Day 131 of 365

I'm a stockpiler. Have been ever since I can remember. I love the look of neatly stocked shelves (the labels always have to face out), and I especially love a good deal.

I haven't been stockpiling much this spring, but last summer when I was couponing a lot, I did some major stocking up. If I could get one can of shaving cream for 25 cents, why not go ahead and buy five at that price? I'm lucky we have plenty of storage in the house! Doing the big stockup on many items saved us this year - with me not bringing in any income, it's been nice being able to keep our grocery costs down. We still have plenty of soap, paper towels, cleaning products, shaving cream, toothpaste, and deodorant to last us another year.

Frozen foods and canned goods are another story. Our freezer is just about empty and our canned food shelves are looking bare. Last year we had stocked up so much on canned goods that I made racks to hold some of them. (I used the directions here, but painted mine.) So as soon as another bargain comes along, I'll be taking advantage of it. I like having my own grocery store in the basement.

Like my fabric store in my sewing room closet. Even though it's nicely stocked, if a bargain comes along, I can't resist.

It's not like I don't have enough already. (The picture from Day 57 can confirm that.) As many quilts as I send out the door and fabric and quilt tops I give away, it still isn't dwindling. I have a big project I'm about to get started on that will use some of the yardage up, but that won't keep me from buying.

Just this week (on ebay of course) I found a gal offering 5" and 6" squares of fabric, already cut, in some interesting patterns. So I pulled the trigger and spent five whole dollars. Such a bargain. I have a few more dollars of squares coming in the next few days, but my five dollars worth arrived today. Over 200 squares, just perfect for baby and kids quilts.

Someday maybe I'll even get back to grown up quilts. Probably not anytime soon, though.

Day 130 of 365

I wake up every morning with hope.

Hope that my body can get out of bed, get dressed, and eat breakfast without having to take 3 hours to do it.

Hope that I have the stamina to do what I have planned for the day.

Hope that my pain is less than the day before.

Hope that my fatigue is not as great.

Hope that I have a positive attitude through it all.

In the last week I've sent out 5 charity baby quilts. Scrubbed the kitchen clean. Mopped and vacuumed. Pruned up the roses in the rose garden. Went grocery shopping. Had a dentist appointment. Went to the movies. Cleaned and organized the sewing room. Washed windows. Exercised every day. And just today cleaned and organized the den.

I've done more in the last week than I have done in a long time. The combination of all the work has taken a toll on me.

Each day has been a bigger struggle than the day before. Each day I've had to force myself to get out of bed and dressed. Force myself to do my self-assigned task for the day. Force myself to exercise. Force myself to keep going. And even force myself to write and take the picture of the day.

It was tough. Probably the toughest week I've had in a quite a while.

The thing about rheumatoid arthritis is that it makes you feel like you have the kind of flu with the body aches and fatigue, but all the time. Then add in the side effects from my medications. Then add in the back issues. Add in no pain medication. Try and accomplish physical things during the day - cleaning, washing, gardening? It's enough to make someone start popping those pain pills again.

But I didn't. And I won't. Because that's a short term solution.

I want a long term solution. A solution that will let me work in the garden, clean my house, and even get myself dressed without pain. A solution that will allow me the energy to get back to work.

A solution that will help me meet the goal I set when I first started the blog - the hope that I will be back into the land of the living instead of the land of the existing.

This week was proof that I'm not even close.

I'm having to dig down deep to keep a positive attitude about it. I need to be thankful I can get out of bed and get myself dressed (even if it takes 3 hours). I need to be thankful I can wash my windows, mop my floor, exercise, and prune roses, even if it keeps me in pain and takes every bit of oomph I have. And I need to be thankful I can get outside and enjoy my beautiful flowers.

This one just opened today - some type of huge lily. An Asiatic one maybe?

Day 129 of 365

I had to wash my windows today.

There have been so many missed picture taking opportunities lately because I've had dirty windows. It seems like each time I sit down to type, a new bird shows up in the tree out the window. Whether it's a hummingbird, or another yellow bird like on Day 81, or the pair from Day 83, a woodpecker who has been appearing lately, or a new gorgeous orange and yellow bird, I keep missing them because of my dirty windows.

