Tuesday Newsday

Wake up time: I got up around 8:30. We had a rough night. Stubby decided he needed to sleep in my bed with me and Little Kitty but Stubby can only get on the bed if I put a chair beside it. (remember, he only has three legs) The chair was too far away so he kept missing and his frustrated meows woke me up. I got him on the bed and got back to sleep and Little Kitty started getting territorial and trying to get Stubby off the bed. I got that disagreement settled and Little Kitty decided he needed to be UNDER the covers. It's like having a newborn sometimes with these cats. When I got up Little Kitty was not quite ready yet.

How I'm feeling: I had that same midday bout of exhaustion and fell asleep for a few minutes but then Lily started whining from upstairs - my parents had gone into town. Later this afternoon I was feeling sort of congested but that eased up. The arthritis in my hands has been flaring today. My left hip and lower back are not feeling great but it's not miserable.

How's the weather? It's pipe-busting weather. My brother and sister-in-law had another break. This is the third time in five years! It's incredibly frustrating for them (and costly) but at least this time my sister-in-law was working from home and the leak was discovered quickly.  The worst of the cold has passed, I think. I only stepped outside long enough today to let the doggies in ... it's cool in the whine cellar but I'm tucked under an electric blanket and dressed warm. My nose is cold. 

What I wore today: Now that I think about it... I'm still wearing what I slept in last night. That's embarrassing. Of course, it's not like I'm doing anything strenuous. 

Hairstyle of the day: side fish-braid

Makeup: no. 

What I watched today: Grey's Anatomy, another episode of Chatsworth House (very much worth watching - it's a reality show about one of those great British Estates, like present day Downton Abbey behind the scenes). The Poisoners Handbook - a documentary on forensic testing

What I'm reading: There's a facebook group for people who grew up in Clayton County (where I grew up) and I've been reading through it over the past two days. There's a lot of great first hand accounts of local history. I find it very interesting. There was one section where people were talking about their favorite teacher and someone mentioned my aunt, who was an elementary school teacher. They said, "I loved Mrs. Peterson at Ash Street Elem. I had her in first grade and was already taller than her then."  Teehee. She is small. 

What I ate today: breakfast an orange and a handful of pretzels. lunch was stuffed shells. dinner was Papa John's pizza 

Trouble looking at Rosalita (in the lower right corner)

What I drank today: hot apple cider and pomegranate tea

Where I went today: Nowhere 

What I did today:  gah. same thing as yesterday pretty much - watched tv, played farmville2, watched doggies, loved on kitties

Visitors to the Hollow:  Rosalita the stray cat has been finding shelter in our shed. I named her Rosalita because she looks just like my mom's cat Rosie who died last year. I can't bring her inside because we don't know what she might have and I can't expose the six animals who already live here. I can't afford to take her to the vet or anything. I felt so bad for her this morning that I stuck a little food out for her. I felt guilty because you NEVER feed a stray cat but I kept thinking about reading in a local news report that for animals food = energy = heat - so to keep an animal warm, you need to make sure they're well fed. Of course, when my parents realized she was out there they put together a little box with blankets for a nest for her. I don't know for sure that she's a her. It might be Rosalino. Rosario. Whatever. 

Sarabeth and Jamie came over this evening while their water was cut off. Pop went and got pizza for everybody for dinner. The girls stayed upstairs playing on Mawmaw's laptops and I mostly stayed downstairs because I don't feel great. Angie came over a little while ago to pick them up.

Goals for the week/on the wish list:  to not get sick or freeze to death, I have one prescription still to pick up this week

Thought for the day:  Whenever I have a problem I sing. Then I realize my voice is worse than my problem. 

Little Kitty hijacking my electric blanket

Happy Tuesday, y'all!

Greetings from the North Pole (and other lame things about how cold it is)

Cold morning 

Wake up time: I woke up at exactly 7:39 and thought, "wow, I could easily go back to sleep" and so I did. However, I have an OCD kitty who knows that when it's light outside, we get up and when it's dark outside, we go to bed. He was not having any of this "sleeping all day" business. He's gentle but persistent. He went from tapping me on the cheek with a soft paw to diving under the covers and nipping at my toes. I finally got up shortly before 9am. This time he didn't complain when I made the bed. He hates when I make the bed.

