Letters From New England

It's over...

Thursday

November 29, 2007

Hi,

Well, the long awaited event has come and gone.  It was so nice to go out to dinner with Linda last night, then just come home and veg instead of working until too late on jewelry

As you know, I sent out (to The Universe) the desire that our sale reach $2000 this time and, as usual, The Universe did not disappoint us.  Grand total was $2334!  My sale was $1265 and Deb's was $1069.

The jewelry I made with the paper beads from Bead for Life FLEW off my table.  I could have sold so much more if I'd had it.  I went with approximately 20 necklaces, 15 or so bracelets and 16 pr of earrings.  Everyone was so intrigued with the Bead for Life story (www.beadforlife.com) that they all wanted something.  I am considering focusing just on these beads and trying a couple of corporate sales outside of the hospital.  So many people are into beading these days, that it's almost imperative that you have your own angle.  I think this is just the thing, as long as I make several designs. 

I had my second appt with the chiropractor after work today.  He has stretched and cracked me from head to, well....bottom my spine.  My lower back is a little sore tonight.  Going to hit the sofa with an ice pack in a few minutes, but wanted to share the total of the sale with you.

Peace,

Kay

This and that...

Saturday

November 24, 2007

Hi,

I hope you all had great Thankgiving celebrations.   My turkey was done too early, but we managed.  I invited my cousin, Maureen, over.  She arrived with some homemade meatballs, still hot, so we added those to the table.  They were delish!

Now, I have a fridge full of leftovers...the best part of running like a madperson to get a meal like that on the table.  I'll be eating turkey and the fixins' for the rest of the month.

Tammy and the kids spent a couple of days with me.  On Wed, she went out with her friends for a bit and I took the kids out for dinner.  Then, we went to see "Enchanted", a fun movie with McDreamy and some other people.  :)  Really, it was cute and predictable and funny and we loved it.

Emma spent both nights sleeping with me.  We had some giggles before we fell asleep.  Urgent Care missed one stitch in Emma's lip and now the skin is healing over it.  She has to go back to get it removed.  They used navy blue thread, so it's visible in her lip. 

Tam and the kids headed back to Maine around 6:00 last night.  I was hoping to get my Christmas tree up from the basement, but we both forgot about it.  This is going to sound so anti-Christmas, but I hate putting up a tree...I hate decorating my apartment.  It's a boatload of work and no one ever sees it but me.  I am also sitting on the fence about what is the better route to take with a tree.  I prefer real ones for a lot of reasons, but feel terrible about cutting one down.  Fake ones last for years, but then sit at the dump for centuries because they don't decompose.  What to do?  I bought real ones for many years (well, the many years I ever bothered to put one up after my kids moved out).  Last year, I bought a fake one at Michael's, and got all new decorations.  It's a pretty tree, but I moved a bookcase into the living room and it's in the corner that I put the tree last year.  I really don't have anywhere else TO put it, so I'll have to mash it in there somehow.

I had to work yesterday, but the rest of the world was off, so I spent the entire day catching up on some loooong overdue filing.  Still wasn't done at 4:30.  I also had some computer issues that haven't been resolved with the IS dept, although I was on the phone with them for an hour on Wednesday, and then again yesterday.  I don't know what happened and they are trying to fix things.   Mostly, it was part of an email migration from another server. 

After my descent into hell with my back last week, I made an appt with my doctor for follow up.  I actually saw his NP, who I like alot.  I'm more comfortable with her than I am with my doctor.  Anyway, I broke down and confessed about how long I have been having issues with my back, my neck and sciatica.  She ordered x-rays and gave me a referral to the local chiropractor, who I will see on Tues.  Sean went to school with my kids, and knows me from the hospital because we've invited him to our Employee Health Fairs.  His assistant used to teach Body Pump at the college gym.  I will ask her when she thinks I can go back.  If not soon, I'm going to ask for something I can take to the gym to get my membership frozen while I'm recovering.  This will probably cost me an arm and a leg, but at least they'll stop going numb on me. ;)  I will check later to see if my health insurance covers any of it.  I doubt it. 

