Sunday, October 20, 2013

Oh, duh...

Yesterday I lost the whole day to an allergy attack with sinus headache--the only thing I managed to do besides sleep and sneeze and whine was to vacuum the breezeway.  When I was falling asleep, I remembered the days when I enjoyed, not housework, no, but the feeling of accomplishment that comes when the housework is done.

Despite my general reluctance to give any of my money to large, sprawling charitable organizations, one of my colleagues is currently battling breast cancer, and when Mom said she was interested in charity walks, I signed us up for this one.  While we were en route to the walk, I talked to Mom about how yesterday reminded me of how, back when I was depressed and un-medicated, the simplest things caused me to give up and turn into a slug.  I told her that I think it might be time to bump my Lexapro dosage, and so I'll be sending an e-mail request to my neuro tomorrow.

The walk was nice--2.8 miles around the University of Akron campus, which has changed a ton since I was there.  It was quite chilly, but the sun was shining, and thankfully someone took our picture before the walk started, because I was a sweaty wind-haired mess by the end. :P

An ordinary but still rather revelatory Sunday in the life of me.

Sunday, October 06, 2013

My groundhog's back!

And she is driving Little Miss Piggie Pie crazy. :D


Checking to see if the coast is clear!


Ignoring the stupid dog...


still ignoring...


heading out after a hour or so of noshing.

Super Saturday

Mom picked me up at 9:30, and we went to the Ohio Mart at Stan Hywet.  The gate didn't open until 10, and we got there at 9:45, but instead of sitting in the nice dry car, Mom wanted to go stand in the wet grass by the gate.  So we did, and I started my looking and shopping with damp feet. :P

As always, there were many lovely things to look at, and I totally lost my heart to a panel that was a wood-burned picture of Severance Hall over stained glass and a whole collection of adorable Christmas and Halloween houses made of paper.  I found Christmas presents for my nieces, for Mallie & Jay, and for myself I got some dark chocolate with pumpkin pie spice and three used books.  Mom met the brain behind Thistle Dew, and got some of her gorgeous Soap in a Coat* for holiday gifts.  I met the woman who owns the new candle store on the upper end of my street and found out why the store is always closed when I drive past and found out when it is open.  We looked at, but did not buy, jewelry made by crocheting wire, faux concrete garden decor and lots and lots of other things I would happily have spent a fortune on.

Oddly enough, we didn't see anyone either of us knew this year.  Usually we get stopped by someone who knows Mom, most often a former client or a former student.  It's a good thing we didn't, because it was very warm, and while I might not have any new lesions, I do still have MS, and I was a sweaty, red-faced mess by the time we finished at 12:30.  We got Kettle Corn for Dad and The Awesome Nacho on the way out, and then Mom asked if we could please go to lunch at Aladdin's.  I was reluctant because of the aforementioned red-and-sweatiness, but we went and had a quick but nice lunch.  Mom dropped me off at home and I had a shower and then took a nap.

When I woke up, I fed the dogs, got dressed and headed to Casa de Senior Jammies for dinner with the family.  Mom made a wonderful dinner as always--standing rib, roasted green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, salad and corn.  Before dinner, I learned that a bear had attacked my brother's family**, resulting in a burn on Lady Margo, a broken pinkie for Jeeves and a sprained toe for The Awesome Nacho.  They had quite an eventful week!  Jeeves requested that someone get him a beer while he was getting some medical tape out of the car for the Nacho, so I got one and even opened it.  I handed it to him when he came in, and the following dialogue took place:

Jeeves: "Oh, you got me a beer--how nice!  Thank you."

Jammies: "You're welcome."

Jeeves: "Where's the glass?"

Jammies: "Bite me."

The Nacho, from the family room sofa: "Did she just say bite me?"


During dinner, we talked of shoes and ships and sealing wax, but got on to the subject of glasses, and Jeeves mentioned that he needs reading glasses and he's noticed that his distance vision isn't as good as it used to be.  Dad took him into the kitchen to try the eye chart on the pocket door***.  The verdict was that Jeeves needs bifocals, and after he moaned a bit about getting old, I reminded him that my baby brother is balding has a very high forehead and now my middle little brother needs bifocals, so however old he got, I'd always be older. :P  I also stunned him with how close I had to get to the eye chart to read it without my glasses.

The original plan for Saturday night was to attend the Hudson High School Parade of Bands, but given a very busy morning for all of us except Dad, that was given up.  When I left, Jeeves had gotten out the movie screen and was lobbying hard for an actual slideshow to give his boys the full experience, complete with the smell of burning dust, the click of the projector, the sight of a few slide in upside down and the potential for jumping in their seats at the noise of a bulb burning out.  I just hugged everyone and headed home.

*Soap in a Coat is a handmade lavender soap covered in hand-felted wool for both scrubbing and bubbling.
**No actual bears were involved, but it makes a better story.
***No, I do not know why my father put up an eye chart on the back of a pocket door.  He's weird.