08.31.08
Posted in daily life stuff, Crochet, Crafts, knitting at 9:47 pm by Shari
Well, not really…
About 2 wks ago, Amber started acting a little lazy. I didn’t think much of it for the first days. So she wasn’t eating much…well, not at all. And when I tried to go for a walk with her, she was hanging back rather than trotting ahead. Then she STOPPED eating. This is the dog that Chuck has nicknamed “Hoover” for how quickly she inhales her food. Even with lots of treats mixed in, she wasn’t eating… Even when I tried to put her favorite food in her mouth for her, she wasn’t eating. So, that Friday we went to the vet. The possibilities were heartworm (test was negative), congestive heart failure (EKG was fine), something in her stomach (the x-ray looked fine), liver infection or disease (can’t quite tell - liver looks okay in the x-ray but that didn’t rule anything out, and her serum looked too yellow). So, $400 later, we went home with an antibiotic in case it was a liver infection and to wait for the blood work results. The next day (Saturday) I worked all day. Chuck was home and heard someone at the door, but thinking it was someone else, didn’t go to the door. Sunday evening I happened to check the mail on the off chance it hadn’t been checked the day before. There’s a bottle of medicine and a note from the vet (the visitor the day before). Turns out she has anemia, and as we check further, it’s probably an auto-immune response. The medicine is Prednisone - a dose 8x higher (!!!) than she was on when she was younger. Argh! But, she’s finally eating again and tonight she actually went for a walk with me - about 1.5 miles, and was still trotting just ahead of me when we got home. It’s such a relief to see her eating and walking… Now we just have to deal with her being on the prednisone, hopefully get that ramped down sooner rather than later.
One fun thing last weekend was that I finally got to see the baby girl. We got a couple of pics of us together, but she’s holding them hostage in her camera, afraid I’ll post them :( She’s back in grad school now, has a place to live and is looking for work down there. She’s also talking about going into nursing once she gets this masters degree done.
I’ve been hoping against hope to hear good news from my job interview (it was just over 2 wks ago) and have procrastinated on re-working my resume. It’s time to bite the bullet and get that done. I suspect that whatever decision was made, I wasn’t selected for the job and I’m a little chicken to call to confirm that. So I HAVE to kick butt and launch a serious job search. I did get some health insurance lined up this last week - it’s terrible insurance, but it’s coverage that gives “creditable coverage” so when I get something else, our pre-existing conditions hopefully won’t be a problem. In the meantime, though, we have to self-pay our scrips so I’ve been researching programs to get help with that. The fun of unemployment… or I should say, hubby’s unemployment.
I have done at least a little crafting. I finished my swirly crochet headband, sewed another one, sewed a “rag quilt” style pillow cover, finished my first patriotic sock and started the second, and got some lockerhooking done. And some knitted samples for the store. Wow… sounds like I’ve actually accomplished something!
Chuck thinks it sucks, but despite the “holiday” I am working tomorrow. So, it’s time to head to bed so I’m up and at ‘em in the morning.
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08.16.08
Posted in daily life stuff, knitting, wls at 9:01 am by Shari
I’ve been busy with making a living and figuring out how that will continue . Chuck lost his job last month, and along with that, the benefits (thank goodness that didn’t happen pre-surgery!) that we had. So now we’re scrambling to sort out what’s next, how to pay for medical and meds and where to find a new job. It’s looking like he’ll be applying for disability since we can’t seem to make the headaches go away, but that’s a long process. Regardless, I HAVE to find some full-time employment with benefits to pick up the slack and continue our coverage.
I did get a chance to interview for a job at my surgeon’s office the other day. I think the interview went well enough and gave me some insights for changes to my resume for similar jobs at the hospital. I’ve got someone who can help me make myself more visible, so I wanted to get things in better shape before forwarding my resume to him.
