"Day off"

We had a great, low-key Easter with my brother and his wife. We ended playing a 6-hour game of Arkham Horror, which we stopped when it became very clear that we were not going to win. I was completely drained of energy by the time they left, go go introverts. 

This morning I overslept, called the chiropractor to ask if I could show up 20 minutes late (he said yes), and promptly stepped in overflowed toilet water in my socked feet. Eww. I contemplated just going back to bed at that point.

I chickened out on asking my chiro if he knew the Bradley Method, and instead just chatted with him about the really cool foreign body surgery that I did last week. (Cat vs plastic cap found on wire shelves, cat survived, but barely). 

Went out to lunch with hubby and his co-workers, and ate so much delicious Indian food (and rice, and naan). Googled pre-diabetic diets, just out of curiosity (I am totally an apple and at higher risk because of PCOS), and cried a little at the carb restrictions they recommend. I'm not getting on that boat yet!!

Sucked it up and made an appointment with an internist for next week to discuss: PCOS, hypothyroid, obesity, and the m-fing excess body hair that seems to have erupted since I went off birth control last year. We'll see what happens with that, whether she says diet and exercise, or if maybe I can get a little metformin here in this body to see if we can regulate it. I can run 2.5 miles in 30 minutes and I still weigh 245 pounds - training may not be enough for my poor body. 

The bathroom floor is dry, but needs some serious bleach action. I guess I'll go do that now. :)

Crazy Spring

Before I head to bed...

How is it that some things can feel too weird/personal/private to share with my best friend in the entire world, but not for sharing with the entirety of the internet? Note to real-life people - humor me and pretend you don't read this and I think you'll find more information than you ever wanted to know.
Peeing on a stick a week from today. Terrified and excited. Stopped really doing all OPK, BBT, tracking symptoms stuff - drove me crazy (as in I became intolerable, not that I couldn't do it). I don't think I like the person I am when I am tracking and sharing all that information. We've only been "trying" since late November, so it's OK that nothing has come of this yet. I will keep telling myself this until it sticks.

Meteorologically, it IS spring already

I never know what to write on here. As a vet, I need to practice client confidentiality, especially as this blog is in my real name. As a friend, I can't share all my friends' lives for them. As an individual, I don't know how much I want to share on the internet in my real name.

I also go through phases where I'm totally cool with telling anyone anything, and phases where I'd rather deal with things on my own. How do you figure out what to put out there, into the vast aether that is the internet? How do you figure out what to hold back and process, because you don't have to unsay what you never said in the first place? And, as an aside, where on earth does the question mark actually belong in that last sentence.

I'm trying Feedly now that google reader is going away ::sniff::

My quilting is all on the back burner. My knitting is chugging along (2 pairs of socks finished this year!, a baby sweater that the baby it was originally intended for is already too big for, which means that motivation is just not there despite the fact that I am one sleeve from finishing.)

We're kinda sorta trying to get pregnant. Which stresses me out, and excites me. And I have so much more to say about this and don't know how much to say. I'll think on it. I read so many infertility blogs that I feel like I know what this feels like, but going through it myself is a whole different ball game.

I crave spring. I'm so happy that it is light out more often. I wish there were less than a foot of snow on the ground.

All Saints Day

We had our annual hallowe'en party last Saturday, with a total head count of 44 people (41 guests). I had my annual freak-out that my house would never be clean or decorated enough on Saturday morning. Somehow, by the time people were hanging out and eating and drinking and chatting and happy, I'd already started thinking about what I'd do differently for next year's party!

Next up is thanksgiving, which we will be cooking with my brother and his wife and a whole bunch of thanksgiving orphans. We are still deep in negotiations about whether we will host or Bill will, although it has already been decided that Bill will be in charge of the turkey.

I am excited that my trip to PA to visit my best friend and her newest baby is coming up in just over a week - I am looking forward to gossip and giggling.

How I made most of a quilt...

I found fabric that I couldn't live without:

Then I got a whole bunch of tools that made my life a better place:

Then I cut it all into 5" squares, paired them entirely randomly, and made a whole pile of half-square triangles. I squared them to 4.5":

I made a whole bunch of 12-square rows:

Sewed them all together to make a 12x10 quilt:

And finally ended up with a finished quilt top:

I had to sacrifice a quilt to the cat to prevent him from "helping."

Next up - Find a backing fabric (I'm thinking a dark brown), and a binding fabric (I'm thinking the exact same dark brown), and quilt! (I'm thinking straight line quilting, turquoise thread).
Then I learn to bind a quilt and then I never give it away ever because I MADE IT!

Block of the Month Class

I have made more quilt squares too!

February: Half-square triangles

and

March: Foundation piecing

 and

April: English paper piecing

and

This is what happens when I try to take a photograph of my quilting (it's also what happens when I get out my quilting stuff):

Dreams

As part of my project, I have written down many of my dreams, and am categorizing them. I expect that this us as close to a bucket list as I will ever get. I hope to update this list regularly as new ideas occur to me and I get to cross things off.
Financial:
Pay off all debt (mostly student loans)
Travel to:
France (in June!)
Belgium
Ireland, Scotland, England
Germany, Austria
Greece, Italy, Turkey
Japan for cherry blossoms
India - a journey of food
Grand Canyon and Yellowstone (again)
Colorado Rockies
Alaska and Hawaii (again)
Egypt to see the pyramids
Safari in Africa
Brazil with mom
Antarctic cruise
Career:
Find a job that makes me smile every day when I go in.
Have weekends off (or 2 days off in a row)
Run my own business/clinic
Get a PhD
Outside:
Garden
Learn to golf
Go snorkeling
Have a productive vegetable garden
Have a cutting garden to keep my house beautiful
Have a bee and butterfly garden that attracts lots of animals
Go horseback riding more often
Ski more
Inside:
Quilt
Knit
Write a blog
Scrapbook (digital?)
Food:
Learn to make sushi
Learn to toss pizza dough
Cook healthy meals
Understand nutrition
Family:
Have kids
See my parents more often
Raise a seeing eye puppy
Socially:
See my friends more
Throw more dinner parties
Be a better friend
Self:
Get fit
Run a 5k in under 30 minutes
Laser eye surgery
Laser hair removal
Be proud of everything I have, think and do
Be mentally healthy
Learn sign language
Learn fluent French