I made Michael some pants last night, and today I was starting to work on Matthew's. The pattern was pinned down and I was ALMOST done cutting it out. I had been ignoring the dogs to work on the pattern. I turned my head for JUST A MINUTE and when I turned back, Ms. Sheba (foster) had peed on it! ARGH!

We've had animals pee on clothes on the floor here, but never quite getting it out of the way before they were even MADE! *laugh*

The material is getting a second washing right now, btw.

I have a major pain in my ass. No. Really! I have a pain in my ass!

My tailbone began the day on fire. Thank you arthritis and weather going from 80s to 30s back to 80s all within a single week!!!! I went to physical therapy and it only got worse. By mid-afternoon the pain was radiating down into my buttock and into my leg. My butt is hurting really, really bad.

I've taken lots of Lortab and it hasn't helped at all. FUCK!!!!!!

Still here. Still hurting. Still making the most of my life.

My attention span has gone to the dogs. Well, I think our dogs would disagree because they have gotten LESS attention if you ask them! :)

I have to choose each day of whether to sleep it all away or cause myself physical pain and possible damage by speeding my way through the day. I worked in the yard the other day. I had on gloves, but still hurt my hands by ripping out grass. I just kept plowing through it and could not stop, even though I knew my hands hurt. I then stayed out there until _1 AM_ moving things around trying to get the backyard to where I could stand to sit out there on nice days. I paid dearly for that day and am just now starting to feel 'normal' again. That was also when I gave up on the doctor's idea of taking 200mg of Provigil EVERY DAY. Now I just take it when I know I have to be awake for something, and then just hope I can remember what it was!

On a brighter note, I taught a jewelry class last night with three people in it. Saturday, I have 2 people in a painting class. Today, I found out that on the 3rd I have another jewelry class with 3 people, and the next day a sewing for kids (lazy pants) class with 3 kids!!!! YAY! It's only a little bit of cash, but I have enough notice now to be able to rest up and prepare. I wish I could find an actual JOB like this, where you make your own schedule, only have to work in 2-3 hour increments and know what will be happening before it happens. I could handle that but those jobs just don't exist unless it is under the guise of 'volunteer work'. Ummm, I need money.

The kids camps this summer should be fun. I signed up to teach quite a few - one of each of these a month: PomPom Planet (an earth wall hanging made out of pom-poms), a memo board, embellished flip-flops, a Disney scrapbook, garden creatures made out of small painted pots.

Also, I created a trend class with baby scrapbooking, picked up a jewelry 301 for stringing (beadweaving, actually. bad terminology on their part), and new painting subjects for the One-Stroke classes (roses and hydrangeas).

I need to upload some pics of my latest projects, especially so misskerri can see the one I made for her! That's next, I guess!

I have to heat up waffles three or four times because I forget them and they are cold by the time I see them again. Same thing with laundry. I can wash it several times before I actually get it to the dryer.

Outside of the whole flu postponement of Valentine's Day until next week, it has been a somewhat good weekend.

- I have been productive with my start on privately journaling my symptoms, feelings, obstacles and disease progression across many fronts. This should help me with disability paperwork so I'll have in writing what I will need to get from who.

- I took the trash out. This IS an accomplishment.

- Talk about the softest product launch EVER - they released the wireless drum kit for Guitar Hero: World Tour this weekend. Nobody knew it was coming, it wasn't on their web site and nobody had it listed in their Sunday circulars. I went in Best Buy to get a CD (yes, they still sell those) and BOOM! There it was! The thing I had been lusting for but had been told it may be May or later before I could have some without spending almost $200 on the full band kit. All we are missing is the drum kit! NOT ANYMORE!!!! I spent a little while tonight working with them and DANG they are hard! Much harder than the guitar IMHO, but maybe that is because I've tried to play guitar off and on for many years. I've never played the drums.

- Tomorrow is my One Stroke Painting 201 class so that ought to be interesting. During open house on Saturday, I got five people signed up for my classes. Mostly painting and jewelry. It was well worth the trip out there no matter how crappy I felt.

- I also got my 'official' "CRANIAL HAIR PROSTHESIS" *ahemwigcouth* at a great place in Lewisville. They work with lots of patients going through chemo or who are losing their hair due to other medications, like I am. We went a bit longer, and a much more natural looking scalp. Pretty much the same color. He set in some styling, trimmed me up some bangs and we're going to wait for a while until I figure out how much bulk I was thinned out of it. I may just leave it as it!

- I installed my SLAH Trellis Wall organizer in the bathroom FINALLY! It got so many of those bottles off the counter and freed up space. I wonder if I could talk Scott into using one on his side of the side. I bet he would love having all of it up there where only he touches it.

Ok, it is nighty time. I'm about to fall asleep at the keyboard.

Take care folks. The last three lines have been types with my eyes full closed. Touch typing was well worth learning as a young teenager. :)

Take care all and we'll see you tomorrow.

I'm still around. I've mostly been making private posts to try to work through medical stuff in my head. I am writing things to myself to try to build a full picture of my health, doctors, tests, etc. Nothing anyone should see but myself.

