Day 740

Gigante. Spanish for gigantic. Synonyms include giant, huge, enormous, colossal, gargantuan, titanic.

Or we could use my synonyms. Holy moley. Geez whiz. Oh my gosh.

Or as hubby discovered tonight, fork-bender.

The Gigante Burrito on Alejandra's menu. Just compare the size of that burrito to the regular-sized fork in the background. Such a big burrito stuffed full of ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, beans and rice that the fork bent when hubby was tackling it.

Our second menu item was a freebie from the lunch menu, a cheese enchilada. How do you get a freebie from the lunch menu? It just so happens that Alejandra's has punch cards. Eat nine meals and you get a free item off the lunch menu. Yeah, we never have to pay for lunch menu items.

Day 739

Making a bit more progress on a charity quilt.

Day 738

Wanted: Cat who thinks she deserves to breathe the fresh air on the first day I opened a window.

CAUGHT!

Day 737

I feel a bit guilty that we haven't even started thinking about the garden. Haven't thought about pruning, haven't thought about planting. Haven't thought about the grass or the patio. Haven't even thought about starting to get things out of the shed.

It's a good thing, though. Otherwise the windstorm we had might have carried something high up into one of our trees. Kind of like the big blue tarp way up in the neighbor's tree.

Day 736

I'm typically a keep-it-neat person at work. My desk is organized, my files are color coded. But when I have a gazillion projects going on all at once, my desk reflects that.

Make that a gazillion plus one.

Day 735

I don't know why all the criss-crossing branches in our backyard tree struck my fancy today, but they did.

Day 734

Just when I thought all burritos looked alike and tasted alike, Alejandra's proved me wrong.

Their veggie burrito

Their beef fajita burrito

The combination of the two were as close to burrito heaven as I'll ever get.

Day 733

Why, oh, why do I shop on ebay? Because I can get great kids fabrics for a very cheap price. Just look at the batch that came in the mail today. Cost me less than a dollar a yard. Can't beat that!

Day 732 - Hello Year Three

Today begins Year Three.

Last year when I started Year Two of the blog I had this grand plan that I'd be riding my exercise bike miles every day. Enough miles to add up to a "trip" across the country. Somehow that fizzled out without me even realizing it (or doing much about it).

So here I am beginning another year. No grand plans this years, just some things I know will happen, some things I suspect will happen, some I hope will happen and some I fear will happen.

This year I know I will:

• continue to make more quilts for charity, turtle pillows for charity, and stockings for soldiers.
• begin infusions treatments for rheumatoid arthritis. (Finally approved by insurance, my first one is coming up is March 19.)
• publish at least two more books.

I suspect:

• my daughter will be getting engaged.
• I will move from a part-time worker to a full-time worker.

I hope:

• hubby and I can do some traveling.
• I can get some of this extra weight off.
• I'm able to get my It's Sew Idaho business off the ground - and that it becomes successful.

I fear:

• I am in for a year of additional health problems. I don't know what they are, but I'm starting the year not feeling too good about things. Could be me, could be hubby. Crossing my fingers for everyone to be healthy.

I started on my "I know I will" list today. Have a bit more of a charity quilt together.

Happy beginning of Year Three to us all!

Day 731

I am bummed about what I just realized.

Today is the end of year two of this blog. If you remember, the plan was just to go for 365 days (which turned into 366 because of leap year). Which then turned into year two.

But the bummer part is that after two years - two years of sewing and baking and crafting and going back to work. Of tutorials and coupon shopping and roses and snow. Of a cruise to Alaska and buying a new house in Boise. Of multiple injections and prescription medications and doctors appointments for me. Of hubby losing his mom, of hubby having kidney failure. Of me publishing my first book and our daughter going back to college. And if that wasn't enough - and I wasn't overweight enough - of gaining even more weight with the last several months of steroids.

With all those highs and lows, I feel back to where I started. The doggone rheumatoid arthritis is getting the best of me. Add in flu and sinus infection and bronchitis and a third set of antibiotics that hasn't made me feel much better.

Thank goodness I've documented my life over these last two years because if I hadn't, I could swear I've done nothing and seen nothing. I know my life is better today than two years ago, but right now it sure doesn't feel like it.

Sleep is my number one priority right now. I can't keep my eyes open but for a couple hours or so. I've got to get over this bug so I can get moving on these pieces of quilts tops that need to be put together for charity.

Day 730

Still a sicko here. I was hoping tonight's picture was going to be from the ice hockey game hubby and I were going to. But I had to cancel my attendance, and thankfully daughter's boyfriend is able to go and is taking my spot.