How I'm feeling: my nose and my toes are cold, the rest of me is warm. I'm having crazy muscle spasms and had to take an extra dose of muscle relaxers today. That's one of the meds that I usually take less than prescribed so I have room to increase as needed. Actually, all my meds from my pain doctor (except ambien) could be taken in a stronger dose than what I take. I like to leave a little "growing room".  I had another bout of extreme fatigue in mid-afternoon which makes me wonder if I've got some kind of blood sugar thing going on then or if it's just part and parcel of the fun that is my multiple diagnosis.

How's the weather?  Cold. We had snow flurries all morning but nothing of an accumulative nature. I don't think we're going to have a major snow event this year. It looks like we're going to have warmer weather for a bit... lots of rain over the weekend which doesn't bode well for my damp basement or my arthritis. Whatevs.  The temperature started dropping around noon. My parents went into town around one and Lily the old dog came wandering downstairs. As I've mentioned before, Lily can come down the stairs but can't (won't) go up them so we open the back door and tell her to go get Mawmaw. I holler upstairs for someone to open the door for her, watch from downstairs and whoever is upstairs watches from up there and  they sort of guide her home. Since I was the only one home I just walked up with her and I nearly froze to death. I had on warm clothes but what they say about exposed skin is true. This was in bright sunshine in the middle of the day. It's dropped about twenty degrees since then. 

Reflection in my very dirty sliding glass door

What I wore today: long sleeve black tshirt, "grumpy" sweatshirt, black sweatpants, white leopard print fuzzy socks

Hairstyle of the day: low side bun, wild and frizzy. too cold to wash it, don't want to bother styling it.  

Makeup: no. 

What I watched today: a previously recorded documentary (I heart PBS), Grey's Anatomy was back on Lifetime, College Gameday (with Tim Tebow! I heart Timmy!) and will watch the BCS game tonight. My kids are huge Florida State fans so my mom wants Florida State to win. She always pulls for the team that her grandkids like. I'm usually very pro-SEC but I really don't like Auburn enough to want my children to be sad so ... Florida State it is. My oldest is flying to Seattle and may miss the game even though he told his boss he had to be able to see the game. My kids are really hardcore Florida State. 

What I'm reading: The unnamed novel I was reading yesterday turned out just to be a teaser. I get most of my Nook books for free or super cheap. Sometimes they're not really the whole book. That was a disappointment. I started reading a Beth Moore book very, very late last night but it was the kind of reading where it wasn't really sticking so I gave up and played sudoku until I fell asleep. I read on Beth Moore's blog today her reasons for giving away the free books. She's really focusing on bringing people to God more than discipling people who are already Christians. She knew that non-Christians were less likely to pay for her books so she's offering them for free. I love her because she's a very warm, relatable, funny  lady. I also love how she really isn't in ministry for the money, it's truly from her heart. 

What I ate today: breakfast was steel cut oatmeal with raisins and apples. lunch was stuffed shells. dinner was tabbouleh and a piece of cake. I dropped the cake walking down the stairs and spilled hot tea all over me. Not fun. 

Kitties enjoying the sunshine

What I  drank today: hot spiced chai tea

Where I went today: nowhere. 

What I did today:  Watched tv and tried to stay warm

Visitors to the Hollow:  Fat Pat came and picked up Austin. They went into town - Austin wore flipflops. I told Austin it was way, way too cold for flipflops. They came back about an hour later and Austin changed shoes. Austin's spending the night over there tonight. I gave him a warning about how this is the kind of weather that you can't get drunk and fall asleep outside. I know that was a real nagging mother thing to say but this is the thing about Aspergers Syndrome. Some things have to be pointed out. 

Goals for the week/on the wish list:  ... not feeling inspired...

Thought for the day:  Stop listening for a voice and start looking for a verse. He's already spoken. 

An Unremarkable Sunday

Wake up time: I think I woke up around 8am. I can't remember.

How I'm feeling: there's a weather front approaching which is an ugly reminder of how "flawed" my body is. I've got a headache that I've been trying to ignore, my hands are aching, I've got crazy muscle spasms and just basically hurt all over in a flu-ey kind of way.

