I have lots to say about my weekend. It was busy, and I have photos for at least part of my doings. However, I’m not going to talk about any of that just now, and instead, share a curiosity that has had our family chatting for most of the week.
My daughter participated in a fundraiser for her school band where they sold Florida citrus and other fruits for the holidays. I ordered a box of navel oranges, and all at once, when I saw the label, I thought, “should I laugh, or be afraid?” Look at the name of the inspector of my oranges:
Packing label on orange crate showing the name of the inspector
Just who is this Yolanda, and why is she Angry? All I can say is that I hope she’s happier than her name would suggest… who would want to eat fruit inspected by an angry inspector? Thoughts of poisonous spiders and unwanted sputum have crossed my mind, but, thankfully, the oranges are delicious!
I wish you every happiness, Yolanda, wherever you are.
It’s been a long couple of weeks at the Casa de Trish Knits.
TeganThis is the blog post I hoped against hope I’d never have to write. And yet, daring to hope such a thing is useless in its pursuit, because, as you know, mere humans do not possess the power to stop the circle of life from turning. On Monday October 11, I lost my best friend. Not a friend who had ever shared a gab session about what we saw on Oprah the other day or one who shared complaints about kids, job, or the husband. In fact, this friend had not the capacity to ever speak my name.
And yet, she was the true-bluest of friends, in every sense of the word. She rarely left my side, even in my most private of moments when I would have locked the door to keep the kids out, but not her. She gave freely of hugs, complained loudly, and often, and shared my interest in yarn and writing creative Facebook status updates (especially when I was on deadline and trying to code web pages instead).
She was a true lover of cheese and of warm, sunny spots on the rug. Empty boxes were a favorite distraction, and climbing. WAY high, to tallest place she could find, only to cry because she could not get down again. Very demanding of my full attention was she, and, at the same time, she asked nothing of me. Not much more than a safe home, good food (including the occasional steak!) and lots and lots of hugs. All were so easily given.
On the last morning of her life, when she was moving so slowly and refusing her breakfast, I took a brief nap before a noontime errand. Though she could barely move by that time, she climbed up, so she could whisper into my ear one last time.
She was begging me to let her go.
And so I did. With a heavy heart and many tears I held her as she breathed her last on this world. Knowing that the last touch she would feel was mine brings some comfort, but the hole left behind in my heart is enormous. I hope that someday soon I can speak her name with smiles and not tears .
closeup of knitted cable patternsWell, hello. Yes, it’s been a while. Just when I had been complaining on Ravelry in one of my blogging groups that I was in a blogging slump, and needed to take some decisive action to rectify the problem, last week, I fell sick with what I think was the worst cold I have ever had in my life. I’ve never felt so stupid for being sick for so long over something which, on the surface, didn’t seem like such a bad thing.
Except that it was. Truly awful. Most nights I did not sleep at all, and no manner of allergy medicines or traditional cold elixers would do anything to put a dent in my misery. I was full-on sick by last Thursday a week ago, and am only just now coming up for air.
I haven’t knit a stitch in 10 days, despite all of my dreaming of a good lousy cold and a few sick days with endless knitting, just for myself. Ok, so that was the stupidest fantasy ever. Lesson learned.
I’m looking forward to knitting again. Looking forward to getting some cooking done again. Looking forward to sleeping without feeling as if I am going to drown just as I start to nod off. Looking around me, though, I see that there is a lot of digging out that I have to do first. I definitely can’t claim that I live in a clutter-free zone, but the clutter level is something far beyond whatever passes for usual. I think maybe tonight I’ll head to bed early for a change, to fortify myself for tomorrow, when I have to get up and start moving and restore some semblance of order to the chaos that is currently my home. Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.
No joke, this is the real temperature today. This was the actual temperature, in the shade, on my front porch this afternoon. 102.9 degrees? Okay, I think I’m completely sick of summer. It was the kind of day when I think it was actually too hot to go to the pool and go swimming. In fact, even as I write this at midnight, it’s still 85 on the thermometer. You gotta love the swampy mid-Atlantic in July.