Remember the squirrel from the picture on Day 89? The one that turned on me on Day 101? If I had clean windows I could have captured a picture of mama hummingbird attacking that squirrel. The squirrel was frozen as mama hummingbird buzzed, and buzzed, and buzzed him. Haven't seen that squirrel much since. But what a picture that would have made!

Clean shiny windows and a camera just waiting to snap a picture is a good recipe for the picture of the day. Although my windows are beautiful, nothing has shown up outside them today.

Since I'm not working in my sewing room until my house is spotless (it's getting there), it's back to my gardens for the picture.

Our wildflower bed turned perennial garden looks like it's turned into a den of daisies instead.

Day 128 of 365

Today was a day full of highlights. I thought about ranking them, but I don't know which one is the best!

Worked outside in the garden a bit.

Had no sugar today.

Rode a little over 21 miles on the exercise bike this week.

In the past six weeks, I've biked a tad over 108 miles.

Today was the 82nd consecutive day of exercising.

And two new things in the picture department today - my pic of the day is a video and I have a guest picture, too.

Jenn sent this picture from her cell phone of ducks, geese, and birds in the park. Canadian geese, mallard ducks, a seagull, and an Aflac duck. Can't get much more diverse than that.

I

And for the first time, a video for my picture of the day. I took a still picture of it, but the video is so much better. That's our baby hummingbird sitting all by herself in the nest, but not for long. Take a look at what happens next.

Day 127 of 365

When I leave the house during the day, I try and cram as much into one day as possible.

It goes back to when I was working and my daughter was still at home. Since my husband and I had a couple months off in the summer, we would coordinate all our yearly checkups. The three of us have had back to back eye appointments and dentist appointments. We'd make sure his other two yearly checkups he had coordinated with my others. By doing this, we'd get 10-12 appointments done in two days. Two full days of appointments instead of two full weeks of appointments. Squeaking out the most of the summer is important!

Today was one of those appointment days with the two of us having back to back dentist appointments. Then in the afternoon I got to the movies with a couple friends from work.

Since I was going two different places, I decided I might as well add the physical therapist office in there as a stop and make everyone a batch of decorated sugar cookies.

The internal conversation I had with myself over making these cookies was deafening. 

"I'll make beehive and bumblebee cookies and ladybug cookies."

"No, better skip it. I might eat them."

"No, I'm doing okay with sugar, it'll be alright. But I'll make flowerpot ones I saw the other day."

"I'll make two batches, enough for everyone."

"If I make two batches, I might have leftovers and will wind up eating them."

"No I won't. I made Oatmeal Cookies back on Day 109 and didn't have a problem."

"Yeah, but that was Day 109."

"Can I guarantee that I won't eat any sugar cookies?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"No."

After 2 days of going back and forth, my willpower overpowered my cookie making/eating urge. So no cookies for anyone because I can't trust cookies. (I really mean I can't trust me.)

As much as I'd like to write that, at the end of this day, after struggling for days on the cookie issue, I have control over the sweets issue, I can't.

For after the movies, I picked up dinner for my husband. And I ordered ice cream with candies mixed in. Not because I wanted it, but because it was such a habit to order. And as much as I wish I could write that after ordering it I realized my mistake, I did not. I ate that ice cream and candy concoction on the way home. Only upon almost finishing it did I realize what I was doing. I was eating something that I have been trying to fend off. Something I didn't even want.

I know better. But I wasn't thinking. My habit got the best of me.

At least I can end the day now knowing that my control over sweets is easier maintained at home. Baby steps, I guess.

Am I the only one who has these struggles?

Thank goodness I have some baby strawberries coming on. No sugar needed there.

Day 126 of 365

I used to be a perfectionist. Or at least tried to be. A place for everything and everything in its place. But I'm finding more and more I don't care about that as much.

It's like before our daughter was born. Long before hand sanitizers, I was a clean hands freak. I would wash my hands - with soap - all the time. Multiple times a day. Even when they weren't dirty. Before we moved into rental apartments, I'd wash down every single surface. Even if the walls were clean, I'd still wash them down. Heaven forbid I'd ever touch a wall that someone else had touched.

But after the kiddo came around, there was less and less time to be so particular. I still washed my hands with soap quite a bit, but not like before (except I do use more soap than anyone else in the house). And nowadays, the moment I get in the car from being out shopping or out to eat, or really anywhere I might be where I could have touched something that someone else might have touched, the hand sanitizer is the first thing I grab. Thank goodness for those small bottles I can keep in the car. (The Bath and Body Works fragrant ones are the best!)

