February 11, 2009

Here's my 5th finish of 2009, my Year of the Sampler! I stayed up until I put the last button on "July-Flag Monthly Musing" at 4:58am. Uncle Wes came out of his room and said "Ah-ha! You slept too late yesterday afternoon!" I said "No, I was determined to finish this before I went to sleep!"

After being in such a long stitching slump through the end of last year I feel much better finishing another sampler. I've had this chart in my stash for almost a year, ever since Sue gave it to me. I have no idea how I'm going to finish this piece off. I seem to have that problem alot, don't I? That's probably why I have an artist's portfolio full of un-finished stitching finishes.

I didn't do any stitching after I returned home from dialysis because a migraine has been trying to start for three days now. Tonight was the strongest the pain's been so I'm shutting down early to go to bed and sleep it off. Goodnight, All!

February 10, 2009

Today was my non-dialysis day and yet I didn't pick up my needle until 11pm. I was able to make some nice progress in that hour before midnight and here it is.

Today was mostly spent reading emails, chatting on IM's, and watching shows I had recorded on my DVR.

Kasey helped catch Daisy again today...and yesterday, too. It's beginning to become a habit. Once she gets loose, Daisy comes over and barks for Kasey to come play. It reminds me of when my brother and I were kids and our friends would come knock on the door to ask if we could come outside. This is just the puppy version.

February 9, 2009

I tell you, I really, really, really love my Kasey Kay!

But sometimes I could wring her neck!

I went to sleep at 3:30 this morning and she woke me up at 8:30am. Of course I couldn't get back to sleep so I got dressed and we went to run errands. I was in the mood for an Egg McMuffin. I arrived at the drive-through order screen at 10:35am. "We're serving lunch" I'm told. So much for McD's serving breakfast to 11am like my brother told me! I don't eat anything else there, so I just pulled out of line after saying "no thanks" into the microphone.

To give Kasey more practice in her long down-stay with distractions, we went to Muddy Paw Wash. I ordered a chai and sat down with my stitching. I didn't have to be at the Crownsville service station for my brake inspection until noon so we had some time to kill.

The new management of the service station was very helpful and took the time to explain what needed to be done to my truck without talking down to me. In fact, he had three other customers while I was there and the only thing he would accept payment for was a 95-cent light bulb. They did three different quick-fix/inspect jobs, including mine, without charging anything. I will definitely be using them for all my future vehicle maintenance and repair work!

The verdict on the truck's brakes is that, yes, they do need to be replaced, and as soon as possible. The good news is that it'll cost $133 less than what the Rt 50 Exxon service station was going to charge me. But there's more...I also need to replace the rear tires, quickly. I paid $333 in December for front tires but the estimate for rear ones is $280 if I have the Crownsville station do them.

The third bit of news from the Exxon station totally confused me. Last summer they gave me a printout of what's included in the 30,000 mile service and told me parts and labor would be $600. Last week they gave me the same printout and told me that all the parts were fine so it would only be $249 for labor to do the service. I didn't say anything, but the question in my mind was "what parts were needed last summer that are suddenly okay now?! How bad are they lying to me?" The estimate from the Crownsville shop was $198 for the service. Jason told me that 90% of the items included in the 30, 60, and 90,000 mile services are included in his station's regular oil change. Uncle Wes and I need to sit down and figure out when each issue can be dealt with. In the meantime I'm going to keep the truck in the driveway as much as possible.

I've given up on stitching at dialysis because the placement of my new graft doesn't allow me to bend my arm once the needles are in. Today, for example, I slept through my treatment. The 2-hour-plus nap helped make up for some of the sleep Kasey caused me to miss. My dialysis doc was doing rounds today and asked why I was so tired. When I told him I only slept for five hours he cautioned that I was heading for a cold, and maybe worse, if I didn't get a full night's sleep each night. He also said that he wants a picture of Kasey in her service band once it arrives. I told that was completely do-able and I would get it for him as soon as possible.

The stitching group met in the cafe of Border's Books at Annapolis Mall tonight from 7-10pm. Carol called me to let me know she would also be there but would arrive late because she was still making dinner for the family. I picked Kasey up and headed to Border's after leaving dialysis.

I continued working on my Flag Monthly Musing and am very pleased with my progress. My needles have been smokin' ever since I started this project. To give you an idea, here's a little timeline:


Two o'clock this morning






Three o'clock this morning

Three thirty this morning, when I went to sleep.




My progress on the Flag Monthly Musing as of midnight tonight.


I had a scare tonight when Kasey, Carol, and I were leaving Border's Books. The cafe is upstairs in the two-storey store. The only two ways to get to the cafe are an escalator and an elevator. Because Kasey can't ride the escalator, we take the elevator despite neither one of us liking them. We were fine going up. The way down, however, was a different story.

Carol noted that the elevator had a hard jerk when it started and stopped. I didn't say anything at first because I thought I was imagining it, being uneasy on them as I am. Kasey got very spooked and bolted out the elevator door as soon as it opened.

We walked across the store, about 25 feet, to look at the cross stitch magazines. All of a sudden I had a feeling like I was still riding the elevator. My head and my knees made me feel like I was sinking through the floor. Kasey helped me maneuver to a stack of books I could sit on. I put my head down on my knees, resting my forehead on the top of Kasey's muzzle, until the feeling in my head stopped. Carol brought magazine issues to me so that I could peruse them from my perch.

I wasn't light-headed or dizzy. The closest I can compare it to is that it was similar to when you've been on a boat and return to shore, yet still feel like you're on the water.

For years, elevators have disrupted my equalibrium. Tonight was the worst episode caused by riding an elevator that I've ever experienced. Carol mentioned that Kasey's spooking was probably due to her picking up on my discomfort and uneasiness. Kasey continued to dance around and pant nervously until she got in the truck. I was okay to drive home after sitting on that stack of books for several minutes. I'm hoping this was a fluke, but will definitely say something to Borders staff if the elevator jerks sharply the next time I'm on it. I'm also hoping that my problem with elevators isn't getting worse. I'd hate to have to stop going to this group just because I can't ride the elevator anymore. It's too bad they don't have stairs because the escalator could rip off one of Kasey's toenails if we used it.

February 8, 2009

What is wrong with me? I sat in my chair with "A Stitcher's Companion" in my lap for hours and never put a single stitch in it. I could say it's because I've been unable to decide on what color to use, but there are only three colors in the entire piece. I could also say it's because I was reading email and chatting on IM's because that's true, too, but I've stitched before while chatting.

Instead of not stitching at all, I took my non-stitching as a sign and chose another project to work on. No, I didn't go back to my gameboard and I didn't start the next page of "My Stitching Album." I went to my drawer of kitted up "Favorites" and pulled out July Flag Monthly Musing from Shepherd's Bush. I started it at 5:30 after finally turning off my laptop so I couldn't claim that as a distraction any longer. By midnight I'd made some great progress.

I'm using the recommended fibers and fabric, 10ct white Heatherfield, and am enjoying stitching with cotton again; I've been using silks thus far in 2009. Now, if my groups aren't too chatty, I could have this done by the weekend!