Headaches and Stupid Experiments

So I have had the worst headache the last few days. I have no idea why. It starts between my eyes and migrates to my forehead and before I know it it has encased my entire head and starts moving down my neck and back. I don't think it's a migraine, because I don't feel nauseated and I'm only a little bit sensitive to light and sound, so basically I'm in the dark as to what in the world is wrong with me. So, needless to say, prescription pain meds have been my friend. I got a scrip from my doc for Imitrex, too, but it makes me feel WEIRD. It's hard to describe...it's like the pain that's mostly in my head is diluted and spread throughout my whole body while making me feel heavy, like I can't lift my arms. Add in some wooziness and confusion, and there you have it. So I try to stick to the plain old pain meds.

The last few days have been totally annoying at work. There were some extra tests I had to run, which sounded easy when I volunteered to do them, but in practice turned out to be a nightmare. It involved titrations where you can't really determine for sure where the endpoint is, so even though I got results and reported them, I don't feel confident in them at all, and I feel kinda bad even reporting them, but considering the circumstances, I did the best I could. I took some pictures, so I might post them next time and explain the test.

I also had to do another ash today on a product that REEKS when you heat it up. It smelled so bad that after I left to go home I could still smell it on myself so I jumped straight into the shower when I got home.

I finished my pair of socks and I finished my sweater. Two FO's in two days! It's a record. I'm wearing my socks and they are super comfortable, and not terribly ugly for my first complete set of socks. I wore my sweater to dinner at Scott's parents' house yesterday.

I am almost ready to start Mim's red socks. I found a pattern at Knitty.com that I like and seems simple enough that I can figure it out. Today I got some chunky yarn and big needles and tried out the lace pattern so I could practice on big yarn before I try to do it on sock yarn on size 0 dpns. I want to make sure the stitches are all nice and neat. I really want these socks to turn out well.

Scottie made me dinner tonight because he is an angel. He also bought me a whole bunch of CDs off of my Amazon wishlist because he spoils me terribly.

We got Dirty Jobs Collection 4! We've been watching for a couple of days now. I forgot how much of a crush I have on Mike Rowe. And that's saying something, since I don't do the whole celebrity crush thing.

I can't wait until Friday. First of all, because it's Friday (and today was definitely a Monday...), and second of all, because we'll start our next round of hCG injections! I'm so excited to lose more weight. This past six weeks have been interminable! I thought the six weeks during the injection phase were long, but I tell you what, it seems even longer when all of a sudden you're not losing weight! So, by this time next week I will be losing weight and I think just a week in and I will weight about as much as I weighed throughout high school and college, and from there I don't even know what I will look like because I've been overweight since 9th grade. I'm excited. And I'm determined to change my lifestyle and eating habits to maintain this weight loss for the rest of my life.

Second Sock...itis

It's a disease. I made the first sock in two days and I was just chugging along and now I'm on the second and it seems to be going SO SLOW. I want to skip to something else, but I don't really feel like starting something new and I don't feel like weaving in the ends on my sweater so I am stuck making the sock. As long as I get a little done every day I won't mind.

Kirk and Angie got the baby blanket I made them in the mail and they said they like it :)

I was going to go spend the weekend at Mim's, but I think I changed my mind. Jorg has pink eye (stupid parents let their kids go to school with infectious diseases, boo) and Em is out of town for an orchestra thing (she gets to go play in Vegas, no fair!) and Mim doesn't know if she would have to work or not, so our weekend will be indefinitely postponed, since next weekend will be the weekend Scott and I start hCG again so we will need to be in the house every day since the injections aren't exactly portable. So there will be three and a half weeks where we're tied to the house, then maybe I will go spend some time there. I want to hang out with everyone, but if two of them aren't going to be there and one is sick (and since I get sick so easily I'm not risking it) I might as well have another relaxing weekend in the house.

This past weekend we saw Monsters vs. Aliens, and we were so impressed at how cute it was! They're making such good movies that are good for whole families to see, which makes me happy. We also went to Olive Garden, which we haven't for a while, and it was pretty good but I was surprised and a bit appalled at some person that came in in her ratty pajamas (!) and gross, uncombed hair. Now, I understand that sometimes you're tired and/or sick and/or overwhelmed with whatever, and sometimes you're in your grubby clothes and you need to run to the store to get something or other. That's one thing. But it's entirely something else to go to a semi-nice restaurant dressed like you've had the flu for a week. Gross. I felt kinda bad because I couldn't stop staring at her, like I just couldn't believe it.

