I am so tired....

If I weren't so tired I probably...
Cook more so I'd eat better and if I ate better, I'd exercise more so I'd sleep better.

But as any one can tell, when you've slept in the same bed with the same person for more that 18 years, when they don't sleep, you don't sleep and no amount of otherwise healthy living on your part is going to cure that.

My darling husband hasn't been sleeping well for a long time. You see he has a case of restless leg syndrome (my guess) and a pinched nerve either in his foot or his back (I'm guessing here as well) but of course we don't know for sure because he won't go to the doctor to have it looked at.

Now most of the time unless there's an obvious wound, trying to diagnose something like "a pain in my leg" is a bit "there's a strange noise, that only happens sometimes," under the hood of your car and it take some trial and error to pin point the problem.

Actually, I thinks it's easier to pin point and fix that strange noise than fixing the human body but I still have a weird whistling noise coming from under the dash that my mechanic swears only I can hear it.

But with that all said, you still needs to take the first step and try the doctor, instead of yelling "Go to the doctor!! no way they don't know anything, they just want to cheat you out of your money, they never fix anything." and then whine "my leg hurts."

When he doesn't sleep, I don't sleep. Sigh. Love hurts.

Some Assembly Required

I got Mike a new BBQ for Christmas. It was one of those "some assembly required" project.

It took a couple of days to finish this but Mike's happy with his present.

He made us a very good New Years Eve supper of BBQ'd ribs, meatballs, Hopin Johns (black eyed peas), and cole slaw.

Spend Out

I was finding my self being overwhelmed with all the "stuff " on my desk this morning. It took 1/2 an hour just to clean it up enough that I could pay my bills. (Bills can get lost under all the old stuff. Not a good thing. :-)


I need / want to get rid on a bunch of stuff including two cameras, and old cellphones. Recipes I'll never fix and books I've read. (I Love to re-read some books, its like visiting with old friends. Even though I know the story by heart, it still brings a smile to my face. I have to trust the universe to provide and that when I really need to re-visit that special book it will be available to me. I have to trust I'll find it in used book stores or at the Library or a friend who has it so I can re-read. )

I have boxes of stuff just waiting for me to go through and see if I need anything out of them.

Help I'm drowning.

Then I found this site this morning.

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2008/07/clutter-busting.html

There's nothing here I don't already know but its a good reminder.
 
Today I will throw out a box, and tomorrow I will throw out a box and so on til I am no longer overwhelmed by my "stuff."
 
I'll let you know how it goes.
 
“Spend out.” What does that mean? by spending out, I mean to stop hoarding, to trust in abundance.  I found this definition on the Happiness Project web site.

Another finish object

Another finished object ready for Christmas.
Knit from some yarn I spun years ago. Unfortunately I can't seem to be able to make its like again. After years of spinning fine yarns I find it very hard to be able to make a heavy worsted yarn. Which is too bad because knitting with a bulky yarn goes so fast.
This took a couple of days to do. Finished size 35" around and 10.5" deep. The basket weave stitch combined with the yarn makes it super squishy.

A cowl for Christmas

There's a new kid on the block

One of my dearest friends son and his wife had a baby boy on 11.30.11.
I just finished a present for him.
One Christmas present done, many more to go.

 Baby Hat & Socks

It's hard to save.

Whether it's saving money for a rainy day or saving time for a rainy day it's hard to save.
I am one of the few lucky one that get both sick time and vacation time. When I was young I took off every chance I got, but now I'm starting to worry about the future.

We've had several people around here who have needed to take extended leaves to recover from surgeries and I wonder how they can afford to do that. I mean if you didn't/couldn't work for 3 to 6 months how do the bills get paid? Not to mention all of the associated health care costs. One guy I know, who has good insurance, his cut of the hospital stay alone was $40,000. (That's after insurance.) I mean who's got 40 grand laying around. I still can't afford to replace the aging dishwasher that died two years ago.

I know I should be saving more money for my retirement plus making sure to be able to cover the health care costs associated with getting older. After making sure there's enough for the current bills there's not much left over and I'm one of the lucky ones, I still have a job and a home. It all could be gone in a blink of an eye.

It all gets overwhelming some times.

What brought on this post is Mischief, my oldest cat, is failing and I need to take a day off to have the vet come to the house. If we need to put her to sleep it's easier than going to a vet's office and then trying to drive home with tears in my eyes.

Hiking at Squaw Valley

One weekend in August Mike and I took the dogs up to Squaw Valley. The dogs were great and had a ball running around up at High Camp. They were not even bothered by the ride up on the cable car.

Mike & Shayla, Me & Buster at High Camp, Squaw Valley, CA

Mike and very tired dogs



A lots of beautiful wildflowers





More wildflowers







Still more flowers





A close up