Expanding My Mind

There is another shortage of Luigi's Italian Ice - mango flavor - in White County again. My stockpile from two weeks ago is depleted. I was told this morning that they were expecting a shipment this afternoon but I haven't gone back out to check. I purchased the cherry flavor. We'll see if it passes muster later on when I have my evening italian ice break.

I had a pretty miserable night last night with the crazy burning joint pain that is either a fibromyalgia or an arthritis thing. Who knows. I do know that I did NOT want to move this morning and therefore made myself go to the grocery store. I will tolerate a lot of slothfulness out of myself but staying in bed all day is not and will never be an option. The search for the mango ice was motivation enough to get me moving, even though it proved fruitless. By the time I got back home and unpacked my wares and looked at the clock it was almost noon. I don't want time to fly by but I don't mind when the hard times fly by.

Anyways. I'm really close to being finished with my huge family tree cross stitch. I would post a picture of my progress but when I tried to the other day, the camera was doing weird things - kept saying it couldn't read the memory card. This has happened before and it's just a matter of leaving it alone until it gets over its' mood and trying again. I've got a lot of fill in work to do in a blinding off-white color and a few little bits and pieces that I missed and then I'll be on to the outlining and lettering. The lettering will take FOREVER. Then I'll be ready for my next project which... I don't know what it is yet but I'm thinking something Christmas gift related. Crafting has been good for my mental well-being. It makes me feel like I'm productive.

I thought I had finished with the World War I section of the Khan Academy site and then I realized there was a whole lot more. I found it really interesting. If we covered this stuff in school, I don't remember it. In High School my history/social studies block was replaced with the gifted class which... we went over some stuff but not really in depth and not that I remember, ironically. Of course, I wasn't as big of a history nerd as I am now. Going back to the things that happened in World War I gives me a much better understanding of the geography of the Middle East and Europe. The lectures on Khan Academy are about 5-10 minutes each and then after about six lectures you have a quiz. The quiz helps reinforce what you've learned. Now I'm really finished with the First World War and have moved into an in depth study of Hitler and the Nazi party leading up to World War 2.

I'm also going through the math program and have watched a few videos that were created by the Museum of Modern Art. There's no credit for learning this stuff but it makes me feel like I'm accomplishing more than I did spending the same amount of time playing Farmville 2.

Since I've decided to give up the Grey's Anatomy habit I have an extra three hours of viewing time every day. Today I watched two Senate hearings, one on cruise ship safety and another on prescription drug/heroin abuse. There's still plenty of time in the day for watching less quality programming (like Big Brother) and I don't feel like a couch potato... more like a couch asparagus... or something.

I guess the main thing is that I'm trying to expand my mind and not feel stagnant. It's a lot of work maintaining a healthy perspective when you're not walking around in a healthy body. And even on the worst days I can sit and stare at a tv - or at least listen to it.

So that's what's going on around here today. Love and hugs and Happy Monday, y'all!