Anyway… I’ve also been out on the ‘net checking things out. I’m not quite sure HOW I found this blog - I’m pretty sure it was while following some craft or knitting blog links, but, this gal, Shelly, had gastric bypass, loves to cook and is blogging her life and recipes. Now, I’m not crazy about spending time in the kitchen, nor do I have good access to some of the stuff she uses, but I’m being inspired, especially by some of her zucchini recipes. I’m going to stop at the store today to get some ricotta to play with the pancake recipes (sweet and savory). I’m almost even thinking about an ice cream maker for the many protein ice cream recipes she’s got out there.
On the knitting front, I’ve been plugging away at a pair (well, first of a pair) of patriotic socks. It’s using some Socka Colori 100 in a red/white/blue combo. I’m making peace with the magic loop technique - it seems that previous attempts would have been more comfortable with more flexible needles. I’m not sure this will replace dpn’s for me, but there is something about it that feels more portable - fewer ends sticking out when I toss it around. I’m even convinced that I should try (AGAIN) the 2 socks on 2 circs technique to see if I can make peace with that as well.
What I really need to get going with is re-visiting my exercise plan. I haven’t been walking nearly enough, nor riding at all lately. It’s going to get even harder when I get a full time job, though with a consistent lunch time and more regular daily schedule, maybe it’ll fall into place more easily.
Baby girl is in the northeast again. I was sleeping when she called last night, but she did call to report that she was at her father’s house near Philly. I guess that means her trip has been somewhat uneventful. She’s going to get to the Hudson Valley and try to get situated, find a job and place to live, get ready for school to start and THEN maybe I’ll get a chance to see her. It’s almost 8 months to the day since I saw her - 8 months and 100+ lbs. I can’t wait!
For the first time in just about forever - well 3 years, I can actually get to a spinning guild meeting because I don’t have to work during the meeting (I do have to work, but not until 3), so I’m going to skedaddle to that to see a few people, do a few stitches on the socks and then I get to go demo some painting and stencilling at Joann’s.
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08.04.08
Posted in daily life stuff, wls at 9:39 pm by Shari
Well, I suppose I should have listened more attentively to my daughter. She cautioned me to not expect a reaction to my weight loss from my family and she was right. Did they notice? Yep, of course they did. Was their reaction (at least that I could see/hear) very strong? Nope, not really. Were they encouraging in the end? Yep - at the end of the day they all told me to “keep up the good work.” I guess that the reactions I get all the time from people I see daily and weekly has been so strong that I was hoping for something similar there too.
Tis true, though, that it doesn’t really matter because what matters is that I’m continuing to feel better all the time, more active, less pained, etc. I did get to go on a boat ride around the lake - in previous years I didn’t trust my ankles to get down to the dock, so not just getting down there, but being able to step up, over and into the boat then back out was all good.
When I was in 5th grade, my mom met my step-dad, got married and we bought a farm and moved there at the end of the school year. For a short time that sounded like a great idea, until we started learning about what the work was - all the work in the huge garden, taking in hay, having and taking care of animals. Then the added fun of going to farm equipment auctions to get the farm fitted for working, living far from all the friends I had in town and couldn’t walk to see, being just old enough and far enough from sitters that I got to start babysitting my brothers all the time. You could say it wasn’t my idea of a fun time 
Fast forward 35+ years and I find myself working on a website where farmers are dealers auctioning their equipment to other farmers. Who’da thunk it? I nearly burst out laughing when Jim first told me that I’d be working on this site.
So, now I am going to spend the next 2 days at Empire Farm Days promoting said website and providing onsite support as we start to launch it. It should be interesting. One of the gals at JoAnns was telling me her hubby and his brother go every year and was telling me about the various food that’s available there - apparently I’ll be very near where everyone goes for ice cream. Maybe some of the visitors do something other than go for the food, but talking to Sally, it sounded like that is the main attraction :). It’s not on my list of things to see while I’m there though.
So if I’m going to be up in time to get out and there on time, I’d better hit the sheets soon.
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