Catching up after a vacation

So, another week ends. This one was kind of nice tho. For the last 9 days, hubby has been on an actual paid vacation. Not that we had funds to really go away, but it was nice to have the time together even at home. We totally did not do several things we talked about doing. Figures. We did go back to a place we had not been since 2008. That was nice. We visited Deception Falls which is located just on the west side of Stevens Pass, in the North Cascade Mountains.

The first Saturday we went & bit the bullet of getting new tires put on our Escape. This alone would have not been bad. But, as it often goes once you begin to have something done, more things make themselves known. That was the case with the car. Wasn’t bad enough we had to spend just over $800 on 4 new tires. Nope. Now we have to spend another over $900 on tie rods, struts, brakes & ball joints. Tho we can’t really complain too much since the car is paid off & we have not done much to it in the years we have had it … it just hurts when it all comes at once. At least we’re safe again when we drive.

clear coated & stenciled. big hit!

We also took a trip down to visit with my dad & his wife. They live down in the Tri Cities, as its known. It’s about 2.5 hours south of us, along the Columbia. There are 3 cities that all kind of run into each other. Was a nice visit. It’s really strange too … for the first time, there was no feeling of anxiety or stress or anything. It was calm & fun. We talked about it on the way home. How if it had felt that way a couple years ago, we probably would have more eagerly looked to move there. Will we now? I don’t think so… not right now anyways. Aside from the freaky landlady we like it here, and the way things are. But anyway … I shared my new venture of making wrap pants with them & Neva now wants me to make her a pair. Nice. We got to go fabric shopping too! And, hubby brought the wine box we made for my dad. He loved it. And, asked us to make one for his brother in law. Cool. Nice visit & not one but 2 paid orders for stuff. We both have a deadline of the 25^th for these.

gotta love peanut butter in a kong bone!

We got back from the visit Friday afternoon. Left the dog at the local Club Pet … its affiliated with & connected to the local Humane Society, which is where we got her to begin with. Anyway… it was her first time being away from us since we got her. When we dropped her off on Wednesday afternoon, the one gal was pretty nice & understanding. The one at the desk tho, left much to be desired. Not sure if she was new or what … but her people skills, need serious work. Then when hubby went to pick her up, the same girl was at the desk & another gal was the one to bring Caeli back out. No notes on how she did or anything. Again, no people skills from the front desk gal either. Very disappointing. In the past we have had nothing but good service & communication with them. It makes me sad to think we might want to find elsewhere to board her when we need to. I think I’ll email someone in charge tho & voice my concerns …

Sometime earlier in the week I did something to my left knee. Not sure what but it hurts. It’s not really swollen tho. First night in the hot tub at dads was alright ... second night tho, kinda made it hurt more. Then Saturday while chatting with our upstairs neighbor, I put my right foot down to get from the upper drive to our main driveway & messed up my ankle. Lovely huh? So here I am with a bum right knee & left ankle. The ankle is a bit swollen but not bad. Walking with a normal gait hurts, but if I walk on the ball & toe of that foot I can hobble along nicely. LOL It’ll get better & meanwhile I’ll work to not be on it so much if possible.

I’m hearing again of my stepfather’s father being in the hospital. Not cool. He’s always been Papa to me. The only grandfather I’ve had. He had gone in several weeks ago for something & came out with knowledge that he not only has several medical issues, but a bone cancer. Funny how you never think of a man who has always been such a strong family leader as being able to be sick. He is old too, born in 1928. I always just thought they both would die of old age. I guess we all just hope that for our elders.

I am really not liking this whole phase of life where a woman goes thru menopause. Nope, not at all. And of course I can’t be one of those women who just have their cycle come to an abrupt halt. Nope … mine has to become a bit erratic & give me even more of an emotional roller coaster. And I’ve read that this whole process can take over 10 years to completely pass… that, is way too long. I am so very thankful to have such an understanding husband. Tho I think he’d be more understanding if I could be in the mood a bit more often … I do not like this decrease in the libido thing. Not that it’s gone, just more erratic.

So here I sit, on another Monday, trying to figure out what to do first. I should be hearing from the landlady sometime today. I need a shower, to do a load of laundry, wash a few dishes, vacuum, plan at least dinner for tonight & I’m sure several other things involving the computer. Oh yeah … & I need to figure out how to get the slick fabric to cooperate so I can get another pair of wrap pants sewn for one of the girls who works with my hairdresser… then I can start on my step mom’s pair.

I know I need to get my business back into high gear too. The holidays are coming & I want to get some stuff made & lots of stuff sold. Gotta make time to get a few new calendars designed for next year too. Wow. Lots to do & what am I doing? Sitting here farting around with my thoughts. LOL Guess I should get this posted & get a move on….

Another granola bar recipe

This one came out fantastic. And … no falling apart like the previous recipe.

I found this one on Cooks.com & it was submitted by CM

I hope that if you try it, you enjoy it as much as we are.