I am reading Vanity Fair and I like parts of it and parts of it drag on and on and for the first time in my life I am tempted to just not finish it. I'm never like that. It drives me NUTS to not know the ending of a book, but I tell you what, this one is almost unbearable. But, I am also reading The Jungle, and loving every word of it, although the whole thing is just sad and tragic.

My tummy hurts.

Picture Time

Time to catch up on pictures.

Here is the yarn I used for the sweater: Here is my pretty cashmere yarn that I haven't decided what to do with yet:

Here are the flowers that popped up in our front yard before they got covered up in stupid snow this past week (and they say it's going to snow more, hurray):Here is the red wool for Mim's socks (it actually looks more red than this):Here is the sock I am working on:And I just finished (and have cast on and started the other)-Not terribly awful for how much experience I have with this sock thing...:
And, when I was at the store, I couldn't help myself ! I saw this, and had to take a picture, and thought about how ridiculously fat Americans must be if they are making their dogs fat enough to need to go on diets. Pathetic.

Blog Blog

I suck at this blog thing. I forget. And, my life is quite mundane.

Anyway. Moving on.

I finished my sweater except for the dreaded weaving in ends. Lots and lots and lots of ends. Sucko. It turned out beautifully except where I made modifications to the pattern...I feel really dumb. I tried to allow for the fact that I have a small waist and a large chest, and so added a little extra room in the bust area, and all I got was a little baggage under the arms. I suppose I have a thing or two to learn about garment shaping. Give me any stitch in the world and I can make it so pretty but I am learning this making clothes thing slowly.

I am now working on socks. I need to practice, so I am making myself a pair from some of my cheap sock yarn from my stash. They are light and dark pink stripes. They're actually kind of cute, considering I'm just learning how to make them. Once I get the hang of it I have bought some size 0 dpn's and some red Peruvian wool sock yarn and I found the perfect pattern and I am going to make fancy red socks for Mim. She likes red socks for some reason. I don't blame her. And these will be fancy, provided I don't royally screw them up.

I was going to do a yarn store tour last weekend with Mim but she ended up having to work so I only went to one store in Ogden all by my lonesome. Up until now I have only bought yarn at craft stores (Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc.) and online, so I have either been using some of the softer acrylics (acrylic isn't as bad as some people make it out to be. It's good for afghans and baby blankets and scarves and such) or crochet cotton or sometimes a bit of some natural fiber (usually blended with acrylic). This is because I am cheap. I have enough money that I could spend as much as I wanted on nice yarn, but I just can't justify it. When I walked into this store and saw shelves and shelves of all kinds of yarns I was just so excited...until I started looking at prices. All the yummy yarns I would love to work with were so expensive...there was sparkly cashmere sock yarn for $38 a skein...and I began to think that I could never afford to make myself a sweater out of something nice. I walked around the store and touched everything twice and ended up buying the cheapest set of dpn's and two skeins of the cheapest fingering weight soft pink yarn I could find and I was in a bad mood for the rest of the day because apparently I chose an expensive hobby without knowing it.

I know of people that knit or crochet like crazy and churn out projects like there's no tomorrow, and I just don't know how they can afford to make everything they do out of the stuff they use. Is everyone in the world richer than I am, or are other people just not as stingy as I am? Maybe I'm just so tightfisted because we're trying to save up for the down payment on the house, and every dollar I spend makes me feel kinda guilty, like it's my fault we're not farther ahead than we are.

Oh well.

We're getting fiber optic cable/internet/phone installed in the house. We aren't going to use it, in all likelihood, but it was an amazing deal to get it installed and it will raise the value of the house by around $4000-$7000, so it's a good investment.

I want to wait until October to buy the house, like we originally planned, because by then we will have saved much more, but at the same time I would like to buy it sooner because I want to be able to install central air for the summer. Hot = suck.

So I am able to eat completely normally at this point, which feels weird after all this protein. Two weeks and Scott and I will start another course and we'll be healthy and HOT. All the boys will want me. Or something.

New Sweater!

I started this one Friday when I got my yarn:
Pretty!

I won't make the collar, though. I think instead I will extend the button band up around the neck so it's not so...old. I just think of old ladies when I see collared cardigans. Anyway, I'm making it with the blue heather yarn I bought...still haven't posted pics of yarn...too busy making things with it...:)
I worked all weekend and am almost done with the back.