So....the long awaited event is only 4 days away!  I will spend most of this weekend organizing my jewelry and packing up the boxes of supplies (table covering, calculator, cash box, candy dishes, CD player and Christmas music, etc).  I am looking forward to it  and will be sure to let you know how it went.  Since each sale has increased ever since I first started (I think this will be my 5th), I'm putting a $2000 figure out into The Universe to see if it comes back to me.  That would be fantabulous!

According to a recent survey, America's fattest city is Memphis.  The city with the fewest cases of obesity (that participated in the survey) is Boston!  I need to move 50 miles east and shed some pounds.  I love Boston... it's so fun there.  I know there's crime, but much less than in some other cities.  I know there's poverty, but ditto last sentence.  But there is so much HISTORY and culture there.  The Freedom Trail is so wonderful to walk.  The skyscrapers are covered in reflective glass so that you see all of the old architecture.  The theater district is filled with, well...theaters, but also restaurants and shops.  Our freedom, as a country, began in Boston.  If I were young, I'd go there to live.  In my next life, I'd like to grow up in Boston and retire in Maine...in a cottage on the coast.

I was reminded about Septides today.  Having just turned 56 and the whole "seven year" thing, I googled Septides and Irv Thomas and you know what came up?  MY OWN BLOG!  Bahhhaahahaha... how funny is that?  Anyway, I wrote about it all in July of 2005.  Here's what I had to say.  It's given me something to ponder this weekend, since it's been 2.5 yrs since I wrote it.  Did I do what I intended?  Hmmmm...

Enjoy your weekends...

Peace,

Kay

Well, I'll never to THAT again...

Friday

November 16, 2007

Hi,

Holy freakin' cold out today!  And blustery too.  Someone even said that they saw (insert 4 letter winter word here) when they were driving in this morning.  Impossible!  Okay, maybe not...

I have to tell  you about my week.  Last Saturday, I got crackin' with housework bright and early.  I was in the mood to do a complete overhaul of the apartment.  Climb up on the counters and dust off the stuff on the top of the cabinets.  Wipe down the blades of the ceiling fans.  Dry mop all of the floors, damp mop the kitchen and bathroom.  Make several trips to and from the basement doing laundry.  Dust all dustable surfaces. 

I had my iPod on and I was cruisin'.  When all of that was done, I drove to Wal-Mart, then the grocery store, then the apple farm.  Busy busy busy... full of vim and vigor.

I sat down Saturday evening and surveyed my hard work.  All was sparkly and smelled wonderful.

On Sunday morning, I noticed that my lower back was a little tight.  I have to be careful with it because I can twist it pretty easily.  Took some Advil and got the heating pad out. Tried to have a restful day.

Monday morning, I could barely move.  Good thing we had the day off...it gave me some extra time to recuperate.   Did more of the heating pad, Advil thing and just took it very easy all day.  It hurt, but I moved slowly and deliberately so that I didn't do more damage.

Tuesday morning it was more of the same.  Took a shower, got dressed and went to work.  Had to do it all at the speed of a snail.  I was walking (walking?  Ha...."shuffling") like an 80 yr old.  It hurt to sit, it hurt to stand, it hurt to lie down, it hurt to walk.   It hurt... period.  I got little sleep since Sunday.

Wednesday morning, it took me over 5 minutes to get out of bed.  I took 3 steps toward the bathroom and my back spasmed, my right leg buckled and I thought I was going down to the floor.  Luckily, I had a desk beside me and I grabbed it, lowered my leg and stood there wondering what the hell I was going to do.  Pain shooting across my back and down my right leg. 