(  ) is what we used

 

Ingredients:

3- 1/2 cup oats

2- 1/4 cup add-ins (mentioned below)

1/3 to 1/2 cup honey or molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar (organic, light brown)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 egg, beaten (farm raised free range from a friend)

2/3 cup butter, softened (organic unsalted used)

1 tsp vanilla (pure, organic)

The recipe states to toast the oats for 15-20 minutes at 350 before starting. I skipped that part.

Toss all ingredients together & mix well.

Press firmly into a 15x10 jellyroll pan (sprayed, oiled or papered)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Cool.

Cut into bars

forgot to take pix along the way. this is part of what was left when I remembered!

My add-ins were 1 cup dried cherries (cut up some), 1 cup chocolate chips & 1/4 cup organic raisins.

I used organic molasses instead of honey.

The cinnamon we have here is a ground Saigon Cinnamon… a bit more robust than everyday cinnamon.

They came out wonderful. I am not a huge fan of molasses, or so I thought, so I was skeptical that I would enjoy these. I knew hubby would love it so I made them. To my surprise, I liked them too! One of these days I will begin to experiment with some other add-in stuff like maybe flax or something. Hubby does not really like nuts but I’d like to see about getting some of those in there too, just chopped small. 

When I asked hubby which he liked better when comparing this recipe to the first one, he said ... either one is great, just dont make me eat those store bought ones anymore! LOL I love him!!!

Get moving

There is a topic going on in the Zibbet Community talking about getting healthy. We all know how tough it is. I also know, doing it on your own can be even tougher. If you are anything like me, you read all kinds of stuff, from everywhere, about everything health related.

I try to eat right. Well, okay, I try to eat … better. I have my weaknesses. But, we all do. Whether or not we admit it, is another thing. For me, eating better seems to come in waves. There are times when it’s so easy to eat good & not snack on junk. Other times, it’s all I can do to not fill my day with junk. Part of this is the hormone fluctuation I still have on a monthly basis. The other part is just … lack of motivation. And I think a lot of that stems from the fact I’m home alone all day, every day. My day out is spent at the local food bank, volunteering. That day I do pretty good. I get exercise, I’m away from snacking & have something to occupy my mind.

The rest of the week, I’m home. I spend (admittedly) probably too much time in front of this computer. I have things I can do away from here, but again, it’s the motivation that hinders me.

Today hubby’s dad & step mom are in town for a short visit (from FL). We’ll be playing tour guide & generally visiting until Sunday night. This should help out in the snacking & eating dept. I hope. Well, maybe the snack part at least. We’ll see about the eating thing which will depend on where we eat while they are here.

So once they are on their way back home I will look into all of the eating better & exercising thing again. I will also be talking to our landlady (hopefully) about letting us have a dog. She should be alright with it since she said we could talk about it when we first moved in. We’ve proven to be good tenants over the past year so…

I really feel having a doggie again will help to motivate me to at least get out & walk more. So until then … keep thinking positive ….

More on GMO

So, I mentioned I would find more info on the whole GMO thing as far as who uses them & who does not. Wow. What a list! You can download a guide here to help you when you are in the store.

Then check out this stuff for some eye opening info:

Current estimates of GMO products include the following:

    91% of soybeans grown in the United States are GMOs.

    88% of cotton is genetically modified.

    75% of corn has been genetically modified.

These items are often highly processed and added to many different convenience foods in forms like:

    Canola (rapeseed) oil

    Corn oil

    Cottonseed oil

    High fructose corn syrup

    Soybean oil

    Soy protein

Because of the prevalence of these ingredients in common foods, it is estimated that 70% or more of the convenience foods contain GMOs. Currently, the USDA does not require that GMOs be labeled. Unless you are buying 100% organic items, you may never know if your food contains GMOs.

Animal Products

GMOs are used in the feed of various animals and farm raised fish. Always try to choose grass fed or wild caught meat products, certified organic, or products that are labeled non-GMO.

    Meat

    Dairy

    Fish

    Eggs

High Risk Products

There are thousands of GMO ingredients. It takes longer to list which foods have GMOs than to list those that don't. This should be considered an abbreviated list.

    Aspartame

    Baking powder

    Canola oil

    Cornmeal

    Corn oil

    Corn starch

    Corn syrup

    Cottonseed oil

    Dextrose

    Fructose

    Glucose

    Isoflavone

    Lecithin

    MSG

    Soy meal

    Soy protein isolate

    Tempeh

    Tofu

    Vegetable oil

    Vitamin B-12

    Vitamin E

    Xanthan gum

Companies That Use GMO Ingredients

Knowing which companies use GMO ingredients can help you to stay away from them. Even some "natural foods" companies make foods with genetically modified ingredients. Not surprisingly, most of the large corporations routinely use these products. Since these corporations often buy up smaller companies, you may not always recognize them. Some of the many companies that use GMOs in their products are:

    Aunt Jamima

    Beech-nut

    Betty Crocker

    Blue Sky

    Boca

    Campbells

    Coca Cola

    Crisco

    Dannon

    Duncan Hines

    Eggo

    Enfamil

    Frito Lay

    Good Start

    Hansen

    Heinz

    Hershey

    Hormel

    Hostess

    Isomil

    Keebler

    Kellogg

    Kraft

    Land o Lakes

    Libby’s

    Lifesavers

    Marie Callender

    Morning Star Farms

    Nabisco

    Nature Valley

    Nestle

    Ocean Spray

    Pepperidge Farm

    Peter Pan

    Pillsbury

    Procter and Gamble

    Progresso

    Quaker

    Similac

    Skippy

    Smuckers

    Stouffers

    Yoplait

And on the brighter side, here’s at least partial list of companies who do use GMO free ingredients (edited & alphabetized from online)…

    Amy’s Kitchen: canned soups, chilies, boxed & frozen meals.

    Annie’s Naturals: BBQ sauce, salad dressings & other condiments 

    Arrowhead Mills: baking mixes & flours found in both natural health food stores & regular supermarkets.

    Barbara’s Bakery: cookies 

    Bearitos: snack foods & dips

    Bob’s Red Mill: baking mixes and specialty flours.

    Cascadian Farms: frozen entrees, fruits & veggies, juices, yogurt, cereal, granola bars & other foods.

    Chaffin FamilyOrchards: sells an assortment of goods including olive oil.

    Clif: energy bars 

    Cultures forHealth: All starters and products sold at Cultures for Health are GMO-free.

    Earth’s Best: Baby food manufacturer uses non-GMO ingredients.

    Eden Foods: canned goods, noodles, tamari, miso, vinegar & Asian foodstuffs.

    Fantastic Foods: hummus, falafel, risotto couscous, soup & other mixes

    French MeadowBakery: bread & baked goods 

    Garden of Eatin: chips, salsas & other snack foods.

    Genisoy: Uses only certified GMO-free soybeans for their many soy products.

    Grindstone Bakery: wheat- and gluten-free bread.

    Healthy Times: Baby food manufacturer uses non-gmo ingredients.

    Imagine Foods: soy and rice milk as well as broth and other foods.

    Kettle Chips: potato and tortilla chips.

    Lundberg FamilyFarms: rice & wild rice foods including raw rice, soups & convenience foods.

    Muir Glen: canned goods & vegetable juices & other foods.

    Natural ChoiceFoods:  frozen dessert products.

    Nature’s Path: cereals & snack bars 

    Pamela’s Products: gluten-free baking mixes sources non-GMO ingredients.

    Pure Indian Foods: grass-fed ghee.

    Purity Foods: spelt-based noodles, snacks & other goodies. 

    Que Pasa: tortilla chips & other Mexican foods  

    Rapunzel: chocolate company.  They also sell specialty oils.

    Spectrum Oils: specialty oils, cooking oils, salad oils & natural shortening.

    San J: soy sauce, shoyu and tamari.

    Thai Kitchen: coconut milks & Asian ingredients.

    To Your Health: sprouted breads & sprouted flours.

    Tradition Miso: miso pastes 

    US Wellness Meats: pasture- and grass-fed meats free of GMO supplemental feed.

    Vitasoy: soy-based foods 

    Walkers: shortbread cookies & other sweet treats.

    White Wave: soy products including tofu & tempeh

    Whole Foods StoreBrands: Whole foods has made the commitment to sourcing its ingredients from GMO-free sources.

    Wisconsin HealthyGrown Potatoes: potatoes.

    Zukay: live cultured condiments & salsa

It's Deep & Just how I'm feeling right now ...

You know how you want to do something but it’s hard to get going? You know you should get started … but you are too lazy to take that first step? No matter how much you realize it’s the right thing to do & you will be such a better, happier & healthier person because of it? That’s me right now. I’m working on eliminating some things from my food pantry. I’m trying to slowly work towards eating better. So why am I having such a hard time taking the step to go exercise? I don’t know. I don’t like the person I see in the mirror, especially naked. I don’t like the extra weight I’m carrying. I’m not happy with myself.

I can talk about so many other things but when it comes to taking care of my weight, I fail. I can sit here all day long & talk about a million things. Never my weight or my lack of motivation to change. I’ve struggled with this all my adult life. When I got pregnant at 17 with my first child, I gained quite a bit of weight. The doctors never told me that I shouldn’t literally eat for 2. Or that I should stay active. Or that I should do certain exercises after childbirth. 4 years later, with my second child, I again gained weight. This was not good since I never totally lost the weight from the first child. I still was not given the info about how to take care of myself or how to get weight back off afterward. Sad. And I was only 22 by this point.