How's the weather? There's a weather front approaching (did I mention that already?) with record breaking cold. The coldest temperature I've ever experienced was 5 below zero in January of 1985 and mainly I just remembering it taking my breath away. When I was in New York in 2006 there was a night that we were out and it was zero degrees with the wind whipping in between the buildings - I was so cold that I stopped at a street vendor and bought gloves or a hat - can't remember which - I just truly understood for the first time that all those extra things were not just accessories.  At the coldest they're predicting that we will have wind chills of fourteen below tomorrow night. School is closed in our county for Monday and Tuesday because of the cold and possibility of ice. Our county is unique in that we have a lot of rural roads and a variety of altitudes. It could be perfectly safe on the main roads but some of the rural mountain roads be impassable. They err on the side of caution.  My nieces go to school in a neighboring county. They are out of school tomorrow anyways, it's a teacher's work day. No word on Tuesday yet but I'm going to bet they close it. People in the South just aren't equipped for this kind of cold. 

What I wore today: the new sweater/hoodie again because I only wore it for a short time yesterday and I love it. that's a long sleeved black tshirt underneath and my new grey maxi skirt which is static clinging itself to my leg. blue fuzzy socks. I may or may not have worn the same fleece leggings again today because they are just that warm and cozy. 

Hairstyle of the day: rocking the high bun in sort of a Princess Leia configuration, except on the top of my head instead of one on each side. the main thing is... why bother? I look sort of like a runaway Dugger. 

Makeup: no. 

What I watched today: three episodes of Mad Men, a couple of documentaries, two episodes of Downton Abbey (with a third set to start at 9pm). I watched a tiny bit of the Ice Bowl but it makes me uncomfortable knowing that those folks are all cold. 

What I'm reading: Finished the Arnold biography. Started reading a novel in the wee hours of the morning - not even sure what the name of it is and I don't feel like getting up to get my Nook and look it up. 

What I ate today: breakfast was toaster strudel. lunch was stuffed shells from yesterday. dinner was a leftover salmon patty, some tabbouleh and then half of a roast beef sandwich. I was ready for dinner before dinner was ready so I made tabbouleh but while I was waiting for the grain to absorb the water I heated up a salmon patty. Then the roast was ready and it smelled too good not to eat any but I was already full so I just made a half sandwich. Oh, and I had three mini kitkats. 

Love my new outfit! 

What I drank today: hot apple cider all day long

Where I went today: I watched the puppy-dogs while my parents went to church. Oscar just came down and curled up in my chair with me but then I heard Lily whining at the top of the stairs so I went up and let her out. Much easier than watching them full time. I doubt I'll go anywhere while the weather is so cold. It's too painful.  

What I did today:  Watched a lot of tv, made tabbouleh, watched doggies, did a load of laundry

Visitors to the Hollow:  none

Goals for the week/on the wish list:  I need to do some written correspondence 

Thought for the day:  (saw this on Pinterest) "When most girls wear messy buns and hoodies they look amazing but when I do I look like I've tried every drug in the world." 

I promise I'll write a real blog entry at some point but I have to admit... the new blog format helps me record days like today that are unremarkable. I'm sorry if it's boring. Hope you've all had a great weekend. Stay warm! Love and hugs, y'all!

Selfies Standing On A Chair

Wake up time: I fall asleep. I wake up. I fall asleep. I wake up. I lose track of time. What can you do? Austin caulked my windows yesterday since we're expecting to be near zero degrees Sunday night. Living in a basement is great if your hot natured like me but even I have a "freezing point". What do the windows being caulked have to do with sleeping? I don't know. Hopefully it means I sleep better. I took my bedtime meds earlier than usual tonight which is why I'm blogging earlier. Also, nothing to do with waking up.

How I'm feeling: was on my feet a bit more today so I'm feeling a bit more pain than yesterday but still not so bad

hoodie, fleece leggings, blue fuzzy socks

How's the weather? Cold and colder. It was 21 degrees when I set out this morning. Thankfully my dad's car has heated seats so I didn't suffer. 

