Sick & Tired

I’ve started so many blogs in my head in the last couple of weeks. Some of them I finished in my head too. I’m sad that they have not made their way out of my head. I’ve been sick for the last two and a half weeks, though I think I’ve finally kicked this sinus and ear infection.

Being sick has led to being tired all of the time which has led to a cluttered and messy home. This cluttered and messy home is due to all of the craft and food projects I’ve been tackling while trying to nurse myself back to health followed by an unwillingness to clean up after myself. ::spoken in a whiney voice:: "I don't feeeeel goood."

I was also hit by a car yesterday morning while sitting at a stoplight. Fortunately, there was no one in front of me so the accident involved only me and the guy who was too emotionally distressed to realize there was a car in front of him. This was my first (well second, but I hardly count the first girl who hit my 10 years ago) wreck. I remember screaming from shock and not much else.

Unfortunately, I have a very sore neck and a headache since this happened. The other VERY unfortunate thing is that every time I eat or place my mouth in certain positions, I have a shooting pain up my right jaw. In all of my jaw problems the last twenty years, I’ve never felt anything specifically like that pain. I’m also just TWO WEEKS away from the biggest last step in the reconstruction process I’ve been in for five years. I’m so nervous that this will set me back. I’m praying otherwise.

I finished knitting another baby hat and sewing some cute napkins. (Pictures to come.) Otherwise I’ve been working on Suss Cousins’ Long Shawl Collar Coat in Hollywood Knits Style. It the first project just for me in a year and a half. Can’t wait to finish it and show you pics.

Until then, I love this pic I took the day we drove back from Florida.

Happy Birthday to Me

Thanks to some generous birthday gifts from family I was able to get this for my birthday.

Every review I’ve read about dehydrators said to not bother with cheaper models. This is the best so don’t waste your money elsewhere. I was happy to oblige except that this was such a price-y machine for our household budget. Normally, this is a $300 unit. E-bay didn’t ask anywhere near that amount though. The Excalibur Manufacturer posted these on E-bay as “Factory Blemished Models” with a significant discount. The factory blemish was…well, I don’t know what it was. I still haven’t found it. The website said it was only external scuffs but I have yet to notice where they are. I’m not worried about it though because it still has %100 10-year warranty.

First project: Greens I salvaged from the garden before the snow covered them.

Snow Day

Yet again, this

equals this

which equals productivity.

I know you northerners are laughing but the truth is that those of us in the south simply do not know how to drive on icy roads. They only get that way a few times a year…not enough to build experience. We also don’t have snowploughs…a key ingredient for safer driving.

The day off also equaled pipes still frozen followed by some creativity.

But more on that later, for now enjoy these:

I Favor A Communal Life

Yesterday was one of my dream days. If I were to describe a perfect day of ordinary life, it would be yesterday. Part of this journey toward a simpler life involves simplifying our life down to one income. We have significant school debt we are trying to knock out as quickly as we can in order to do this. There are dreams even beyond that big step that involve living on less, but those dreams are too big for me to put into words right now.

So yesterday was a sneak peak at what that kind of life might look like for us. Greg went to work for a couple hours and then came home since their office closed. He was able to get a lot of schoolwork done, which was a plus for him. I spent the morning cleaning up the kitchen and living room and then baking some pumpkin bread with some of my preserved pumpkin purée.

(The recipe from Simply in Seaason is very tasty. I substituted all of the oil and some of the pumpkin purée for applesauce. I also substituted a 1/4^th of a cup of white flour for ground flax seed.) I then spent time delivering the bread to some friends and had an impromptu visit while one friend ate lunch with her boys. What a delight to get to drop by a friend’s house in the middle of the day and get invited in for a visit.

I came home to a warm lunch my husband had prepared and then spent some much needed time sorting photos that date back to 1987.

I was almost done with my photos when a friend knocked on the door. She had her two kids with her at work all day since their school was canceled and she had another friend’s sick child with her. She needed some help getting them all down for naps. I hoped in her car and rode the two minutes to her house and shortly there after was rocking a baby to sleep in my arms while singing What A Wonderful World.

At home I finished sorting photos and finished knitting a baby hat

while my husband put dinner on the table. We finished a couple loads of laundry and then nestled down for the evening as the temperatures dropped even further. It’s a good thing we did all of those dishes and laundry because this morning we woke up to frozen pipes and rolling brown-outs. We nestled in a little longer.

Surprisingly, work was not canceled today but we did go in a little later. I took a shower at a friend’s house and another friend has offered her mother-in-law suite for us to stay in until we get flowing water.

I have yet to express any of my religious beliefs yet in this blog. I can say here though, that I believe that God calls us to a life lived in community. It is a rare gift to get to call upon and be called upon by a community of people in times of need. We live such independent lives in this culture and are afraid to rely on anyone else for fear of imposition. I plan on breaking that trend. This life cannot be lived in isolation. I for one am grateful for that chance to have an impromptu lunch with a friend, rock a baby to sleep and borrow a shower.

Surprise Day Off

What did I tell you? Central Texans can start working on their tan in January and then have a day off of school and work two days later due to inclimate weather. No complaints here! I love surprises. Hmmm…what shall we do today?