I’ve gone to gyms several times in the last 25 years. Most of the time it seemed like a chore. Or something I was supposed to do. Not something I really wanted to do. The last gym I went to was in Florida. My oldest daughter bought me a one year membership. I was at a point in my life where I was ready to go, alone even. I wanted to change. Once I got into the habit of going, it became addicting. I loved it. I loved how I felt. I was losing weight, toning up & feeling better. Then a hurricane came & shut down the town for weeks. By the time the gym was reopened, I had lost my drive. It was just gone. Perhaps it was the life changing experience of the hurricane. Who knows. Whatever the reason, my drive was just gone.

Last year I thought I was ready to try again in a gym. But I felt like I needed a buddy. Not sure why. I talked about how cool it would be to go to a gym again. I even got kind of excited. My daughter began to get excited too. She wanted something to help her tone up & lose a few pounds too. So, being the wonderful daughter she is, she bought a one year membership for both of us to a local gym near our home. This was to be my holiday gift from her.

Then, she got the job working as a night stocker. Her life changed. She is now getting most of the exercise she wants from work. She’s already lost weight. She sleeps when I’m awake. I sleep when she’s awake. How are we going to be able to go to the gym together? Well, we’re not. We talked & she said the only time might even think about going now would be on a day off. And that’s a maybe. I previously wrote about me asking 2 friends to go with me. It turns out that the first friend I asked is not going to work. I think we are at different points in our lives. Her priorities are way different than mine. There is another friend I can ask. I'm not sure she would go either tho. I know she would welcome the free membership. But I don’t know that we could coordinate our schedules to go together. She is a SAHM but is active in our fellowship & other things. So, she actually has a life, where I don’t. Well, I do, But not as busy a one as her. I could, but that’s a lazy factor again.

I cannot tell you how hard this has been to type out. Or how hard it is to keep the tears at bay. I feel like an emotional wreck. Watching a show on TV this afternoon really got me thinking. It was the way they presented a few things. The guest person was Valerie Bertinelli. She has lost 40 pounds & kept it off for almost a year now. So anyways, to show us what 40 pounds of fat looks like, they had a pile of it out there. OMG. That was sobering to see. Then they had her just stand & jump up & down. They handed her 2 20 pound dumbbells & told her to now jump again. This is the difference 40 pounds makes. It was neat to see. I think watching the show got me thinking & is what has prompted this long minded entry.

My back has been hurting for the past 3 or so days. I don’t know if it’s directly related to my weight or not. Could be how I’m sleeping, or sitting or whatever. It’s my lower back, around the sciatic nerve area. Maybe this is what I need to get off my ass. I’ve taken the baby steps with my food, so why not take them with my overall health too? I know I won’t succeed if I try to “diet & exercise”. I have to change my life.

It’s kinda funny. I know that if I can just get started, I’ll be fine. I know I’ll feel better. I’ll have more energy. I’ll want to eat even better. I’ll feel better about who I see in the mirror. I now I’ll sleep better too. And sex is better when you feel sexy.

I don’t know when exactly I’ll be ready to take the plunge into the gym. I feel like it will be soon. I don’t expect answers from this. I just felt the need to get my feelings out.

A new month already

So here it is February already. It amazes me how as the days are happening, they go by so slow sometimes but when we look back, the time has flown. And when this month has passed, I will be another year older. Wow. My baby will be 22. I’ll be 44. Amazing.

I’m really enjoying doing this research stuff on Vinegar & Baking Soda. I’m amazed at how much this stuff can do. Hubby & I have tried several things & been pleasantly surprised when they work!! I just love the fact I don’t have to look at the myriad of cleaning products anymore. No more clipping coupons for them. Watching to see what is on sale where to save a little money. No more “trying a new thing” to see if it will work better for whatever purpose. I really love having this newfound freedom. To think that I can replace so many products with 2 things. 2 things that are all natural. No longer will I be contributing a chemical mess down my drains that water treatment plants will have to filter out. It fels good to know I am doing my part towards a better world.

Another step has been to eliminate a few ingredients from the food we eat. This has been challenging to say the least. Some things have been easy to change or eliminate. Other things are a bit harder. The main ingredients being focused on right now are artificial sweeteners & high fructose corn syrup. I've written more about it in my blog Naturally Me if you wanna read more. (2-12-12 update ... just use the Naturally Me tag to find all entries that used to be in the separate blog.)

It amazes me how many of our food items contain the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It’s in almost everything!! I changed the mayo I use because it had HFCS. Kraft Miracle Whip was MY mayo. Well, not anymore. I’ll try a few others before deciding on one. Right now we’re using regular Kraft Mayo. I may even learn to make my own.

I’ve given up my Yoplait Whips. & I quit buying the cheap yogurt for hubby. I’m changing the spaghetti sauce I buy. When I go shopping now or even when I fix the food I have at home, I’m reading labels. It’s a bit time consuming but very eye opening.

Plans, plans & more plans

So here I am again. It’s after 10 & everyone is in bed but me. My soaps are on & I’m listening. The dog is set for the night. Kitchen is clean, hubby’s lunch is made, & coffee is ready for in the morning. I have a mug of hot spiced cider to enjoy. So what should I ramble on about this evening?