I can't begin to tell you how much pain I was in.  I put on some shoes (clogs that I could just slide my feet into) and (I don't know HOW I managed this...it killed me to lift my leg to get into the car) drove myself to the Emergency Room.  I was there for 3 hours.  It was incredibly embarrassing to be seen by so many co-workers in the state I was in, but I was in agony.  Was diagnosed with lower back muscle strain and inflammed sciatica.  Got a shot of Toradol in my right hip (injection site is still sore), a prescription for 800mg Motrin and a muscle relaxer called cyclobenzaprine, which knocks my sorry ass right out.  Also got a note from the doc to be out of work for 3 days.  Yeah, right....like THAT's gonna happen.

I went home, made an english muffin and tea, took the muscle relaxer and passed out on the sofa.  It took several hours before it all began to feel even the slightest bit less painful, but by evening, I was MUCH better. 

I went to work Thu and today, of course.  I moved around a bit because sitting too long hurts.  I can't take the cyclobenzaprine before work, but have been taking the Motrin 3 x/day as directed.  It still hurts, but NOTHING like Wednesday morning.

So, needless to say, there will never be another marathon cleaning day at my place.  No more climbing up on the counter like I'm 20something either.  I guess I just have to face the fact that I'm not young anymore and I need to do things more slowly and ask for help.  Sucks...

The weekend is finally here.  Tammy is coming down to MA tomorrow.  We are going to lunch, then to the grocery store to buy Thanksgiving dinner.  I will spend some time beading for my sale (only 12 days away!).  I can't sit for too long, but if I keep plugging away, I hope to get several more pieces done.

Peace,

Kay

The long weekend...

Friday

November 9, 2007

Hi,

It's Abundance Check Day, so if you haven't already done so, get out your checkbook and write up your check!

The craft fair at the World Trade Center was a bit of a let down.  WAY too many jewelry booths and not much of anything else I had any interest in.  It used to be much different (better), but the last couple of years really haven't been great.  I managed to pick up a couple of Christmas gifts though.  Linda did even better than that. 

The most annoying part was that when we got to Alewife, the parking lot was CLOSED!!!  There was a sign saying it was temporarily full.  I don't know my way around Boston, so we went back into the pick up area and sat, thinking about what we were going to do.  We'd just about given up and were going to head to the Cape when I noticed a small, white car going into the garage.  I scooted out and back down to the entrance, and sure enough, the block was gone and we were able to get in.  Found a space on the first level too!

We left the craft show later than I'd anticipated, so we then had to find our way to Jackie's house in Dennisport in the dark.  Not only do I not know how to get to the Cape from Boston, we really didn't know how to get to Jackie's either.  It's been awhile since we've been there and, as I said, it was dark. So, we drove back to 495S, although I'm sure there was a closer route if I had any idea how to get to it from Alewife.  That alone took almost 45 minutes, then 2 hours to the Cape.  We got to Jackie's around 10:00, I think. 

We were both starving, so thank goodness we came prepared with food.  Made tuna sandwiches and warmed up some Progresso soup.  Took care of the hunger, then we watched the news to see what was happening with the weather.  I'm sure you saw/heard that it was about to turn nasty.

We got up Saturday morning to wind and rain, but what was happening at 10:00 a.m. was nothing compared to what was headed our way.  Did that stop us from driving to Hyannis to shop?  Hell, no.

It was really bad out by mid-afternoon.  Just walking from a store to the car and back was hell.  At one point, our coats were soaked through.  I was amazed at the number of people out in that weather!  I didn't want to try finding it in the dark again, so we gave up the fight and drove (slowly) back to Jackie's around 4:00.

We changed into our (blessedly warm and dry) pj's then sat in the living room, alternately watching mindless t.v. reruns and checking on the weather, while listening to the storm outside.  The wind was incredible!  Weather forecasts were predicting wind gusts of up to 75+ mph at the tip of the Cape...we were having about 60 mph gusts in Hyannis.  Approximately 40,000 people lost power, the ocean was wild and trees were losing limbs all over the place.  We lost power about 7 times over the course of 4 hours, but each time it was only out for a few seconds before coming back on.  Someone was watching out for us, that's for sure. 