Trying to work on my house being deep cleaned (although not perfectly) and using hand sanitizers every time I leave the house, yet having fabric scraps all around my sewing room and drooping dead roses in the garden and not having a mopped kitchen floor - it didn't make sense. So I had to rectify that.

At the end of the day today, I'll feel better than yesterday. (Although I don't feel great about having to give myself a shot tonight.)

Kitchen floor mopped. Check.
Roses pruned. Check.
Sewing room cleaned. Check.

My fabric closet is back to where it was on Day 57  and the rest of the room is finally back to normal as well.

Day 125 of 365

Usually when I sit down to type the blog, I already have an idea of what I want to write about. Today I had an idea of what I was going to write about but it didn't happen.

I had planned on writing about how productive I was these last couple days. I was hoping to report that I had mopped my kitchen floor, cleaned up the sewing room, and pruned all the roses.

No such luck.

Did I mop the kitchen? Nope. Get the sewing room clean? I started on it. Get all the roses pruned? Some of them. Get groceries? Yep. Do my exercising? Yep. Eat healthy? Not so much.

My husband went grocery shopping with me today. Which meant we had to go out to eat. (Take the hubby to help, gotta feed him.) We stopped somewhere we never go - Dairy Queen. A cheeseburger, fries, diet soda (with caffeine) and a chocolate covered strawberry waffle bowl dessert has left me feeling icky. Too much salt, too much sugar, too much caffeine. Glad to know my body doesn't like those things anymore! A few miles on the bike helped me feel a bit better,  but the work I planned on doing when we got home didn't happen.

As much as I wished I could report that my rose garden is all nice and tidy, it's not going to happen today. I've been working on it slowly for the last couple days and can't even make a dent in it.

Although I probably could leave it where it stands now and no one would be the wiser...

Day 124 of 365

I like where we live.

When we first saw this house on one of the listings our real estate agent gave us, we passed it over because it was two levels. Even back 12-13 years ago, I was having problems with my knees and wasn't looking to live somewhere with stairs. But she encouraged us to take a look anyway. The owners had just finished the basement, it was in a nice neighborhood, and you could see the river.

On a rainy day in the spring, we took a drive to look at the house. It had carpeted non-steep stairs to the beautifully finished basement. It had a big backyard with nice shade trees, a couple of places for a garden, and a view of the Snake River from the kitchen, dining room, and living room.

We bought it.

We had been living in the country for many years. We were used to the open spaces and the quiet. The down side to living in the country was being since my husband doesn't drive, I would have to chauffeur him back and forth to his school. For several years we lived 10 miles from his work. I'd take him the 10 miles to work, turn around and backtrack to go 15 more miles my work. Then at the end of the day, I'd have to do the same. At that time he was also coaching sports, so I'd be making runs at 10:30 at night to get him after basketball and football games. Some of those late night drives were in blinding snowstorms. Thank goodness those days are long behind us!

This house we live in now is in a town of fewer than 900 people, and is less than a mile from his work. The librarian from his school lives across the street and gives my husband a ride to school every morning. We're close enough that he'll walk home in the afternoons if the weather is cooperating. Most all the folks in our neighborhood are retired. We get the benefit of city water, sewer, and trash.

But I think I appreciate this place more on the 4th of July than any other day.

Our town has a very nice fireworks show that is launched from the park by the river. So on the 4th of July celebration night (the 3rd of July this year) we don't even have to leave the yard. No crowds, no parking worries, no hauling chairs. (The only hauling of chairs we do is when we bring the chairs from the back patio to the front yard.) Two chairs, one bottle of mosquito spray, and a blanket is all we need to enjoy the fireworks from our front  yard.

And the camera.

Happy 4th of July to all!

Day 123 of 365

Laundry, kitchen cleaning, and roses was how I planned on keeping myself busy today.

In addition to our laundry I had to wash the kids' quilts before they are mailed. They're all nice and fresh, packed up and ready to go out the door on Tuesday. Boy, I love my clothesline!

