your thumb and hope you can get it fixed with some theraphy.

Hope you can do something with the neighbors.

Your stitching looks very nice.

Marl

rosey175 said...

Fall and winter are the best for delicious foods! I call that soup "Leftover Soup" while the BF calls it "Magic Soup" haha.

Sucks about your wrist! I can't imagine a permanent funny bone wriggle in my arm. Hoping for a quick recovery!

There's another reason I like to live isolated out in the country -- no bad neighbors... or at least no close bad neighbors! You don't live in an area where there's an HOA, do you?

Your stitching looks wonderful but be careful with it and your carpal tunnel!

Chris said...

Your elbow?! ugh! I hope that it is feeling better.
Sorry about the neighbors. UGH!!
I love your By The Bay start. I need to get going but I have to finish the exchange piece that I am stitching first. I am missing out on this fun right now.
I hope that you have a great week!

Kate said...

Sorry to hear about your wrist, I hope you can get it sorted out.
Your neighbours don't sound like much fun, I hope things don't get worse there.
Your stitching looks good.

Carol said...

Oh, Meari, I'm sorry to hear your hand and thumb is still so painful, but I'm glad you finally have a diagnosis. Hard to decide about surgery, I'm sure... Hope the non-prescription meds continue to help...

And, those neighbors--I would be losing my mind. I need a nice quiet neighborhood and they sound like they are anything but--ugh!!

Your SAL is very pretty and your banana crunch muffins look wonderful--no wonder there were none left :)

Take care now--rest up your hand if you can...

Anonymous said...

Meari,
Just curious. Have you gotten all the thread you need for JG?

I make a soup that's sounds just like your soup. It's my grandmothers recipe. Boy is it good.
I feel for you over the dogs. My dad had a similar problem. The dogs next store to him also smelled awful! If we opened the windows on that side of the house
all you smelled was dog poo& pee and when it rained. The smell was bad!

Good luck with the rednecks.

Diana-Indiana

Akila said...

Oops, sorry to hear about Carpal tunnel. One of my friends had to undergo surgery last year for this, but she's alright now and is back stitching.
The food sounds and looks yummm
Hope you resolve the issues with your neighbor soon. It's painful not having friendly neighbors.
This autumn pattern looks very different. Love the fabric

Nancy M said...

Just caught up with your last 6 posts. I've been traveling....and working and watching baseball! LOL Glad to see you're still plugging on with JG. I have hope you will finish it one day! Hope you mom is feeling better, my Dad had those huge machines in the house, and the tank for traveling. They aren't the easiest things to get around. I think I'd call animal control and go around the police. Maybe they are doing something illegal with the dogs and you might get further than the police?? I'm sure you've thought of all the angles though!

Denise SA said...

Your soup sounds delicious and I love your autumn start

Pam in IL said...

BTB is looking great! I haven't started mine yet, but hope to get going on it soon.

Sorry that you have to see that eyesore next door. Hopefully it will keep the dogs quieter. I'd plant some kind of hedge to block the view.

Your muffins look scrumptious!

Karen said...

That dog situation sounds incredibly frustrating! The plywood is definitely an eye-sore, but I do hope it helps with the noise.

Your progress on the By the Bay SAL looks great! I really like this little design.

Lana said...

oh no! Carpel Tunnel?! I am so sorry! Your neighbors sound like idiots! LOL, love your progress on the By the Bay Needleart SAL! Can't wait to see more!

glenda said...

Lord..those are some high class neighbors!