So how do you find something exciting when you feel like a blob of icky-ness? It's hard. My life is being lived in short chunks of time right now. Nap. Get up for a couple of hours. Nap again. Up again. All day long.

So today's picture winds up being of something I see a lot. The curtains I made the other day for the new bedroom in Boise. (I still haven't figured out the whole picture upload so the picture was taken with the iPad, but then I had to take a picture of that picture with my phone!)

Day 729

Who gets to see birds on a power pole everyday?

Me.

Who gets to see sights like this everyday?

Me.

Who doesn't appreciate the beautiful sights around them enough?

Me.

Day 728

Another what does one do day?

What does one do when they stay home from work, not feeling well, and when they go to pick hubby up from school he wants to know what is for dinner?

Stop at Alejandra's on the way home for the Idaho Burrito (on the right) and the spicy Adobada Burrito (on the left). Not that I was all that hungry, but the Adobada burrito got my nose a-runnin'.

Now it's time to kick up the feet and keep watching Emergency! As we've been watching an episode or two (or three) every night for weeks now, we're finally down to the last eight episodes. (I'll be thinking of you, Lisa, as I watch tonight!)

Day 727

What is it that one does after they've had a couple of long days at work and are on their third antibiotic that seems to have side effects that are just as bad as the condition it is trying to treat?

You barely drag yourself to Alejandra's. The next item on the menu was Carnitas Burrito (shredded pork burrito).

We also opted for tonight's special, the chicken fajitas, which were super tasty.

Then you come home, immediately change into your flannel pajamas, sit in your recliner, and watch Emergency episodes on Netflix. Remember that TV show from the 70s featuring John Gage and Roy DeSoto, the paramedics at Station 51? Yeah, I'm obsessed.

Day 726

Step onto your front porch and look to the southeast. See a spectacularly colorful sunrise chock full of yellows, oranges, pinks, and blues.

Drive west on your way to work. See the morning sun casting a bright yellow glow onto the grasses and power poles.

Day 725

I have to figure out a better system of taking pictures in Boise. Yesterday's picture of the clothesline was taken in the usual way - with my digital camera - but I didn't have a cable with me to upload the pictures to the computer. Instead I used my phone to take a picture of the picture screen, then used that photo.

Now we're back in Marsing and I have my pictures uploaded from the camera. Good for me, probably not so good for hubby. When I came back inside from taking pictures yesterday I was quite pleased with the interesting photos I took. But when I told hubby what they were - ice on the headlight and ice on the front bushes, snow on the grass and the clothesline - he gave me the impression that they were quite boring.

I think not. I still think they are interesting.

The clothesline - this time not the phone's picture of the picture:

Snow on the grass:

Ice that had formed on the car's headlight:

Ice on the front shrub:

Inside the car, looking up at the sunroof.

Yep, interesting is the word.

Day 724

When I first saw pictures of this new place in Boise on the realtor website, I knew it would be ours for one big reason.

The clothesline.

If you've been a reader, you know how important a clothesline is to me. And the great thing about this  house is that it has a permanent clothesline, one just like my great grandmother used to have.

But they'll be no hanging up clothes anytime soon as you can see by the line this morning.

Day 723

Still feeling not so well here but we're heading to Boise for the night anyway. Gotta hang up my new miniature wall quilt in my new bedroom!

Day 722

From  the blog seven months ago, July 21:
We heard the word diurese quite a bit today. As far as I can tell that's the medical term for getting rid of excess fluid by going to the bathroom. As in, they are forcing him to diurese. His IV has been cut off, he's on a cardiac/low sodium diet, his Sprite supply has been reduced, and they are adding and even again doubling some medications all in the hopes the fluid will be purged from his system. 

But at this point, the kidneys still have not kicked in. He isn't eating much, he's sleeping most of the time, and he's too weak to get out of bed on his own. They've given up on even helping him to the bathroom. Thankfully he's not in pain, but he certainly isn't well.

With so many unknowns, it's nice I have some knowns right now - my flowers. Coneflowers. I couldn't decide on which picture I liked best so you get them both.

My, how times have changed. Hubby had an appointment with the kidney specialist today. Things are moving right along - in the right direction - and it looks like next week might be his last week of steroids. Finally. What a long haul this has been! 

What hasn't changed since July is my indecision about pictures. Do I go with the one of the Owyhees I took when I picked him up from school? Or do I go with the second one of Bogus Basin, the one I took when we left the kidney specialist's office today? We'll go with both.

Day 721

My daughter has been pushing me to start selling things I make on Etsy. I haven't been too sure of it but I have come up with a name and logo, just in case.

What do you think, number one or number two?