Walk…

Went for a walk with David and Annie to try and counteract the effects of the diet Pepsi. Not a good idea. I had to bite my tongue to not make any nasty comments to David’s stories. Yuk! I hate myself when I feel like this. Not as bad as wanting to rip someone’s face off, but a close second.

Aspartame…

I went to a movie this afternoon, and I brought in (horror) a diet Pepsi to drink with my free popcorn. It seems that everytime I go to see a movie, on the drive home I feel like crying. I get very mopey and withdrawn. I was wondering about this on the way home today and figured it had to be the diet soda.

My sister had left a message to call her and when I did, I was very quiet on the phone and she asked me what was wrong because I sounded so down. I told her I was tired, but it got me thinking. Then I called Kira back and she asked me what was wrong too. Well, two family members asking me what was wrong within a ten minute span…I got on Google as soon as I hung up. http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html

Yikes, I’m not drinking diet soda anymore. I’m sure I’ll break down and have one on occasion, but certainly not routinely. I’ve pretty much cut out diet soda from my diet anyway and drink water instead, and I’ve heard bad things about Aspartame, but I’ve never read anything about it. At least I have an explanation for feeling like running off the road straight into a tree.

Drawings…

I can go for months without having anything specific to draw. Oh I have many things I CAN draw and that I SHOULD draw, but it seems I don’t unless I have a deadline looming in front of me.

Heidi had her baby almost 1 month ago, and I knew her name a few days after that (Mom and Dad had a bit of a time coming up with a girl name) ha! ha! I could have had it done by now, but do I?! Good heavens NO, I haven’t even started it. tsk I guess I better get going on that because I think the shower may be this coming month.

Then a co-worker of mine asked if I could get a drawing of a dog done by Labor Day, for a wedding present (for a couple that has everything they could possibly need). I of course said Yes! I always work better with a deadline.

Then there are two others I need to draw for presents, one pretty soon and the other I have a little time yet. Both of the feline persuasion and I also have one started of Annie that is turning out spectacular that I really want to finish. (I still need to finish one of Ethan that I started about 10 years ago. Maybe I should get on that, huh?)

But at this time of year, I always have so many other things to do that can’t wait, like…see my previous post…Yard work...

Yard work…

Every now and then, when I’m wandering around my yard thinking that it’s a disgusting pit, I wish I lived in an apartment or townhouse. Someplace where I could have some flower pots, a birdfeeder, a patio with a picnic table for evening meals, comfortable chairs to lounge in and an umbrella to keep the sun out of my eyes. All the other work would be taken care of by ‘someone else’. I  realize I would have to pay dues to have the work done, but the older I get, I’m thinking that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Or if not a townhouse, a house with a postage size yard. Like the ones in the Camden neighborhood. Those are the old homes with all the character that I love, with tiny little yards. Some people have their entire backyard without grass. Lots of rocks, a pond and waterfall in the corner, paths to wander on and benches to sit on and admire the landscape. That wouldn’t be so totally overwhelming like my yard.

With my fibromyalgia, I have days that I have to push myself to move from room to room. If there is something that I really need to do, I’ll try and do it, but it will take most of the day. I will have NO energy whatsoever. Then without doing anything special, the next day I will be full of energy and get tons done. This does not work well with a big yard and lots to take care of.

Maybe we’ll just have to hire someone to help out one of these days.

Window well...

David worked on the window well on the east side of the house this weekend. This one is made with 6x6 pieces of wood, with built in steps. He got it almost done and it should look real nice once it's finished. We'll be able to put pots of plants out there on the steps.
While he was working on that, I was cleaning up the area around the window well, namely the original three ponds. They were so, so overgrown with all of those tall purple flowers that we have growing ALL over the yard. I don't know what they are, but they are quite invasive, with a tuborous root system. Eeyuk!! I took out a bunch of daylillies and hostas too. I figured I could transplant the daylillies over by Martin's fence so I wouldn't have to weed so much over there, and the hostas were too close to the pond and pretty thick.
My shoulder is throbbing now, and the tightening muscle is pulling on my clavicle. Pretty much my shoulder to my jaw hurts. Oh well, I'm old, what can I say.

Shower Curtain...

I have been looking all over for a shower curtain for the basement that has blue and brown in it. I did find a couple at Target, but they just didn't look right, so I took a little trip to JoAnn's and wandered up and down and down and up the aisles of fabric. Finally, one piece stood out over all of the many, many different fabrics. It is a blue/cream/brown batik pattern. So pretty. Batik NEVER goes on sale, and it is $12.99 a yard and I need 4 1/2 yards. Kind of expensive for a shower curtain. Kira told me to get a 50% off coupon, duh!! Well, this past Sunday, I grabbed my 50% off coupon, drove to the Maple Grove JoAnn's, walked over to the Batik section, found the fabric I want and noticed that it was on sale for 30% off. Geez, well, there was no way I was going to pay that much, so now I have to wait for a 40% off (or maybe even another 50% off) coupon before I can buy it. If I needed it right now, I would have bought it, but the bathroom isn't even finished yet, so I'm safe for awhile.

Bathroom…

I’m so excited…David finally got the platform for the ‘blue tub’ built and the tub is sitting on top of it. Now he has to hook up the drain pipes, put up a little wall and connect the water pipes. Then we can put in the insulation, cement board and I can lay down the beautiful brown marble tiles. I was going to go with black tiles, but I saw a shower curtain in brown, off-white and blue and thought that would be prettier, and it would go with the rest of the rooms. I’m going to put bead board on the walls, about 4 1/2 feet up and paint it just off-white. There will be off-white subway tiles in the bath surround with a border of browns, blues and hopefully, greens. I think I’ll go with mocha or some darker shade of brown for the walls above the bead board. It looks really nice in my head, I just hope it looks that good for real.

Empty nest…

Well, we were successful in moving our two oldest children to their new apartments. Andy in Cincinnati, Ohio and Kira in Scottsdale, Arizona. David and I have hardly had anytime to try to enjoy ourselves because of the moves and then the trip we just took back to Arizona for James and Rachel’s wedding, which by the way, was fabulous. I think we will be able to find enough things to do to keep ourselves busy and entertained. We plan on actually having friends?!? over for dinner and a bonfire. Yikes!! Us have friends over!!???? Yes, that is true, and hopefully it will be this Friday night, and not rain, because I still haven’t had the carpet and sofa/chair cleaned.