Sunday dawned bright and sunny.  We had breakfast, showered, packed up the car and headed back to Hyannis to finish what we'd started on Saturday, then drove home from there.  All in all, it was a fun, interesting weekend.  That nor'easter will be something to tell our grandchildren about some day. :)

Re-entry at work on Monday was painful (and busy!).  It took me all week to clean up and get caught up.  Now, we have a 3 day weekend, which I'd completely forgotten about until yesterday.  Finding that out was a pleasant surprise.  I made a long list of things I need to get done this weekend and will start on them in the morning.

Emma had a rough week last week.  First of all, her much loved cat, Sally, disappeared last Thursday.  Tammy has a contractor at the house and he left doors open and she got out.  Then, Emma fell in gym on Friday (during some game called The Octopus, which her gym teacher said won't be done again in school).  She split her bottom lip open and had to have 5 stitches.  Tammy said she was very brave....only whimpered a little when she got the novacaine (and if you've ever had to have a needle of novacaine shoved into a cut, you know how painful that is).   However, things are much better today.  She had the stitches out late this afternoon and is healing nicely.  But the best thing is that Sally returned right around 9:00 p.m. this evening!  Tammy said she is dirty, has a tick and has lost weight, but otherwise seems fine.  She is bringing her to the vet in the morning to be checked out.  I begged those deceased ancestors of mine to help her find her way home and they came through. :)

Now, however, I need to get my old self to bed.  I'm sleepy and have a full, busy weekend ahead of me. 

Peace,

Kay

Just Like That...

Thursday

November 1, 2007

Hi,

Well, we went from summer to winter (well, not quite...but it's chilly dammit) in one week.  That's New England for ya.

As I mentioned in an earlier post...one of the whopping 5 I managed in October... I am on vacation this week. 

I spent Monday pretty much lying around the house in pajamas, reading and watching t.v.  I scanned some of my jewelry to some online friends, made pasta sauce, did some laundry.  Tuesday, I got going on a project for Christmas, made a baked ziti for the family of a friend going through chemo for breast cancer right now, took myself out of the house twice to find someplace quiet to read because Justin was having a major meltdown, cleaned up my email and met Tammy for dinner.  She was here for a quick overnight trip to pick up a Christmas gift. 

Yesterday, I headed to Maine around 11 a.m.  Got there in time to spend part of Sam's Halloween party at school with him, then went back to wait for Emma's bus to arrive.  We hung out for a little while, then Jamie picked them up to go Trick or Treating at a few friends houses, then to the Fire Station for a party.   They were a bit wired when they returned.  Sam was an "anakin" (?sp)...some Star Wars character and Emma was a bag of jelly beans.  Cute, homemade costume that captured first prize and most humerous at her Karate school Halloween party last weekend.

Today, Em had a 1/2 day of school due to parent/teacher conferences, so I tagged along to see her school and meet her teacher(s).   Her locker looked exactly like her bedroom, so she cleaned it out while Tammy finished up with her report.  Then, we went to O'Natural's for lunch before picking Sam up at school.

Once we were back, I hung out with the kids for a couple of hours, then got in the car and drove back home.  Linda and I are leaving in the morning for the craft show at the World Trade Center in Boston, then the rest of the weekend at the Cape. 

Is my life one excitement after another or what? :)  I think I prefer my quiet little life, actually.

The best thing happened yesterday!  We (all non-contract employees) got a $500 bonus!  Linda picked my checks up for me so now I have some extra cash for Christmas shopping in Hyannis.  And, it's not even Abundance Check time yet (Nov 9th).

Okay, I've got some cleaning up and packing to do, and Jeopardy is on in 10 minutes.  Gotta scoot.

Peace,

Kay