In line with upping my cleaning time, I focused on the kitchen today. Wiped down all the counters and cabinet and drawer facings. I vacuumed rugs, shined the sink, and cleaned the vents in the refrigerator. I polished up the stove and microwave and cleaned the drawer under the oven. Still have the mopping to do, but otherwise the kitchen is back to its shiny self. It was quite a long cleaning session, especially when I tried to sit down to do some of the work. I looked dorky rolling myself around the room in the office chair. A back saver, but a dork creator!

I planned to work in the roses, too. I took a quick look around to see what needed to be done and realized they were looking a little rough. The storm we had Day 119 night knocked those climbing roses from Day 117's picture off the trellis and I hadn't stopped to retrain them. They weren't the only roses that had fallen over. I have one bush that looks like it might have been split in two and lots and lots of blooms around the garden that are damaged. The rose garden is going to be an even bigger project than the kitchen, so I'll be saving it for another day. Maybe tomorrow.

My Melody Parfumee roses aren't looking too bad, though.

Day 122 of 365

I really am not interested in taking a break from making the baby quilts for charity. I do enjoy it quite a bit. There are a couple other sewing projects I want to work on, too. I'm not sure I'll be doing any more quilts or those other projects anytime soon.

There's a little problem with the gardens and the house.

The garden problem is an obvious one. We had to let the high school kid we hired to help us around the yard go and our daughter hasn't been home much. My husband doesn't like a schedule or responsibilities in the summer and with my back (and other body parts) being on the fritz, it's getting difficult to keep up with the weeds and the rose pruning. But the gardens are in desperate need of some attention so I'm going to have to spend more time out there when I can.

The house is just as big a problem.

I've really slacked on the cleaning. I'm not a clutter person, so it's not like there are dishes in the sink or clothes or books or magazines all around. It's the cleaning part. The mopping, the scrubbing the toilets and sinks, the vacuuming, the washing of the windows. Physically it's been tough to do those things for quite some time. And again, our daughter hasn't been around much to help out. When I was working we used to have a cleaning lady come once a week, but that was because we just didn't have much time to clean. But now it's not about the time, it's about the ability to do the work. And having the cleaning lady come back wouldn't make good financial sense.

So now the gardens and the housecleaning need to take priority over the sewing. It's a priority I'm not sure I can maintain. I already tried giving up the sewing on Day 80 and that time it only lasted until Day 96. We'll see how long it lasts this time.

I will certainly miss my time in the sewing room and miss turning out quilt after quilt. I finally finished up the last of my charity baby quilts to send out to Quilts for Kids today. I'll be sending off five quilts to them. I made two from my own fabrics on Day 101 and Day 107 and three from their free fabric kits on Day 120, Day 121, and today.

Day 121 of 365

I came oh-so-close to giving up yesterday.

After that darn pain clinic appointment I was tempted to stop by and pick up something really greasy and salty for dinner like Carl's Jr.

But I didn't.

When I got home I was tempted to make something really big and unhealthy for dinner.

But I didn't.

I was very tempted to make a batch of cookies and eat my heart out.

But I didn't.

I was tempted to give up the bike riding for the day and break my consecutive days of riding record.

But I didn't.

Instead, I
*rode the bike.
*went into my sewing room and got to work finishing up yesterday's quilt.
*started on another baby quilt.
*boxed up some fabrics to give away to a lady in Minnesota who makes lap quilts and wheelchair and walker bags for veterans.

And today, I
*mailed that box of fabrics.
*rode my bike - a little over 20 miles total for the week. My exercise streak is now up to 75 consecutive days!
*finished another quilt.

Day 120 of 365

I understand that if my prescription runs out early for any reason my provider will not prescribe extra medication for me. I will have to wait until the next prescription is due, even if this means my going through withdrawals. I also understand that going through withdrawals is uncomfortable, but not life threatening.


I also understand that prescriptions will not be changed without me returning the rest of my original prescription to the office for identification, counting, and disposal.


I agree to periodic unscheduled drug screens regardless as to whether or not it is covered by my insurance.


I understand that I may become dependent on opioid medications, which in a small number of patients may lead to addiction. If addiction occurs, the medication will be discontinued and I will be referred to a drug treatment program for help.

Just a few of the things I had to sign off on today when I made my first visit to the pain clinic.