How about I start with the wonderful phone call I got about an hour & a half ago. My younger daughter who is still in Florida is engaged. Yup. And yes, mom is super happy. This is just too cool. They called me right after he asked her & she finally said yes. So, I was officially the very first to know. That was cool. I hope there is a way for me to go back down there if they decide to have any sort of actual wedding. Knowing Jen, it wont be anything lavish, which is cool my me. Yup . . . one happy momma here.

I’ve planned a get together for everyone from the mall for this Saturday afternoon. Granted, we all know there is no perfect time to get everyone together at the same time. I guess I’m just a little disappointed in the turnout so far. Of the 7 I have heard from so far, 2 can make it. Someone pointed out something. Everything happens for a reason. Perhaps there is a reason just the 3 of us are meant to get together. Guess I should look at it that way.

Saturday evening hubby & I went over to hang out with friends Randy & Carey. It was really nice too. Going to their place is the only time we end up staying out late. Before it had been like 1am before we got home. This time? It was 3am!! What the heck? It was really weird. None of us were tired & we all just chatted & talked like it was only early evening or something. We talked about so many different things too. It’s fun to talk with them as we have different views on many things but we can all talk without getting crazy or angry or something stupid.

Anyways, Carey & I got to talking about exercise & making changes in your life. She said something to me that I do believe I will try to implement. Make no more than 3 changes at a time. Your mind can’t grasp more than that at once apparently. And do each for 3 weeks. I knew that part . . . the 21 days to make something a habit. I really like this idea. So say I want to start going to the gym. And work on a price book. And work on figuring out what it will take to get a store opened. And work on getting more organized at home. And totally organize my photography stuff. And. . . And . . . the list goes on. What I need to do is pick no more than 3 of those things to start with. Ideally I should start with one thing for a week. Then I could add another. Then after the second week, I can add another. This makes sense to me. And makes things more attainable I think. Of course I have to learn a bit of patience too since I wont be able to do everything at once. That will probably be the hard part. Or, deciding what order to put these things in. At any rate I think I’ll make a list & give this a shot.

I’m tired now & losing focus on what I was gonna write. Guess that means it’s time to stop.

Look at me updating 2 days in a row!!

What an interesting day, weather wise. We’ve gotten quite a bit of snow as of late. And had some cold-ass temps for much longer than usual. Now, we’ve got a storm system moving thru that has our overnight lows, above freezing. And comes with 30-35 mph winds with gusts into the 40+ mph. Oh, and rain. I’ve watched our beautiful snow blanket shrink right before my eyes. How sad. I took the daughter to work tonight & the parking lot was a sheet of ice with puddles of water. Yuck. This weather stuff is gonna bring some crap to various areas too. With rapid melt like this, & mountains & rivers, it’s not a good mix. I already heard one of the mountain passes was closed tonight due to an avalanche.

And to think I was sooo enjoying the beautiful big flakes of snow this morning as I ran a couple errands. Sigh . . . I know it sounds silly, but I want my winter back. This wind crap can stop anytime.

Oh, & we lost power this evening too. Just long enough to get everything situated. Hubby went & turned things off & grabbed the monster flashlight. I grabbed the 2 oil lamps & lit them, along with a couple well placed jar type candles. Then I went & grabbed the phone with a cord (!) in case the power stayed out or any cell towers got knocked out too. Hubby grabbed the wind up alarm clock in case he needed it in the morning. Yup, we know what to do, where it’s stashed & all that. After all, we lived in FL long enough. Ya get the hang of t after an outage or two. The daughter & I were talking to one of the ladies in the deli at Safeway when we stopped by there to grab the recycle stuff. She was amazed at the thought of a corded phone & wind up clock, with a “oh, I didn’t think of that” kind of comment. When you are without technology, you have to go back. Some forget how to go back. My family doesn’t.

Of course, it all came back on just as we had everything together & got ready to settle in for the evening. Figures.

I spent some time today organizing little things. In the big picture here, it doesn’t look like I did much, yet I was busy all day. You can’t exactly tell by walking thru the door that I worked on organizing pictures on the hard drive, or began to clean out my email. You can see that my desk is looking a lot less cluttered. You can see that I picked up here & there. The place is nowhere near where it should be, but give me another week or so & it’ll be MUCH better.

The hubby started his what sounds like pointless coughing again tonight. The bronchitis. Not again. So I told him to go use the dang inhaler. And he took some of the codeine laced cough syrup before bed too. I don’t hear him coughing. That’s a good thing. Neither of us needs him being sick again.