I saw Watchmen this weekend. It was interesting, but it felt a little ADD...like there were too many things going on at once and not enough attention given to each for them to make sense until the very end, and even then some things were ambiguous. Also, there was much more gore than I'm used to. Gross.

Meme Time!

Just a little one:

1) What was I doing ten years ago?
March 13, 1999...wow. I was in 8th grade. Holy crap! So I was hanging out with friends and going to school and being a moody teenager-barely!

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
-grocery shopping
-watch more Stargate (or somthing else if Scott wants)
-hopefully get yarn in the mail and start planning!
-relax, relax, relax
-go to the library (maybe tomorrow instead)

3) Snacks I enjoy:
I love honey roasted peanuts, ice cream sandwiches, muffins, goldfish...mostly I don't snack all that much though. Whatever strikes my fancy.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Pay off Mim's houses. Buy our house and immediately start the flip. Go yarn crazy and hire a professional knitting tutor. Pay for E and J's school and cars. Buy Mim a trip to Ireland (P.S. I Love You style). Buy more yarn.

5) Places I have lived:
Layton, UT; Provo, UT; Sioux Falls, SD; Grand Blanc, MI; Tulsa, OK; Pocatello and Idaho Falls, ID; some places in Washington and California and maybe some others I don't remember!

6) Jobs I have had:
Dairy Queen (shift supervisor, ooh), Precious Pets (dog grooming and kennel care), Subway (what do they call them, um, Sandwich Artist), Carlos O'Kelly's (waitress), Sugar 'n' Spice (cute ice cream and donut girl), Chem Department (lecture prep supervisor, TA, Student Instructor, stockroom assistant), Creative Marketing Solutions (telemarketer-I only lasted a week before I felt really bad about bugging people on the phone), Jo-Ann Fabrics (regular old employee), Affiliated Computer Services (customer service rep), and now, my current job (heavy metals chemist)

Stop It!!!

My body is so confused. I picked up a little something and this whole week I have felt sick. It started with some head and body aches, and then a sore throat and stabbing stomach pain. SO pleasant. I woke up this morning and felt much better, so I went in to work, but I was only there for an hour before I was so sick to my stomach I couldn't even stand up. I stumbled straight out to my car and went home and was violently ill for hours before I passed out. Best day ever. So when I got home I e-mailed my boss and told him what happened and hopefully eveything went smoothly there after I left. I hate being sick, and the worst part of it is that I hate letting people down because I'm sick. I hate missing work, too. It throws off my routine. I am a creature of habit, and when things aren't the way they're scheduled to be I feel off-kilter.

So for now I'm sitting on the couch, trying to drink a lot of water and eat something that isn't going to make my stomach feel sick. It's hard to do though because I'm not allowed crackers or ginger ale, which are usually the foods I eat on a sore stomach. Oh well, worth it to keep the weight off, I guess.

So the couch. And Stargate. And working on my blanket. Just trying to take it easy and I hope tomorrow I don't feel this bad.

Party Buster. And Party. And Buster.

So this weekend we had my birthday party. We also had Buster groomed, which turned out to be a party buster. More about that in a second.

So I still need to get my paperwork out for the concealed carry. I had the class so the only thing left is to fill out the papers and send them in and then within two months I'll have the permit. Driving to Mim's will feel much safer since I drive through all parts of Salt Lake, including the bad ones, and past the prison, so if my car breaks down or something I won't feel totally unsafe while I wait for someone to rescue me. Hopefully by the time the permit comes my gun will be in...I called the other day to check to see if I had fallen through the cracks or if the shipment really hadn't come in yet and they told me they weren't even estimating time for customers any more because there was so much demand right now. We haven't even been able to get ammo for the Walther at Wal-Mart...that's how bad it is.

So my yarn is scheduled to come in on Friday! I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday to get yarn for this great sweater I have planned, but they didn't have the same dye lot for the yarn I wanted, and they were out of almost everything, so it was a very disappointing trip. The sweater I want to make has this stitch that I just learned:It's really pretty and has a good thickness and stretch to it, so I think working it into a sweater pattern will be adorable.

So I got a few presents for my birthday. Scott got me a lot of girlie movies I had wanted and I've watched almost all of them. Mim and Em and Jorg got me some candles and lotion and bath things what are cherry blossom and vanilla scented. I took a bath last night with them and it was so relaxing :) Scott's parents got me a set of pearl earrings that will match my pearl necklace perfectly: The necklace used to be Scott's grandma's and I inherited it when she was cleaning out her old storage unit.