The previous doctor had declared I had reached "maximum medical improvement" and that I'd be on pain meds the rest of my life. A while back I took myself off all pain meds and don't want to go back to the meds (or that doctor). I was hopeful a specialty clinic might have some options for me. As I found out today, the options for a chronic back condition like mine are limited. Physical therapy. (Already done that for almost a year for the back.) Injections in the spine. (No thank you, not again.) Why am I not surprised - especially after having to sign off on a list of 20 different drug-related understandings before I could see the doctor - that the best option might be pain medication? (Please, no.)

I have some thinking to do, the doctor has an MRI to check out, and then I may have to make a choice soon. Or, since I'm not happy with the options, refrain from making any choice.

In other sucky news, I was weighed today and have lost a total of one (yes, only 1) pound since Day 83. I don't eat sugar anymore, I've cut down on my portion sizes and cut out snacks, and I ride the exercise bike each and every day and have lost a total of one whole pound. I haven't researched whether weight gain is a side effect of some of my medications, but it has to be. How can someone work so hard for so little?

In non-sucky news, I finished another baby quilt.

Day 119 of 365

I need to give myself a break. Talking about this "confidence" issue I'm thinking it might not be a confidence issue after all.

My mom called after she read yesterday's blog and was concerned that I might be having a panic attack. Not even close. The way I felt about going away to the casino by myself is the same thing I feel about going to the grocery store, the doctor's office, and even going up the stairs at school.

They're all energy-drainers.

Packing and upacking. Pumping gas. Getting changed into a swimsuit and walking to the pool at the hotel. Having to load a grocery cart, unload the cart onto the belt, load the groceries in the car, bring them up the stairs into the kitchen and putting them away. Having to drive 30 miles to the doctor then having to go to the lab for tests.

I have to talk myself into just about anything that involves leaving the house.

As I was talking to my mom about the whole I can't figure out why I came home right away thing, I realized I'm just tired. I'm always tired. Not sleepy tired, but fatigue tired. Always. With my medical issues and the medications I'm taking it's to be expected.

If it is fatigue, is that an excuse not to leave the house? I don't know if I'd rather be in a constant state of fatigue or be lacking confidence.

I think that's why I turn to quilting so much. It's something I can do that doesn't wear me out as much. I can do it quietly, slowly, and at my own pace.

And why I keep taking pictures. Another lightning storm last night.

Day 118 of 365

My bravery didn't last long.

I left yesterday afternoon to go to Jackpot (yep, that's the name of the town) and gamble a bit. By myself. I had a comped room for two nights and all my meals comped for three days. I had $70 in free slot play. The outdoor pool was open and I brought my swimsuit.

Except that I came back home this morning. I played on the free play money, ate one meal, and spent one night in the hotel. My swimsuit never made it out of the suitcase. I had cash that never made it out of my wallet.

I don't know what's up. Back to the confidence again. Of all the things I'm confident about, traveling is certainly at the top of the list. When I was consulting and training I had no problems hopping on a plane and flying off somewhere or driving half way across the state on my own. Not anymore.

It makes me sad. Not mad, not frustrated. Just sad.

I guess I'm not moving forward as much as I thought I was. It's going to take a million more trips before I'll get back to myself. Trips, as of now, I really don't want to take. Becoming a hermit would be a more comfortable option right now. But I know that's not what's best for me.

I should probably use the lyrics from the song Fame for my mantra:

Fame
I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna learn how to fly
High 

I just so happen to have a Fame rose in bloom right now. Maybe the universe thinks I need a nudge.

Day 117 of 365

Taking pain medication changes who you are. Being in pain and not taking pain medication changes who you are. It's a no-win situation.

Over the past couple years things have been miserable. Horrible. Terrible. Like that children's book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Nothing goes right in his day and he says he's going to move to Australia.

Debbie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Couple of Years.

I went to the doctor and he said I have rheumatoid arthritis and I'll have to take these pills. They'll make you sick because they're chemotherapy pills. Then I went back again and he said I have to take a shot. And I have to give it to myself. And then the pills aren't working so time to start giving yourself another shot every week.

I hurt my back and went to another doctor and he said take these pain pills. Then he told me to take more. And then more. He said it would get better. So I take the pills and try and go to work and get sick and then I have to substitute and then my back hurts more and then I get sicker. Then the doctor says let's give you six shots in your spine. Sorry, but the needle will be five inches long. And sorry, we don't sedate people here so it's going to hurt. And it did. And now I can't work at all.

