Thankful Thursday

Yep, that's right -- I'm actually doing this post on a Thursday. It's a miracle. So here are my three:

1. Internet radio. It makes this week's mundane, repetitive tasks a lot more bearable.

2. Braum's. I can already feel an afternoon need for a chocolate shake coming on. Luckily there's never a Braum's too far away in this town. Those of you who don't live in Oklahoma are missing out!

3. Whole Foods deli. It makes bringing my lunch a lot easier and less boring. On the menu this week was zucchini corn cakes and grilled asparagus. Yum! (However, see #2 for how I will run out and sabotage my efforts momentarily.)

I must have food on the brain. :)

A little bird told me

Well, my grandmother seems to be doing better. She went home on Monday, and they're adujusting her medicine in hopes that she won't get weak again. They've also given her a walker just in case and a list of foods to eat and avoid. Our short-term plan is to call very often and go check on her once a week. The long-term plan is to get her relocated either closer to us (she lives a little under an hour a way and sees the doctor here) or my aunt (who lives in Atlanta). We'll see how that conversation ends up.

I am in the mood for a little more cheeriness, though, so I thought I'd share my second embroidery project, completed on a sick day right after my first. It's supposed to be a swallow, I reckon, but mine is much more, ahem, colorful. I wanted to try out the satin stitch, so here's the result.

I haven't decided what word to put in the little banner. I decided "love" was too obvious. Any suggestions? I'm happy with the progress I've been making in my embroidery, but the backs of my pieces are still a bit messier than I'd like. See what I mean?

I'll have more goodies to show you all soon, I hope!

Thankful

I remembered to do my thankful post yesterday, but honestly I wasn't in the mood. I already mentioned that my grandmother went back to the hospital on Saturday. By Tuesday, they released, still with no good idea of what was actually causing her heart arrythmia. She called to let me know she was home, but I missed the call because I was at the movies. I decided to wait until Wednesday to call again. When I did, I only got the answering machine. I spoke to my dad shortly thereafter and mentioned that I'd left a message, guessing she was taking a nap. Two hours later, I get another call from my dad informing me that my grandmother is back in the hospital. Apparently she had fallen and injured herself -- nothing major, but still -- shortly after getting home from the hospital. She didn't tell any of us, though. Then the next day, she awoke feeling very ill. She called her daughter (my aunt) who lives a thousand miles away but refused to call my dad because he was supposed to close on his house that day. My aunt called my grandmother's doctor, and he said it sounded like she was having an allergic reaction to her beta blocker. Finally my aunt convinced her to go to the hospital. Instead of calling any of us, she had her neighbor drive her. The only reason we found out is because my dad called her cell phone and finally got through to her. My aunt didn't even bother to call anyone! So she's in town in the hospital again. I haven't called or visited because I'm so frustrated and, truthfully, hurt and angry. I know she hates to be a burden, but she isn't. My feelings are hurt that she didn't think she could call me for help. I'm also annoyed that nobody is doing enough, and my grandmother is just fine with that. She seems to care more about being home than being well. I'm not sure how many more times I can visit her in the hospital without exploding. We don't have the kind of relationship where I tell her exactly what's on my mind. That isn't how that side of the family works.

Today, I'm trying to calm down. It feels petty to be angry at them right now, but I still am. However, I am in a good enough frame of mind to post three things today:

1. Reading fiction. I've been thoroughly enjoying 1491, all about the pre-Columbian native population in North and South America. However, it's nice to have a break once in a while from the non-fiction. Grey and I have decided to try reading some novels together. Our first pick is The Road by Cormac McCarthy. So far, I really like it.

2. Embroidery. I know I'm just learning, but I love it. Seriously. It's so much fun. I have more projects to share with you soon.

3. Travel guides. Grey and I recently picked up two new Italy books (Lonely Planet and Let's Go) and a guide to Europe (Let's Go, I believe). I can't stop perusing and dreaming of a vacation far, far away. Maybe next summer? We'll see.

So help cheer me out of my funk. What are you thankful for today?

Grandmother

My grandmother went back into the hospital on Saturday. She's experiencing more symptoms of congestive heart failure -- swelling, rapid heartbeat/low blood pressure. She has an appointment with a kidney specialist tomorrow, but since she's in the hospital, that may have to be postponed. I just hope they actually figure out what's ailing her. Medication for symptoms is fine, but that isn't enough.

Any good vibes you all can send her way would be greatly appreciated. She's a singular, wonderful lady with a positive attitude.

Belated Thankful Thursday (again)

Sheesh! I'm a day late with my Thankful Thursday post again. Maybe next week I'll be thankful for brain cells. :) Anyway, here's my list for today:

1. The rain. Though it brought me a two-day migraine, the resulting 10-degree drop in temperature feels wonderful.

2. Understanding boyfriends. My love bought us tickets to a concert for last time. He then almost lost them to a shredding incident. He worked so hard to retrieve them, and then I was too ill to go last night. (Apparently that will happen when you quit taking your stomach medicine.) I felt so bad about it, but he was a sweetheart.

