Catch up

[Note: This post is chock full of TMI. You've been warned!]

I’m not doing a good job, of late. Writing 5 days a week here has slid down the slope slightly. Rather than lament, let’s catch up!

How are you doing? Well I hope. I took a peek over at Lightning’s place and she posted yesterday, Swan Song I Suppose. I won’t say good-bye; so long for now will need to suffice. I know we’ll bump into each other again online at some juncture. I love you, Girlfriend!

The morning bark and howl session was building momentum a few minutes ago. I put on some music over at Pandora, my Unwind Station that’s predominately instrumentals. Music does appear to soothe the savage beast— both of my hairy, obnoxious beasts are now resting quietly, enjoying the music. Ooops, I spoke too soon. The song currently playing includes birds chirping. Them noises are events to bark at.

I wonder how difficult it would be to invent a gentle vacuuming tool that would clean out your sinuses without collapsing them. I had a few weeks of clear breathing— it was so lovely, let me tell you. I could use each nostril; I could breathe through them in both inhale and exhale mode. Tee and Zander recently caught colds, which have just about run their courses. I thought I’d skated by. Uh, no. I was graced with a cold myself which instantly re-inflamed my sinuses. Although, in hind sight, when I started to breathe clearly pre-cold, I don’t think all my sinus cavities had drained completely. The upper ones, along with my ears, are draining now. Sorry for the gross visual. It’s not a pretty picture, I know. Anyhoo, I think my cold has just about run its course and the drainage is subsiding somewhat. I have mighty hopes of nostril based inhalation and exhalation reinstatement.

A bit of a side note here— I am totally amazed at how regular yoga practice helps my sinuses feel better. Who would have thunk it? There’s some breathing practices, pranayama (breathing in yoganese), that help tremendously. Also, the very act of relaxing makes a huge different. If you read much about sinus issues, asthma, and the like (it’s enthralling literature, let me tell you), stress as a trigger is brought up over and over. In addition, in poses where your head hangs upside down, like in downward-facing dog, Adho Mukha Svanasana, nasal congestion can be relieved. Yummy!

Another sidenote, Lew also caught said cold and he’s miserable. He hates it when his nose is congested (okay, who loves that sensation, huh?). I feel for him, the side effects of congestion suck. Sometimes it’s hard to concentrate; I equate the state to a lack of oxygen. Fatigue is another symptom of congestion, again probably linked to oxygen levels in the blood. Fatigue can lead to short-fuse syndrome. Blech.

Okay, I’m not changing Yak Attack into the Snot Symposium. Thank you for following this particular side path with me, if you stuck it out thus far.

I noticed that the Presto’s Ramblings link is producing a 404 error message when you click on it. I’ll remove the link for now. He’s still here and there, however. He commented the other day over at Sunni’s, on her post about growing sprouts. Presto, if you are reading this please say hello— I miss chatting with you.

One of the Group of 60 is to put up new curtains in the man lounge. That is Tee’s lingo for the basement. We currently have a large black cloth pinned up over the window, and granted it does fit the decorating motif of the man lounge. Frankly, it’s quite ugly when you view it from the yard, and that is my domain. I don’t want my view marred anymore. It’s an oddly sized, ginormous window, which prohibits the simple purchase of ready made curtains. I’ve been on the look out for an affordable alternative, which has proven to be more difficult than I anticipated. On a fluke, I wandered into the Goodwill by the shop yesterday and it just so happened that the manager’s special was 30% all linens. I found a lovely, spring-green king-sized flat sheet that we can make curtains out of. There’s plenty of washer and dryer friendly fabric and the whole thing cost $3.50. I need to enlist Lew’s help. He’s the sewer in the family. He made the curtains for the french doors which lead to Rosie’s room. I can’t ever remember how to thread the bobbin deal, and I can’t sew a straight line. Lew thought the fabric was a bit green but he liked it none the less. It’ll be really nice to replace the faded black cloth currently there.

I also found a pair of incredible Franco Sarto boots in my size at the Goodwill. They look so nice, and boy are comfortable. What a total score! Finding a shoe that incredible doesn’t happen to me very often because my foot size is the most average out there. They are similar to this pair, only not so shiny. The pair I picked up also has a belt accent at the point where the ankle meets the top of the foot. Very cute.

What else is new? My mom is motoring along spectacularly. She recently took a short trip with my dad, to a town a few hours away from their home. My dad had a client to visit, and so Mom went along for a little vay-cay. She had a great time. She’s driving herself around. This is a bit scary to me, but she assures me she’s doing fine behind the wheel. She’s always been a conscientious driver, so I’m trusting her on this point. It’s given her much confidence and a new sense of freedom. Her recovery is a miracle from God, in my opinion. All of us kids had a moment of doubt, when she was in the hospital, that she would ever come home. God somehow lit a fire in her belly, giving her the spark to fight again and she wrestled her way to recovery.

Rosie will be home in less that 70 days. I can’t believe it! The school year has whizzed by. Tony will be home from his mission in less than 10 months. Blink of an eye and it’ll be time. A little story: I came home from my weekend gig last Saturday and Lew was opening the garage just when I was reaching the driveway. I saw a person, a person who I thought was Tony. I was thinking, “What the hell, why didn’t anyone tell me he was coming home early? I’m a putz— I wasn’t there to greet him at the airport.” It was my brother-in-law, who looks a lot like Tony. Refer to the reason for my lack of concentration and fatigue discussed, ad nauseum, a few paragraphs above. I’m such a maroon.

Well, it’s almost 11:30 am and I’m still sipping coffee in my p.js and loving every minute of it! A day off— yeah boy! I think I’m going to wrap this up for now and go do a bit of yoga while the poochies are still quiet. If the spirit catches you, take a moment in the comments to catch me up with your corner of the world.