Then my knee hurts and I have to use a cane. The doctor says it's time to get a new knee, but you're too young, but it looks too bad to wait any longer. Then I wake up from surgery and the doctor had to do a more invasive surgery because the damage was so bad. One of the worst knees he's ever seen. So then I have to learn how to climb up the stairs to get in my house with a walker. And then I have to take even more pain pills.

Then my tooth hurt and I went to the dentist and it took three days of work to get the root canal finished. Oops, they didn't get it all and I have to go to an oral surgeon to finish the job.

Dropped a can on my finger and broke it.

Can't work, in pain, still on pain pills, and decide to take some time off work.

Then I hurt my shoulder and had to have surgery. In a sling for a few months and can't drive and have to sleep in a recliner. Then hurt my other shoulder. Another surgery. In a sling, no driving, no bed again.

Actually the first chapter of the book should be called The Destruction of Deb.

No confidence, no hope, no life left in me.

But chapter two of the book should be called The Reconstruction of Deb.

I wish I was who I used to be in some ways, but not others. I miss my confidence. It was one of those things that defined me most. I lost it somewhere along the way, either because of the pain, the surgeries, or the pain medication.

I'm still looking to get it back. I was hoping it would appear yesterday. My husband is out of town and I was contemplating going to the casino for the night. But it's a three hour drive, a drive I've made many times by myself while visiting my daughter at a college not too far from the casino town. But a drive I'm not comfortable making by myself now. So I resigned myself to staying home and working on quilts and do some clipping of roses.

But today I am brave enough to go by myself, so I will. Like my climbing rose on the shed, my growth is slow but it is there.

Day 116 of 365

I realized the other day that I never went into our rose garden last year.

I'd had the knee replacement surgery in March and the rotator cuff surgery in July. I couldn't walk steadily, I couldn't use but one arm, and I couldn't bend over because of my back.

While this year I'm spending more time out there than last, it's still not even close to what I used to do. I used to go in there every day, bring in fresh roses every day, weed every day, and prune every day.

Now I'm lucky if I get there once a week. I now can go out there and sit thanks to the bench my daughter helped put together this past week. But work? Not so much.

This is the time that the roses are really taking off. Hybrid tea roses. Floribunda roses. English roses. Hedge roses. Climbing roses. They're all on their way to being spectacular.

Even the vegetable garden isn't doing too bad. Quite a bit different than on Day 64.

Day 115 of 365

I originally started quilting because of my Great Grandmother. Actually, more because of what my Mom said.

I didn't grow up learning how to quilt. My grandmother quilted in the winter in front of her dining room window, but I was in school all day and didn't ever really watch her. My Mom didn't quilt so I didn't quilt.

But several years back my Mom gave me some quilt blocks. Some quilt blocks that my Great Grandma Hudson had stitched by hand many, many, years ago. Probably even before I was born.

My Mom gave me the quilt blocks only if I would make something out of them. With the promise that I wouldn't give them away.

The quilt blocks sat year after year, just waiting for me to do something with them. Such old fabric, such handcrafted stitching in the hands of such an inexperienced quilter. I didn't have all that much experience sewing, either, so I decided I needed some skills before I risked doing anything with the blocks. I stopped the crocheting, the embroidery, the cross stitching, the candlewicking and started the quilting.

I've made wall quilts, lap quilts, baby quilts. You'd think with all the quilts I've made I'd be comfortable tackling those blocks by now. You'd think with all the quilts I've made I'd be hanging out in quilt shops.You'd think with all the quilts I've made I'd be going to quilt shows all the time.

Nope on all three counts. The blocks are still sitting there, I've only been in a quilt shop a couple times in my lifetime and only when we've been on vacation, and I've only been to one quilt show ever.

One of those things changed today.

Boise is having a quilt show today and tomorrow. My daughter took the day off today and we spent the day perusing (and photographing) the gorgeous quilts. Quilts more perfect than anything I'll ever make. I put the some of the pictures here.

So many to choose from for my picture of the day, but this one struck my fancy the most.

Day 114 of 365

Two things new and exciting happened today. I got to go out to lunch and we have a baby!