What I wore today: white tshirt and jeans with hoodie to the store... then I changed into a my new hooded sweater (after the mailman came and that package from zulily finally got here!) I changed from jeans to my fleece leggings. Fleece leggings are the best thing since sliced bread. 

Hairstyle of the day: it ain't purdy. frizzy and wild. tried to tame it with a ponytail when I went into town but it was still pretty out there. I should have straightened it after I washed it yesterday but I just didn't want to be bothered. I'm going to have a few bad hair days in a row because of it but... eh... who cares? 

Makeup: mascara and chapstick. I was not looking my best. Then this old fella tried to pick me up in Ingles. He struck up a conversation about the prices in the bakery and followed me to the chip aisle. He followed me to the cookie aisle and on down toward frozen food. I was zigzagging trying to (politely) lose him and then finally faked like I was married by dropping a "husband" comment. Look... he might have been a nice guy but seriously, I'm not interested in any fellow so desperate that he's picking up strange women in the the grocery store. Call me picky. 

New oversized sweater/hoodie with leggings and fuzzy socks

Little Kitty saying, "what the heck are you doing standing on a chair?"

Little Kitty laying on his back beside me resting his head on my laptop. 

What I watched today: A lot of C-Span Book TV, some documentaries I had recorded on the DVR and Saving Private Ryan. I'd never seen Saving Private Ryan before. 

What I'm reading: Almost finished with the Arnold biography. Been reading this blog because the girl has a really unique sense of style. I started back at the beginning of her blog and read through three years. 

What I ate today: breakfast was grits, biscuit and gravy and smoked sausage. When my dad retired (last week) the folks from the cafeteria in his building gave him a basket with grits, eggs and smoked sausage because that was what he had for breakfast every day.  For our midday meal I made stuffed shells - three pans worth so we have lots of leftovers. I also had stuffed shells for dinner. They were really good. I used a ground beef/spinach/ricotta cheese/parmesan cheese mixture to stuff. It was a lot of work but it was worth it and... it's the first time I've cooked all week. 

What I drank today: hot apple cider and Bolthouse farms berries and carrot juice. I need a juicer. 

Where I went today: I went to Ingles this morning around 8:30. It was much colder than I'm used to but I wanted to make the stuffed shells so I needed to get the stuff for it. I also picked up some of the snacky stuff I like to munch on - you know, Little Debbies, pringles, bagel chips, carrots and hummus - most of it not healthy. I'm working on it.  Avocados were on sale so I got stuff to make tabbouleh with tomatoes and avocados. That's healthy. 

What I did today:  Went to the grocery store, made stuffed shells, read a blog, played Farmville2, cuddled with my kitty

Visitors to the Hollow:  Austin's friend Sean came over and brought Austin a projector for his xbox. Gamers. 

Goals for the week/on the wish list:  Still want to get that white shelf moved. Still need to restore order to the Whine Cellar from where we had to remove some carpet tiles with the flooding we had before Christmas. 

Thought for the day: Fleece leggings are the best. I can't emphasize this enough. 

Photo Finish Friday

Wake up time: Middle of the night again, read a little and went back to sleep, woke up at 7:30.

How I'm feeling: another bout of exhaustion that eased, some joint pain but none of the evil gut pain and the back pain has been mild this week.

How's the weather? If it ever got above freezing today it wasn't by much. We have predictions of icy precipitation Sunday into Monday. The suspicious thing about the weather here... the local news stations are always more dramatic and overstated than the national weather services. I've learned to temper my excitement based on what the national weather forecasters say.

What I wore today:blue jeans, long sleeve white tshirt, zip up hoodie, pink and purple fuzzy socks. The jeans started getting on my nerves so I changed to my fuzzy grinch pj pants. Stylin' and profilin'.

Hairstyle of the day: showered this morning and only dried my hair about halfway which left it sort of curly/frizzy. It soon deteriorated into a bun.

Makeup: none whatsoever.

What I watched today: There was a How I Met Your Mother marathon on Lifetime today. I think they're trying to make it up to me for not showing Grey's Anatomy for the past two weeks.

What I'm reading: Same stuff as yesterday - still the Arnold biography. It's not making me like him any more than I did before. He comes across as a jerk.