Christmas Day the hubby, the daughter & I went out tromping in the snow a bit & explored along a river. Of course the camera came along. I had her take a couple pix of me & the man so we could get a holiday card done finally. Well, they are ok but I don’t like them. And what sucks more, is I don’t see a timer option on my Canon 40D. Yes, my costly new upgraded camera. WTF? Totally pissed me off. I’ve “kinda” looked in the past. Never really looked hard for it. I figured it should not be hard to find. But no. I totally don’t see one. So, we had to have someone else take the pictures if we both want to be in them. I think we’ll have to do it again maybe over this weekend if the weather cooperates. Dangit!

So, whenever we get a photo I am happy with of the two of us, I’ll get some Winter / New Year cards out. And with that, I really should get to bed. I could sit here for another hour or more, but I’m trying to slowly shift my sleeping schedule so maybe I can go to bed with & get up with, my hubby.

Time Flies

Well look at that. Another week has gone by with no writing from me. I meant to sit & write several times. Yup, then life came in & time got away. Not that it was anything exciting.

I really haven’t spent as much time as normal in front of the computer this past week. It’s kinda weird & nice at the same time. There are many gaps in life that I could sit here and write about. I don’t even know where to start.

Since we had gotten some money from his parents to fix the car & bike, we decided Tim needed a new helmet. We had the cash leftover, so that seemed a good thing to spend some of it on. He found a nice, but simple one at the local Harley Shop. It’s ordered & should be in next week sometime. I also had to go order some hoses for the bike. Seems the expensive little buggers we bought last week didn’t fix the leak. They did need to be replaced tho, so that’s done. The hoses were much less expensive & should be in on Tuesday.

My friend Kati who makes the silver jewelry, told me to come with her for the weekend & do the Chelan Street Fair. We ended up stretching her 10x10 space to 10x20 with my stuff near the back end. It would have been okay, if there weren’t benches in the way. But, it was a free space. The foot traffic was not too bad, although much less than normal. The buying tho was down considerably. Some vendors did alright, but most, didn’t. We were on the “didn’t” side. I know Kati made her booth fee back, but not sure how much more than that she made. The fee was under $200. Wanna know how much I made all weekend? Forty one dollars. Yup. That’s all. Sold 2 things. We were there 11 to 8 on Friday, 10 to 8 on Saturday & 10 to 3 on Sunday. I had hoped for a decent weekend, so that next year I could think about getting my own space. I don’t think that’s gonna happen. I could have spent 5 hours on Saturday morning & maybe made that much. Instead I spent the whole weekend 40 miles from home. Round trip from here was 80 miles. That’s 240 for the weekend. So even tho my space was free, I actually made nothing when you consider the cost of gas. Lesson learned.

Saturday while we were up there, we took turns wandering off to see things. Not like we were missing anything by just sitting in the booth. So Connie & I got to walk a few blocks away & check out the Chelan Farmer’s Market. It’s small, but nice. Not much for produce yet, like here in town, but they had some nice crafters, & cherries. We saw a couple vendors who usually vend in Wenatchee there. They said they needed a change of pace & wanted to try something different. Sales are down for everyone. We found a local organic herb person there too. That was kinda cool. They live in nearby, but up on a plateau, Waterville.

So one day last week, another part of my one tooth broke off. So, I had a sharp edge on the inside. Well, it rubs against my tongue & hurts. The tooth didn’t hurt, just my tongue. I was talking funny and using gum to cover the tooth during the day. Well, Friday while we were at the Street Fair, my filling fell out. My 30 year old filling. So now, I have a sharp tooth with no filling. Yuck. I spent most of the weekend with chewing gum over it so I could try to eat, & talk. It’s amazing how we don’t realize how much we rely on something, until it’s compromised. Not letting your tongue just “be”, makes it hard to talk right. The side of my tongue has toughened up a bit & I spent today without gum at all. I can even talk a bit better. I still have to eat slow tho, so I’m careful not to stuff the tooth with food. I’ll be calling around a bit tomorrow (cuz today got away from me again) to find a dentist to either just pull it, or see about rebuilding it. I got a name of a good dentist who focuses on pulling teeth, so now I just need the name of one who does the rebuilding. Seems from what I have heard, word of mouth is the best way to pick a dentist. So that should be fun.

Geez. A little writing, a few distractions, & it’s 1030 now already. Where has the last hour gone?

I think we’re heading back up to Chelan tomorrow to wander thru the big Super Wal-Mart. We’re also going to find the Spirals store. It’s a cool place, from what we hear. And since we don’t have our own Super Wal-Mart in town, every once in awhile, we head up to the big one, mostly for fun.

Man, even tho it’s only just after 1030, I’m tired. Guess the weekend did take a bit out of me, even if I wasn’t busy selling stuff. Could be the 100 degree days we had. Could be that I spent allot of time just outside. Could be that today was another 100 degree day too.

I think I shall quit here & just continue this next month. I can’t believe Tuesday is July already. I swear this year is going by so incredibly fast.

An array of thought

Thank the Goddess I’m finally feeling better. I actually slept with only 1 pillow last night. Since I’ve not been able to breathe well at night, I was sleeping with 2 pillows. It helped. It feels so good to be feeling better. It’s been a very long time since a cold whipped my butt for a full 10 days. Now if this stupid cough will just go away, it’ll all be good.

