Marvelous Monday Update 7/13/09

... on a Tuesday (again!)



COUGH-COUGH-GAG-COUGH-COUGH
I bet you guessed it. Yep, I *still* have the cough. So far I've seen an "immediate care" doctor who said it was allergies and gave me an RX for Robitussin CA and Allegra 24-hour. The Robitussin was great for helping me sleep at night! The Allegra wore off after about 12 hours, so I quit using it. Then I went to see my "new" primary care physician who thought the cough was asthma-induced, which I think I mentioned a couple of posts ago. She prescribed a 3-day Z-Pak just in case I had an infection in my lungs, plus Advair for the asthma. In my follow up appointment with her this week, I still wasn't better so she was "perplexed" and suggested I see my allergist. Meantime, she wanted to do something about the cough and prescribed Prednisone. This was *after* she explained she doesn't like to take it herself due to the side effects! I held off filling that RX until I saw my allergist. She also had me do a chest x-ray, which came back normal.

Friday, I saw my allergist. He ruled out asthma as the cause of my cough. THAT test made me cough so bad, the nurse made me sit on the table and even went to get me a glass of water! So, what's the culprit? Based on the symptoms I'd described to him, he thinks it's a sinus infection! He prescribed another round of stronger antibiotics, nasal spray, and Mucinex D. If I'm not better after all this, he wants to do a CT scan of my face to make sure they're "not missing something".

Let's hope this does takes care of the problem. 1) Six weeks of this cough is getting old. 2) I'm beginning to feel like I should own stock in the pharmacy!

The upside: Each time I've filled a new RX, I've had a coupon for a FREE $25 gift card, so at least those have offset the RX costs.


RAKS!
The post office was really good to me last week! Mary in TX was one of my students in a recent online mailart class. As a "thank you", she sent a pretty scissor fob she made (I added my scissors) and an oriental print bag:



Lisa in MO sent me a Dimensions Gold Collection kit called "Lovely Rose".

The entire background is stitched in black, but I think I'll use black fabric instead!

A big thank you to both Mary and Lisa!

Gotta Love Technology

THREE LADIES IN THE SAUNA

Three women, two younger, and one senior citizen, were sitting naked in a sauna.

Suddenly there was a beeping sound. The young woman pressed her forearm and the beep stopped.

The others looked at her questioningly. "That was my pager," she said. "I have a microchip under the skin of my arm."

A few minutes later, a phone rang. The second young woman lifted her palm to her ear.

When she finished, she explained, "That was my mobile phone. I have a microchip in my hand."

The older woman felt very low-tech. Not to be out done, she decided she had to do something just as impressive. She stepped out of the sauna and went to the bathroom.





She returned with a piece of toilet paper hanging from her rear end.





The other two raised their eyebrows at her.

The older woman finally said...... "Well, will you look at that! I'm getting a fax!!"

I Found The One!

Ever since I moved into my house a year and a half ago, I have been looking for a cabinet to store my craft and stitchy supplies in. Not just any cabinet, mind you, but the "perfect" cabinet that looked like a "nice" (both relative terms, mind you) piece of furniture. I've looked at thrift stores, consignment shops, Menards, furniture stores, and antique shops. I even checked craigslist in my area. Pieces I liked were prohibitively over-budget for what I wanted to use it for, and the ones that were within budget were made of pressboard... which I try to avoid as they really don't last. I was getting discouraged and started to think I'd have to "settle" for a piece of crap something I really didn't like if I wanted to get my stitchy and craft stuff unpacked. (Yes, everything is *still* in boxes!)

When JT and I were on our way to my parents' picnic on the 4th, we passed by the Salvation Army store where they were having a 50% off sale on clothing. Since we had time to kill, he turned the car around and we went in to look. Didn't have luck on clothing, but I did find this:

The tag said it had just come into the store on July 1st. Can you imagine someone *just* donating such a marvelous armoire??? This beautiful piece of furniture measures 42W x 19D x 62H and is made of SOLID WOOD. There were a couple of light scratches and rub marks... nothing some Old English didn't take care of. It's also missing the handles on one of the drawers at the bottom, but I'll figure something out. Or, can anyone can point me to a place to get similar replacements??

I found out this morning that the partitions in the top section are removeable, which is really nice. I've already had thoughts of making adjustable partitions for the drawers in order to make organization easier.

Close Up Details

CONTEST: Take a guess as to how much I paid for this armoire? (Btw, Has anyone noticed how much more expensive Goodwill and SA stores have gotten in the past several years?) Leave a comment that you'd like to be included in the contest along with your guess. If you comment anonymously, be sure to put your email addy so I can contact you. The person who guesses the closest will receive something from my stitchy stash. Contest ends July 17th, winner announced in the following MM update.

Marvelous Monday Update 7/6/09

To those in the US, I hope you all had a safe and fun 4th of July!

On Friday night, JT and I found a spot to watch fireworks at a local bank that was giving away FREE ice cream bars. Who could resist that? Unfortunately, he's allergic to chocolate so he couldn't have one. Being the sweet person I am, I bought him a pineapple sundae from the DQ next door. The DQ employees were PO'd that the bank next door was giving away free ice cream, LOL. They started passing out coupons "Buy a blizzard, get one for 99c". But the ice cream at the bank is FREE!

In the Saturday rain, we headed to my parents' home where a cookout was being held. Everyone brought a dish to pass, and Dad was the grill cook. (Good job, Dad!) I made pasta salad and watermelon wedges.

The pasta salad was a big hit... there was barely a large spoonful left!

Later that evening, JT and I went to the fireworks show in another village since the rain subsided late afternoon. One of the fireworks displays was a smiley face. Would've been really cool if the face was right-side up. LOL


STITCHY STUFF
I got a lot of stitching in this past week, and my "secret" exchange project is almost done being stitched. I bought fabric and other embellishments in order to make it into the "finished" item. No pics yet, sorry!

I rescued this custom framed (by Michaels), stitched piece from the local Salavation Army store for 99c! There's no signature or date on it, unfortunately. Does anyone know what the piece is called, or who the designer is?



GARDENING
The planters and hanging baskets have really filled out, so I decided to take some creative photos of my flowers:



YUM-YUMS
Earlier in the week, I made grilled chicken and vegetable kebobs. I marinaded the chicken in lemon pepper, and the kebobs were brushed with caesar dressing before and during cooking. JT and I both love grilled kebobs. Yummy!

Uncooked
Grilled to Perfection!

Urine Testing

JOB - URINE TEST


Joe, the average worker says:

"Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem.



What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them?

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their lazy butts, doing drugs, while I work...

Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?

Something has to change in this country -- and soon!

Guess we could title that program, 'Urine or You're Out'."