What I ate today: breakfast was oatmeal with raisins, apples, banana, walnuts, butter and brown sugar (I'll take mine loaded, thanks!),  lunch was chicken salad on white bread and cole slaw, dinner was salmon patties, yellow rice and squash. Definitely loving Pop being retired. It's giving me a break from cooking. I plan to make some stuffed shells this weekend and give him a break.

What I drank today: pomegranate tea, water

Where I went today: strictly an indoor girl today

What I did today: watched tv, took all Christmas specific ornaments off my two Christmas trees so that they are now Valentine's trees. My friend's husband said that would scare off men... but heck, I think the whole cat thing takes care of that. Any men that slide in under the "lives in her parents' basement with three cats" thing aren't going to be scared off by Christmas trees that morph into Valentine's trees.

My parents found my grandmother's wedding dress today so I hung it and some other of my favorite personal vintage outfits as decor against my purple wall. The wedding dress is on the right, in case you can't tell. It looks sort of animal print but that's the reflection of the light on the many, many wrinkles in the satin. It needs work... I need some decorative hangars and Grandma's wedding dress needs to be cleaned and pressed. The last time I saw it was when I was 13. At the time I weighed 103 pounds and I could get IN the dress but I couldn't get it zipped. I think it might possibly fit Sarabeth (who is 11) right now. My grandmother was and still is a tiny little thing. Thanks to the Gant genes me and my Gant girl cousins are all sturdy girls.

The pink and green dresses on Sarabeth and Jamie in 2005. I wore the pink dress when I was around 3 and the green dress at 7 months old. I made pictures of the girls in my old dresses as a Christmas gift for my parents. I was "throwin' back" before the throwback photo was cool.

Me in the white dress that's in the middle... this is from my kindergarten graduation. That's my brother beside me looking like Greg Brady. This little white dress was pretty much my go-to dress for special occasions from age 5 until about age 7. Then I had this fabulous little mini-dress with the flowy, gauzy sleeves that were soooo 1970's. I don't still have that one.

Me with my Gant cousins. To give you an idea of how small my grandma is - I'm about 5'1, 5'2 if I stand up straight.

My tiny little grandma on her wedding day. The dress doesn't have a tag - I think it was homemade. My grandfather was talented at sewing. It seems like I read somewhere that he made her dress. I could be wrong. I know he made some of her dresses while they were married. I always thought he was relatively tall for some reason - but then when I saw a copy of his ID that he had around WWII he was only about 5'6. He looks tall because she is so tiny.

My "sturdy" great-grandma Gant with my little grandma. This is my Jersey Shore grandma.

Grandma's mom and grandma on the left. You can see that my grandma gets her tiny little figure from her mom's mom.













So, yeah. All those photos just to explain the one photo of the dresses. I don't have any idea what the story is on the dress on the left. It was with grandma's wedding dress so I guess it could have been a slip but it almost looks a little jazz-age/flapper-ish to me. My dress display is a work in progress but definitely using the vintage dresses is an idea that had not occurred to me and the colors work well with the bedding I have.

Visitors to the Hollow:  I can tell you who DIDN'T come... the guy who was supposed to deliver the two things from zulily that were supposed to come today.

Goals for the week/on the wish list: move the white shelf with my Barbies into my bedroom, set up a "supply" shelf in the kitchen side of the Whine Cellar. Make stuffed shells.

Thought for the day: If you have much, give of your wealth. If you have little, give of your heart.

Stuff About Today

Wake up time: 2am. Read for an hour and a half and went back to sleep. Finally got up at 8:45

How I'm feeling: sneezing, aching, exhausted - caught a second wind after dinner and feel somewhat better tonight but I'm not running any marathons

How's the weather? Cold and getting colder. We had rain today and now have 35 mile per hour winds and temperatures below freezing. It's not going to snow here but some of those wet spots might ice up. Good thing I don't have to go anywhere!

What I wore today:black yoga pants, purple long sleeve shirt, purple fuzzy socks, same tacky huge red flannel shirt

Hairstyle of the day: fourth day hair, still not greasy but not ready for a closeup. It's amazing how well your "biology" adapts when you stop washing your hair every day. I'm really close to being able to wash about once a week which is great for avoiding split ends/dry hair, especially as the texture of my hair is changing as I age. This picture was from yesterday while wearing an outfit that I decided not to wear because it wasn't warm enough.