I never go out to lunch. My husband and I mostly go out to dinner only on special occasions and only with each other or our daughter. But today I got to go to lunch with someone I used to (and will again) work with.

We used to have lunch all over the place. We both started new jobs at the same time and these new jobs required lots of training. We've eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner together in:

• San Francisco
• New Orleans
• Philadelphia
• Hartford, Connecticut
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Anaheim, California
• Portland and Eugene, Oregon
• a few cities around Idaho
• and a few more places I'm sure I've forgotten about

So it was nice to see her again and catch up - even if we only ate lunch in Boise. A day out - in a restaurant - with another adult who is not my husband - was a nice way to spend a Friday. (Maybe not so much for her since I talked her ear off!)

The other excitement of the day is about a baby.

Yesterday I noticed momma hummingbird (from Day 91) wasn't acting the same. Every day I go sit on the patio and every day she's usually sitting on her nest. Sometimes she'll leave for a few minutes, come back, buzz near her nest, then settle back in.

But yesterday as I was sitting quietly on the patio she left for a few minutes, came back, buzzed near her nest, buzzed me (she's never buzzed me ever), buzzed near her nest again, then sat on the edge of her nest. And poked her beak down into her nest. Each time she came back to the nest she followed the same routine, including the buzzing me part.

Since our daughter was home we had her help us finish up the to-do list from Day 70. One of the last things on the list was to cut the branches back from the roof. We had her up there with the loppers and made sure she was ever-so-careful around the hummingbird nest.

From her roof view, she was able to take a look down in the nest and find a teeny tiny egg and a teeny tiny baby!

Exercise update: 68 days in a row. A little over 18 miles on the bike this week.

Day 113 of 365

My insomnia finally paid off.

Last night was the hottest day of the year so far - over 90 degrees. My husband was tired (and full) from his big shrimp feast at Red Lobster and went to bed early. It was quiet (and hot) in the house, so my daughter and I went and sat on the back patio under the shade tree. At this time of year it's light outside past 10:00, so we stayed there for quite a while. As we sat there talking and talking, a storm started rolling in. We sat out even longer watching the lightning.

My daughter loves storms, particularly thunderstorms. I don't like thunderstorms all that much. But since I was a kid reading my grandparent's National Geographic, I have always been amazed at pictures of lightning. Amazed that someone could push the button at the exact second the lightning flashes and have all these amazing branches of lightning appear. (I now know that's not how taking pictures of lightning works.)

As the storm was getting closer, I was telling her that someday I wanted to take pictures of lightning with my new camera. (Not all that new - I bought it way back on Day 13.) This camera has a setting for the night sky where the shutter speed is adjusted to keep it open longer, and I wanted to try it.

Not today, but someday I told her.

I had my camera with me out there, just in case, but it didn't happen. Just couldn't get it timed right. By then the storm was upon us and we headed inside. My daughter suggested we park ourselves in front of our big picture window in the living room and watch for any lightning on the other side of the house.

So we did. And I got my tripod out and aimed the camera across the river. And we sat there, pushing the button to capture a 15 second shot.

We booed when our timing was off. We cheered when we thought we might get something good.

We high fived on this one.

Day 112 of 365

We skipped Father's Day on Sunday because my daughter was working and wasn't able to come home. But she's home today and it's time to celebrate.

The original plan was to make him an Italian feast of a dinner (not really - just spaghetti, salad and bread, since I'm not a chef). Plans changed so the celebration actually started this afternoon when he got to go somewhere we've only been probably twice or so in our lifetime.

Red Lobster.

He's a huge seafood fan and we rarely go out for seafood. We rarely cook it at home, either. (Again, I'm not a chef.)

He did get part of his Italian feast, but not at Red Lobster. He got a spaghetti and meatballs cake, homemade by me. Based somewhat on the recipe from Food Network Magazine.

A real cake that just looks like spaghetti and meatballs.  Made with:

• a boxed chocolate cake mix
• frosted with homemade buttercream frosting
• buttercream frosting tinted with buttercup yellow food coloring, piped on to resemble noodles
• chocolate cake balls  - crumbled chocolate cake with enough frosting to hold it together - for the meatballs
• strawberry jam with a bit of red food coloring for the pasta sauce, and
• finely shredded white chocolate pieces for the Parmesan cheese

I may not be a chef, but maybe I could be a pastry chef?