3. Civil disagreement. I love a good debate. Politeness, respect and courtesy are as necessary to this as a solid argument.

Have a great weekend!

I'm featured!

I was featured recently in a post by Claudia's Burning Ink! Claudia recently ventured into reconstructing clothes, and I bought an adorable tee-turned-tank from her a couple of weeks ago. Wanna see absolutely ridiculous pictures of me modeling it? Check out the blog post to enjoy.

By the way, Claudia's shirt is adorable and fits amazingly well. Keep an eye out for more like it!

Stitchin'!

I may have mentioned here before that I wanted to learn embroidery. Last night, I took my first foray into this aspect of fiber arts. I stumbled across the Stitch-It Kit created by none other than Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching while checking out Books-A-Million yesterday with my love. The kit has everything you need to start off except the tiny scissors and an iron, so I snatched it up. After finishing the day's chores, read through the booklet, and about an hour later, I was stitching my first pattern. Behold the Eiffel Tower:

I put the pattern down for comparison. Not to toot my own horn too loudly, but I was quite proud of myself given my totally novice starting point. I decided that the Eiffel Tower was not enough all alone on the big tea towel, so I added a fluorish:
Believe it or not, I thought these were much harder. I'm still happy with the end result, though. It makes me want to put our new Let's Go Europe 2009 guide to good use and run off to The Continent for a bit.

I plan to stitch some more tonight, so I will have more pictures to share soon.

Thankful Friday

I've been in a bit of a haze this week and totally forgot to do my thankful post yesterday. Goodness! Here is what I'm thankful for today:

1. Friday lunches. I meet my taller half for lunch every Friday. I generally park outside his building, and we walk to one of the many wonderful downtown establishments. Every so often I'll pick him up and drive us somewhere, but we generally stay downtown. My current favorites are Elote, Dilly Deli and Tabouli's (what I'm craving at the moment). It's so nice to have a standing tradition with the one I love every week. It makes the day a little brighter, too.

2. Work I believe in. Nobody loves their jobs every day, and I'm no exception. Some aspects of the grind are boring or frustrating, but I always know that I'm working towards a good cause. My position helps fund the good work done by my agency. I'll take it.

3. Cane-sugar cola. I love soda pop. I love the fizziness, the sweetness, the way it quenches your thirst. As a woman with GERD, I also love how it settles my stomach. However, I don't love incredibly processed, chemical-laden foods either, so I've been cutting artificial sweeteners from my diet. This tends to lessen the flutteries in my chest I get occasionally due to my heart murmur. This generally leaves you with regular soda, but I am cutting out high fructose corn syrup, too. There are a million reasons not to consume this stuff, but the one that has gotten me lately is that some of it contains mercury. I don't eat fish (or any other animals), so there's no reason for my diet to contain mercury. As a young lady who hopes to have children sometime in the near future, too, I find it best to avoid the stuff altogether. Luckily, there are lots of tasty alternatives made with real sugar. My favorite is Jones, but I've also enjoyed Virgil's and Boylan's creme soda lately. Yummy!

Speaking of which, what do you call the fizzy stuff: soda or pop (or something else)? Despite my Oklahoma upbringing, I almost exclusively say soda.

'Twas a dark and stormy day

The past two days, I have been basking in the a.m. storms. Aww, finally some relief! Of course, it will all be short-lived as the triple-digit temperatures return to us shortly.

I just wanted to share a couple of shots I got last week when the clouds rolled in. Weren't they insane?

This all happened while I was driving to work. Here's what it looked like above my building:

It all looked ripply and strange and wonderful. I have three windows in my office, and I love watching the sky when rain is falling. The roof glistens, the air become electric, and I just feel soothed. Yesterday I flipped off the lights in my office and enjoyed a bit of darkness. . .while typing away on my computer. Not quite the solitude I'd like, but it was better than nothing.

So until the sun peers out from behind the clouds again, I'm going to enjoy these little drops of heaven.

Paint

A month or so ago, I purchased some basic painting supplies -- small tubes of acrylics, an assortment of cheap-o brushes, flat canvases and a pallette. On Sunday, I decided to pull it all out and see what happened. Here is the poorly lit result:

I don't plan to quit my day job or anything, but boy was that fun! It just felt good to try it out. The colors are a bit richer in person, but this gives you the idea. We're going to hang it in the apartment. I can't wait to paint something else.

Tell me about your creative pursuits of late!

Thankful Thursday

It's that time of the week again!

1. Long weekends. Kind of a gimme, huh? That's all right. My love and affection for Fridays off bounds beyond cliche. What shall I do on my day off? Anything I want!

2. So You Think You Can Dance? Some people go ga-ga for American Idol. I, however, get totally sucked into this reality show. Is it my disappointment at being a mediocre dancer, my love of the craft or my moth-to-the-flame response to the phrase "dancing for their lives"? Oh, probably a mixture of all three.

3. Custom orders. I just completed one I've been working on for a while. Now I can't wait for another one!

Happy Holiday weekend, everyone! Don't blow up any body parts you'd rather keep. I promise to do the same. :)