So I spent today working on the June issue of the farmer’s market newsletter. This is the second one I’ve done. I totally gave it a face lift. I’ve already shown it to the market manager Julie, & she loves it. That was worth the work. I’m just waiting on an email back from her, then it can go out to the members. Whew! The next one now will be allot easier. It even has a name now … Home Grown News. Before it was just the Farmer’s Market Newsletter. Boring …. I think people will like the new version. It certainly reads easier than the other ones.

Not much else to write about that’s not redundant. I still have this urge to rearrange furniture here. I really think it’s because I thought I’d be packing to move by now. I lost control over that. Something I can control is where the furniture goes. I have a part of the living area figured out, but not all. Soon as I have more of it figured, look out. Since it does involve a bit of shoving, lifting & moving .. I had planned to do it on a day Connie was off. Well, that’s what’s left of today, & tomorrow. We don’t know yet what she works next week so it might be another week or so of me thinking.

I looked at the date when I started this entry. In 1982 on this date, I got married for the first time. I was pregnant with Connie. I was only 17. Wow. That was a long time ago. If I stop to think about it, it brings back allot of memories. Most of them are happy ones. I tend to block out the crap unless I really think long & hard. Then it has no choice, & surfaces. Is it strange that after all the shit, I think about him now & then? Every once in awhile the thought of him pops into my head & I wonder how he is. We don’t hear from him at all anymore. Even if I wanted to write him or something stupid, I couldn’t. I have no address for him. Maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be for now. I don’t know.

Since I haven’t been feeling good, I have tried to eat a little better. Not much, but a little. The habit was so hard to get into last year, & so easy to get out of this year. Something about eating lettuce & such in winter just feels wrong. But anyways, we haven’t gotten back into salads just yet, but I have been trying to eat a better breakfast. It’s a start. I used to sit in front of this thing & just have some cereal or whatever. Now I sit here & read emails, enjoying 2 cups of coffee. Then I go fix something for breakfast & actually sit at the table & eat. I’ll get my morning pills, pour me some OJ, & have some hot cereal, eggs, or just a bowl of cold cereal. But I do it in a more relaxed way. Not in front of this thing, eating mindlessly. I sit there & enjoy it. I leaf thru a magazine, the paper, grocery ads, or whatever. It’s a nice little “time for me” kind of thing. I feel very fortunate to be able to do that.

I have neglected so many things while feeling like crap. Trying to get back into things, is hard. I read up on all of your happenings, but just didn’t feel up to commenting. I’m glad my friend list isn’t any bigger. I can’t imagine how long it would take me to catch up!

Connie has about 2 weeks between her online classes. I’m hoping during that time we can get more stuff up on my site. I’ve been trying to rethink things a bit. Hey, it’s what a slow economy will do to you. On some newsletter thing I get, or from somewhere, I got a nifty idea to possibly help generate sales. Everyone is big on saving gas these days. So, if it wont hurt me too much … why not offer people a free bit of gas? Someone came up with the idea to offer a free gas card with a purchase. Like, if they spend X amount with me, they’ll get a gas card with X amount on it. If this is online, they would still pay shipping, so you’d only be out a bit of profit. But ya gotta figure that if they get their free card, they’ll tell friends where to shop so they can get free cards too. I was thinking of offering a choice of cards in case not everyone has say, a Walmart gas station in their town. Hey, there are still places without them. Well, it’s something I’m thinking about. My thought is to kick it in at like $50. Spend $50 with me & get $5 gas card. Or maybe something like any purchase over $50, get a gas card equal to 10% of your purchase. I can afford to offer a 10% discount.

Ok, I started writing at 10. Now it’s 1035. The dryer just went off. I suppose I should go fold the clothes in it. I’m still not tired yet, but I don’t think I could sit & read a book. That makes me yawn, & get tired. Hey, maybe I should …

*cough* *cough*

As I sit here sucking on a menthol cough/throat drop, I should be in bed already (it's 11pm). I’m still kinda awake tho. Guess that’s a sign I’m getting better. I don’t feel quite so exhausted. Now I’m just afraid to overdo it so I didn’t do too much today, but did get a few things done. I took hubby into work, at 530 this morning. Came home, checked email real quick & laid back down in bed. I ended up sleeping almost 2 hours. That was nice. I guess I do still need my rest.

So honey talked to his mom & step dad on Sunday about the stuff that happened this past week. They said they’d get him some money to help out. There is no arguing with them, & we need the help. With that, I was able to go get him a new welding helmet today. Oh I didn’t mention that yet. Friday afternoon he dropped his welding helmet & it landed just right to crack the main lens. Not a good thing. When I called about it today, I found out there was only about a $20 difference between the new helmet & just a new lens part. Wow. So there went almost $300 of the money they sent. I’m so glad we didn’t have to pay for that out of pocket.