You know? I think I was the only person not complaining about the snow when it was falling back in February. Of course, I didn’t have to shovel it, and I was perfectly cozy in the house for two weeks with my knitting and hot chocolate. Now, it’s too hot to knit, too hot to cook, too hot to eat even if I did cook. It’s basically hot, pissy, sweaty, hot. This fat girl’s so over it… so wanting to declare that it’s Ice Cubes Under the Armpits Day, and not come out again til Fall.
Who’s with me?
I think our cat, Zöe, has the right idea.
It’s a great day for a cat nap.
So, I had an adventure this week. My faithful old computer, which admittedly had been on its last legs for some time.suddenly died. It went swiftly in the end, leaving me dumbfounded and without saying goodbye. Not even a too-highly-paid-for-not-much-real-help Geek could make anything happen. So, I had to get a new PC, in a hurry. I prefer to take my time, spec out what I want, and wait for the UPS truck. Usually consumer retail is giving up too much in performance for my taste, but this time I had to make do with something off the shelf. I chose an HP machine that wasn’t going to break the bank, and at the same time, had most of what I wanted.
Got it home, set it up, upgraded to Windows 7 Professional, and all was well as I went to bed Thursday night. Then Friday evening when I got home, my daughter turned on the PC and nothing happened. I called HP, who literally instructed me to take it all apart, take the chips out, and unplug all the components on the inside, one by one. After two hours and much cussing by my husband, HP could not identify the problem. They said I could send it in for service, but why would I want to do that, when I could just take it back to the aforementioned retail store?
New Gateway ComputerSo, Saturday morning early, DH and I went to the store to return the HP. Not wanting to jinx ourselves, this time, I came home with a Gateway. It’s got an Intel Core i7 processor, and a GB of video RAM, so I think it’s a pretty good machine. I guess time will tell. Gateway markets it as their PC for gamers, and it has all of these annoying red lights, and a blinky white strobe, And it’s shiny. Weirdly shiny. But hey, if it keeps me in business, then I’m good.
Luckily I kept my data files on external hard drives. Except for my Outlook data files, which means I’ve lost all my contacts. That’ll take forever to fix. Wish me luck.
Anyway, so that’s what’s happening here in Hades. I hope you’re cooler than I am, wherever you are.
caramel popcorn and TwinkiesSo here’s the ugly truth. I am addicted to sugar. And no, I am not saying this lightly; it is completely and utterly true. And ok, the facts are that I am overweight and middle aged, with a family history of diabetes. The proverbial icing on the cake, if I may borrow that sickeningly sweet pun, is that I was an insulin-dependent diabetic when I was pregnant with my second child. Now, I know that when I eat sugary snacks, my blood sugar responds in such a way that should indicate to any smart person that I shouldn’t be eating sugary snacks. One big improvement that I have managed to make is that I have all but given up on sugared sodas, so that is a plus. But I can’t seem to shake the senseless consumption of ridiculous, sugary things that should not even be sold with the label of “food.”
I’m a smart woman; I really am. I know what I should put in my body and what I should not. I actually like vegetables and fresh fruits, and relish the summer months when these things are so readily available. One of my favorite things is to go to a farmer’s market and load up on veggies. And I can do alright for a number of days or weeks without my sugar consumption being out of control. But when the stress hits? I turn into a sugar-craving monster and go out of control. It can be work stress, or home stress, or exhaustion or even extreme elation. And once I get on a bad streak, it’s really hard to come down.
Why?
Why, when I know what this dangerous drug, sugar, can do to me, do I continue to abuse it? On the logical side it just doesn’t make sense at all. So I know there must be some deep-rooted emotional reason why I routinely engage in self sabotage. It’s not just a Twinkie, or a Reese’s cup, or the dreaded Caramel Macchiato. Those are the things which are one by one, shortening my life by hours and days… and years. I know this to be true, but so far, I have not been motivated to change my eating habits. I need to find out what my “currency” is, as Dr. Phil would say, and use that. I know.
I have been lacking motivation to change. I know that the sugar itself can be affecting my motivation. So, it’s a vicious cycle. And help! I want to get out of it. Have any of you beat the sugar monster? If so, how did you do it? How do you keep your resolve?