I did have a high point today! Michael and Matthew got Valentine's Day cards from their Godbrother, but MINE WAS BIGGER!!! I actually danced in the house making jokes with the boys about how much cooler my card was than theirs. It pays to be the GodMomma :) My card had to be a foot wide and two feet tall. I LOVE IT! *Smooches to the LG*

Ok, going to bed now. I spent too much time typing out stuff tonight. I made two posts in my private journal that must be 3-4 pages long.

Night-night.

I drove out to Fort Worth for the Southern Living At HOME kickoff, which starts in the morning. I decided to just get a room using my points. WONDERFUL! No rush in the morning. I got signed in for the meeting and had a few drinks at the bar with the other SLAH consultants and directors.

That's when I decided I needed to relax. The spa was calling out my name, so I went to bargain before they closed. I got a nice massage for a reasonable price, then went out to the hot tub for a while. I got to read and relax. I'm just eating a burger tonight and maybe watch a little TV.

I needed this SO MUCH.

oddharmonic - did your family receive Michael's Flat Stanley?

Let me know if they haven't and I will try to check on things with his teacher.

Thanks!

I don't seem to get through many of the journals I used to read.

I am going to cut down for no reason other than it is easeier to
keep up with Facebook than LJ for some of you.

If you are someone I communicate with mostly on Facebook, don't
be surprised when you get a defriending here. It just means I'm
moving our communication there.

Thanks!

I've become a sloth with too many toes. I just want to sleep and shop. That's about it. Occasionally, I throw in some Guitar Hero (Damn it all to hell - come out with the standalone drum set for the WII Guitar Hero already!!!!).

It's been hard, but I have been keeping up with my bills despite bringing in so little in unemployment. That's why it made me so mad today at something I experienced. I generally buy my games and electronics from Best Buy. I've just always been treated right by them with the exception of the time they blew out the electronics in my brand new minivan six years ago. Today was almost as bad. I have very good credit with them, but was a few days late with my payment this month. I have made the payment that was late, along with the February payment, and the money has been taken out of my account. The Best Buy reps could SEE that I had made a payment, but it hadn't been 'posted' to my account yet. I couldn't use my credit card.

I am not the brightest when it comes to finances and I have no knowledge of the banking industry. However, in my eyes, if you know a payment has come through, see it is paying not only a past due but a month in advance, and the consumer is trying to make a purchase - you should work hard to make that possible. Nope. They told me that although I had paid my bill, it takes at least 3 days to 'post' to my account, and I can't use my account until then. WHAT? You have the money, know I paid, but I have to wait to use the card because you have some sort of lengthy process you need to go through, where you are making interest off my money (and charging me interest on my account)?

Grrr. Needless to say, I sat down all of the merchandise I was about to buy, let the manager know that I was taking my business for these purchases over to Circuit City where they would be cheaper anyway (going out of business).

Anyway, I'm still out here, just not posting much. All is as well as can be expected. Flat Stanley's didn't get mailed out until this past Monday because some people didn't turn theirs in on time.

I have Internet ADHD to go along with my crafting ADHD, so if you really want to talk to me or see what is up, I'm usually around on Facebook. Go figure. :) They don't CHARGE me to see what my friends are doing and respond back like LJ does after the first 10 comments.

Oh! The Albertson's near us is closing down and they have everything reduced 20-60%. It rocks. Unlike Circuit City and some of the other 'Take eight months to actually close while keeping everything 10% off forever', they are marking down quick, consolidating off of shelves and running it more like a garage sale. There are long tables with cardboard boxes just FULL of items and you rummage through to find small gems. I just love that. I would say it's time to go to Canton, but I can't go to Canton without money. That would kill me, I'm sure. :)

Toodles!

Today I took my Southern Living At HOME stuff and hung out at a new local resale shop I have fallen in love with. The girl that runs it is lots of fun and it was an overall good day.

The end of the day was THE BEST!!!!!

Hold your breath here -

I. Won. A. Coach. Purse.

#()*&@)*#&%*()@&#%()*&*()&!!!!!!!

Brand new. Tags still on it. A bag, inside a silk protective bag, inside a Coach shopping bag.

Here is exactly what I got (click on Silver/Khaki/Gold for the color I have)

I would never have paid this much for a bag, but damn it's wonderful.

The parting shot they gave me on the way out of the door? "I wouldn't take that with me to the unemployment office!" *laugh*

My Political Views
I am a center-right moderate social libertarian
Right: 1.23, Libertarian: 1.82

Political Spectrum Quiz

The first 3 people to respond to this post will get something made by me. It will be about or tailored to those 3 lucky individuals.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! I however, will like it or it won't be sent out in the first place!
- what I create will be just for you.
- it'll be done this year~ish. sometime.
- you have no clue what it's going to be. because i have no clue what it's going to be.
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well, if you expect me to do something for you!

I must have missed when they sent out the recall notice for my body.