Tuesday I get to call the Honda shop about his carburetor. And we get to find out how much another very small part will be to replace. Last fall we bought this tiny gasket set that was $100. I took a pic of it cuz it cost so much. This time we need a new diaphragm for the carburetor. We’ll see.

If I can find someone who can get the starter off his car, I’ll see about getting that tested for him this week too. I’d love to surprise him with that. Just have to see if there is someone around who could do that while he’s at work.

Now that I’m beginning to feel better again, all sorts of thoughts, ideas & whatnot are running thru my head again. One of the big ones … is to rearrange things in here. I had expected us to be moved or at least getting ready to move by now. I figure there was no point in moving stuff around if we were just gonna move soon. Well, now who knows. So I’m thinking about packing up some stuff I know we wont use, or just don’t need ‘out’ anymore. Then I’ll see about moving some stuff around. Maybe that will help get more motivation going for me too. Nothing like a new view on things to help get things stirred up.

Ok, my little lozenge is about gone. I should get to bed now that its almost 1130. At least tomorrow I don’t have to be up at 515.

I'm alive

Again, here I sit at an oh so odd time for a weekend. I’m so sick & tired of being sick & tired. What I thought would only be something I could knock out in a couple days, still hangs on. It moved from my head to my chest. I sound like a frog. I just want this to go away. I’ve tried to take it easy, so I don’t overdo it and pass out. I’m tired of doing that. I want to do things.

I guess it’s kind of running its course. The worst times now are mornings & evenings. Days aren’t too bad. And I'm actually sleeping thru the night (with medicine tho). I hate having to take medicine. But without it, I’m even more miserable.

So anyways… I haven’t read much on anyone’s LJ this week. I’ll catch up… or you can fill me in with a comment.

The bike & car are still out of commission. I pretty much stayed home other than the bus outing on Monday. Friday I took him to work because there were a couple things I just had to get done. I was up at 515 to down some coffee, take him to work, and get back home. Had another cup, checked my email, and went to lay back down for about an hour or so. Ran my errands early, so I wouldn’t be out all afternoon. Came home, watched my soaps & rested, & went back out to get hubby at 530.

Looks like I’ll have to go run out again today, or take him in the morning. He did not have much luck with the car. Now he’s changing gears & giving the bike a look over. Let’s hope that gets him somewhere. I hate how it frustrates him when he can’t do something, or figure something out. I know he hates it too, & he even told me at times like this he misses his brother. He’s a mechanic, but in FL. The frustrating part about the car was that to get the starter off, he needed a 15mm socket. He doesn’t have one. Figures. And the close by friend, who would have one, is out fishing today for Father’s Day. Guess what I’ll be buying him soon? Yup, another socket set that includes that 15mm one.

So I’m still feeling crappy. My honey is frustrated. What a lovely weekend.

Bleh

Well, after the 3 posts yesterday, I'm back again. This time I feel like crap.

I dont know where this came from but it needs to go back there. As if having that girly time isn't bad enough, I get a sore throat & body ache something or other. Eww. I woke up this morning feeling a little stuffed up & with a bit of a sore throat. I figured it was just cuz we slept with the window open & perhaps it was a bit damp. It's happened before. Well, I was kinda ok this morning. We went out to run a couple errands & I was still fine. Got home after lunch time, & it hit me like a brick wall. It's just gotten worse as the afternoon & evening went on. My body feels so icky. You know that feeling when your skin is so sensitive if something touches it, that you wanna tell whoever is touching you to get lost? Yeah, that's me today.

I made some herbal root tea & drank 2 nice big cups of it. Not noticing any changes tho. I also took a couple Aleve. Still nothing really. I even tried chocolate. Yup, broke off some pieces & brought them over to the sofa with me. Half are still there.

This feeling like shit is only one small thing in this lovely retrograde Monday. Tim went out to start his car & head to work. Nothing. Called in to let them know he might be late. He took his motorcycle instead. When he got home he put the bike back in the garage. While he was showering I had to go down in there to grab something out of the fridge down there. Holy Hell it smelled like gas. I told him. He went & checked it out. He has another fuel line leak. So the poor guy gets dressed & heads out there to see whats going on. Mind you this is after he'd worked an 11 hour day. Seems it's more than he can fix on the spot.

So, tomorrow I'm stuck at home unless I take a bus or walk. I told him to just take the Escape. I had really wanted to go up to Leavenworth to take some pix of the opening day of the market there, but feeling like this, I think I'll stay home.

On a different note ... our weather is crazy here.

It has been so much more windy here this year than before. The temps have been lower. The crops are coming in later. We had 2 feet of snow on our mountain pass!! This is June. What the heck? Yup, things are going into motion for 2012. Global warming is most certainly real.

Ok, I go zone out for a bit now. I'm staying up long enough to take the dog out one more time since Connie is working & the honey is in bed.