Anyway, so onto the party...yeah. I had dropped Buster off at Petsmart Saturday to get a bath and have his fur trimmed since it's coming up on Spring and it's getting warm (except for this stupid coldness with the snow nast). When I dropped him off I asked for them to trim his fur down so it would be 1.5" long all over. I then went home and got everything ready for the family to come over. They got here and we started to talk and have fun and I opened presents and then Scott got a call from work and almost had to go to Idaho (he didn't end up going until yesterday, thank goodness) so he was going to go get Buster and then leave. He came home and when he got there and Buster walked in he looked awful! They SHAVED him except on his head and his tail, and he looked so STUPID. Even if that had been what I wanted they did a horrible job, since there were tufts of long hair all over and they didn't even cut his toenails and they cut skin off in a few places and hurt him and when I saw him I started crying because I was so sad and mad at the pet store. So Scott turned around and went back and demanded our money back (they had said when I dropped him off it would be $50 but they charged us $70-jerks).
So I called around and tried to find someone who could fix his hair on Sunday but everyone was full, so I had to settle for an appointment yesterday afternoon. Thankfully these guys knew what they were doing and fixed him the best they could and only charged me $30. So, I went from a beautiful fluffy dog: to this: in two days. Boo. I guess it'll grow, but I'm still mad. Scott was an absolute angel about it though, he really was my knight in shining armor. And after we were all calmed down on Saturday he made a mohawk with his freak hair and put a glow necklace on him and sent me a picture and it made me smile :) See, they even shaved his nose, which is just bizarre!

So anyway, once I was calmed down the party got started. We grilled and had cheesecake (low-carb, of course, I have to be able to eat my own birthday cake!) and played Faces and Phase 10 and Uno and watched Scrubs and Scott and Jorgen went downstairs to the "Man Cave" and played computer games while the girls crocheted and surfed the internet. Basically, it was a low key event where everyone did whatever they felt like and we all had fun. We went to bed too late and slept in too late in the morning, and Scott made us all french toast and bacon for breakfast and around 1:00 everyone went home. Good party. Except the whole Buster incident.

Anyway, this phase of the diet is so much more enjoyable, since there is such a variety of foods I can eat. Yesterday I made myself this casserole for dinner: Very colorful! Sausage and broccoli and cheese and yes, that is a Spongebob plate. Because I'm cool. I'm planning on having a huge steak tonight for dinner. Happy Day.

Next One Will Be Bigger

Just a quick note.

Last night I took the class for getting a concealed carry permit, and I will send out the paperwork and have the permit in two months! Hopefully my Bersa will have come in by then...we'll see. The instructor was the spitting image of Vernon Dursley (er, the actor who plays him, anyway). All the way down to the mustache-it was perfect!

Birthday party got moved from last weekend to this weekend, so I'll tell you how that went.

I ordered $83 of yarn from Smiley's, and at Smiley's that's a LOT of yarn. I bought some cashmere, though! Quite a splurge. There will be pictures when it comes.

I finished two baby blankets, one for Kirk and one for Andrea, and pictures of those will come soon as well, since I don't want to spoil the surprise yet ;)

Bleh

Scott and I both woke up this morning feeling sick. He got to call in, but I didn't because my coworker had beaten me to it! My boss couldn't cover for both of us, so here I am. I am feeling much better than I was this morning, though, with the help of some meds and lots of water. My plan for the rest of the day is basically to run my errands quickly and then come home and just sit on the couch with a blanket in my PJs and work on the filet crochet blanket for Mim's bed. It's going to be huge, since she has a California King. So I fully expect it to take at least a year, since I'm working on it between other projects.

I am finished with the hormone phase of my first hCG course and am in the maintenance phase. I'm seriously surprised at the amount of food and the variety of foods I'm allowed to eat. It's SO much better than Atkins. Anyway, I ended up losing 28 pounds this round, and the next I will lose the remaining 15-20. Then, after I have maintained and ramped up my carbs so I am eating normally, I am going to go in to the doctor and check my blood pressure and cholesterol and thyroid function and such and see how much good losing the weight did me. I'm sure I will be overall much MUCH healthier when I'm in a normal weight range.

I've lost a whole pant size and shirt size and I am in smaller bras. AWESOME!

I have this huge garbage bag in my closet that has all my skinny clothes in it. I'm already into one of my sweaters and one of my old pairs of pants. The other pants all go on but don't quite zip up, so I'm almost there. I think by the end of this whole thing I will be able to go out and buy a completely new wardrobe! And I am determined to stay in shape for the rest of my life.

I win.