I went to the rheumatologist today to get the results from my tests. Now, we know that I have APS (auto-immune disease that causes clots) and osteoarthritis/degenerative disk disease in my spine. I couldn't have guessed the rest. Not in a million years.

- Along with my osteoarthritis, I also have psoriatic and sero-negative rheumatoid arthritis. I didn't even realize that what was happening on my knees, elbows and feet was psoriasis! I thought it was just REALLY dry skin. So, three types of arthritis. Just like dear old Mom. Great.

- The worst place the arthritis is located is my neck. The cervical vertabrae are the reason for my terrible headaches, vision issues, jaw clenching, etc. I have it in my neck, lower spine/sacrum, both big toes, a little in my hands, and a RIB???? I didn't even know you could have arthritis in your rib cage, but he says I must have had an injury there at some point.

- I have a severe Vitamin D deficiency. That means my body hasn't been absorbing Calcium. You guessed it! I'm in full blown osteoporosis.

This leaves me with a few new prescriptions. For the next six months, I have to take mega doses of Vitamin D once a week. We're talking about 50000 units. WOW. We hope that makes me start absorbing calcium again. I also have to take Fosomax once a week. I have Celebrex for my arthritis inflammation. Now, I'm not supposed to take NSAIDS of any kind with my blood thinners. I'll have to have my INR (time to clot) checked every 2 days and adjust my Coumadin and hope we eventually get the two stable together.

The severe fatigue? He hopes that regulating the other factors will help that. Meanwhile - just cope.

Today is a bitch about it day. Not happy. Back to your previously scheduled happiness.

I need to simplify my direction in life, yet I seem to be only making it more complex. I have an awful lot of business cards for an unemployed person.

My new thing is that I want to become a substitute teacher. Did you know I am even qualified to become an actual teacher here? Texas doesn't require an education degree - just a college degree and then a teaching certification. Strange. Anyway, I'm really looking into the sub thing. Could I be a bit more scattered?

I'm getting really antsy for the week to hurry up and be over. Thursday I have an interview for managing a network group and then Friday is my followup with my doctor. I'm anxious about both. Then on Saturday we start Matthew in his HOLYHELLEXPENSIVE 'developmental difficulties' center. He'll be in a group called Rollercoaster Kids where they work on social skills, friend connections, dealing with emotions and other related skills. Here a snippet from the Warren Center web site:

Our Rollercoaster Kids (RCK) program provides help to children ages 3 to 16 and their families. Services may be provided in a variety of settings and are designed to help children who have difficulties with self-regulation, sensory-regulation, behavior, attention, over- or under-activity, and relating to others.

Our professionals use a trans-disciplinary approach with each child. To meet the child's needs, a minimum of two disciplines will work with each child during play-based assessments, and in the planning stages of the therapy program. Also, each pediatric professional will perform as a consultant as needed.

I have great hopes for this one in helping us help Matthew.

I guess Friday is the highest stress-factor. The results of all of those tests I had will be back and I'll find out what my short- and long-term verdict is. I just hope it isn't another situation where the tests only cause more questions to come up, which means more tests and more waiting.

Ok, for some reason the videos last night got set as private so nobody could view them :)

Let's try this again!!!

Guitar Villian: World Tour

(Remember kids, NSFW due to language)

Haven't cleared my camera for a while, so I dumped a bunch of random photos on Facebook.

Take a gander at Christmas Eve, Fixing up Ang's house, New Year's Eve, Matthew's surgery, Brit's baby shower, Brit's baby, and roller skating at Sammy's party today

Awesome. Just awesome.

Ok, it's time to call out those distant and interesting people for some Flat Stanley help :)

If you aren't familiar with the Flat Stanley Project, you can go to http://www.flatstanley.com.

In a nutshell, Michael and Matthew will each be coloring/decorating a Flat Stanley and keeping a journal of what they do with FS for a few days. Then, we will need to put FS and the journal in an envelope and send him somewhere interesting (Two kids means I will need two destinations). The person keeps him for a few days, adding to the journal what FS did with them. It's made even better if you can take a picture of you with FS, or even just FS himself, with something that is unique to your area.

Do I have any volunteers?

D - are you still around and willing to have one in Hungary?
Jill-Bob - what about us sending one to Eddie in Canada?
Anyone else? A FS day at the Pharmacy? FS in the courtroom?
Anyone else have a cool job or live in a cool area that would
like to participate?

Let me know if you are interested by commenting here and I
will then give you the information I will need emailed to
me so we can mail him to you in a couple of weeks.

Thanks!

*drool*

*more drool*

Thank you, nefri!!!

Argh. Frustrated. Very frustrated. I know I have some sewing friends out there. I'm having a problem.

I have a stretch crushed velvet that I'm trying to sew. I have a size 11 ball point needle (this also happened with a size 14) I'm using and I have one of two things happen EVERY time. It sews for a minute and either gets stuck in with the bottom thread or the top thread breaks.

I've tried adjusting the tension, but it doesn't seem like a tension problem. With that, it is usually only on one side. This doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason for whether it will catch on the top or the bottom.

WTF? I just don't get why it is happening. Any ideas for things I could try?