Makeup: whatever hasn't been cleaned off since yesterday

What I watched today: still not back to our normal programming (Grey's Anatomy, etc is not on), watched the Weather Channel a lot due to a mild case of snow envy, The Big Bang Theory had a new episode

What I'm reading: Arnold: The Early Years (biography of Arnold Schwarzenagger, free on nook), 1 Peter chapter 3, I downloaded 8 free Beth Moore books from eChristianresources.com on my Nook. I love Beth Moore's teaching style. Those books would have cost between $15-20 each so that was a great find. Also... Mayim Bialek (Blossom, Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory) has a great blog on Kveller.com. She's currently on a trip - a pilgrimage of sorts - to Israel and I really enjoyed her latest blog entry.

What I ate today: a banana, minestrone soup, pinto beans/greens/rotisserie chicken, crunchy vegetable soup, popcorn

What I drank today: pomegranate tea, water

Where I went today: upstairs for food and to heat my tea

What I did today: watched tv, played farmville2 - free water today!- not much else

Visitors to the Hollow: Rosalita the stray cat, the trash men

Goals for the week/on the wish list: move the white shelf with my Barbies into my bedroom, set up a "supply" shelf in the kitchen side of the Whine Cellar

Thought for the day: H.O.P.E. - hold on, pain ends

<---loving kitty="" little="" my="" p="" trouble="">
If you're in the path of the big ole snowstorm, I pray you stay safe and warm!

Love and hugs, y'all!

A Blog Format

Some days I'm just not inspired to blog. I blogged less in the past year despite having more free time than ever before. I believe it was because some days there just wasn't much to talk about. Often my days sort of run into each other.

My blog has been about telling my story, good or bad, for the sake of connecting with others and keeping a record for myself. With that in mind, I decided to create a basic blog format to record a few details of every day with the hopes of finding similarities and differences throughout the year. I may even discover a few habits that I need to break (apple crisp for breakfast?). I'm sure I'll add or remove categories and I'm certain there will be times I won't want to stick to this format (that's the whole second child, left-handed thing). If you have suggestions for topics you'd like for me to include, I'd love to hear them.

Some days I'll have more to share than just this format but on the days that there's really nothing new under the sun, I'm going to just blog the basics. I'm not going to promise 365 days of blogging but I think I'll blog more often and I hope my format will be a good writing prompt.

Wake up time: 1:30am went back to sleep in the recliner and woke up at 7:30am for good
How I'm feeling: not too bad, sleepy but not as exhausted as the past few days, back pain is bearable, joints a little stiff, little bit of a sore throat
How's the weather? Mild and overcast most of the day. Temps in the 40's/50's.
What I wore today: beige leggings under m&m pj pants, pink long sleeve tshirt, big red flannel shirt, pink fuzzy socks
Hairstyle of the day: third day hair, straight
Makeup: Just a little to make sure I didn't forget how to do it
What I watched today: The Rose Parade, no football, Secrets of the Tower of London, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead,  HGTV Dream Home - really bummed that Grey's Anatomy and The Five weren't on today
What I'm reading: Arnold: The Early Years (biography of Arnold Schwarzenagger, free on nook), 1 Peter chapter 2
What I ate today: Marie Callendar Apple Crisp with cool whip, Bacon sandwich on white bread, blackeyed peas, greens, jasmine rice, chex mix
What I drank today: chai tea, cranberry juice, water
Where I went today: the back deck to see the rose bushes that Austin planted
What I did today: watched tv, worked on ancestry.com, played farmville2, took pictures of the cat
Visitors to the Hollow: a former member of the Basement Clown Posse and Austin's friend Sean
Goals for the week/on the wish list: Want to see Saving Mr. Banks, been thinking about cooking stuffed shells, it's time to pack up the Christmas decorations - I took three ornaments off one tree so I've at least started *eyeroll*, gave up on Christmas cards but need to mail a few thank you notes.
Thought for the day: Happiness is an emotion and is temporary. Joy is an attitude of the heart and is eternal.

Happy New Year! Love and hugs, y'all!