Side affects.....LOL

prescription of Prednisone steriod in hand; and the doctor said..."now, you may find yourself with an excess amount of energy over the next couple of days in the higher dose phase...."


LOL......oh boy! Those of you who know me.....a little extra energy to someone who could easily already be dignosed with ADHD.....tsha......maybe this means I'll get LOTS and LOTS of quilting done!!!!!

2 weeks worth of Prednisone and hopefully this thing will be over.....

9:06 update...

11:45 appointment set. I guess I can wait a few more hours for relief.....

I have been outside for an hour in the garden, doing a little weeding. MY GOAL THIS SUMMER: stay AHEAD of the weed!!!!!! So far, so good. Not many weeds to take care of yet. The corn has broke the surface and is about 2" high; the peas and beans have just broken ground as well....

Then, I grabbed my backup pair of gardening gloves (I threw away my last pair from when I touched the Poison Ivy), and I headed for the 6-7 Poison Ivy plants I found the other day. CAREFULLY, I pulled each out of the ground. I'm sure more will sprout because the stems I pulled didn't have any roots!!! It looks like they made a clean break from the main root system (kinda like rhubarb). I'll ask DH to till up another couple of paths with the tractor along the edge of our corn patch. The LAST thing I want it for any family members to go through THIS!

And these gloves were automatically thrown into the trash! Hands and arms scrubbed! Maybe I should scrub up my legs too---just in case they brushed up against a weed that had the nasty oil on!!!!

Again---I only have a small case, but still, I can't help but be a bit whiny! It's sooooooo bothersome!

At least I know what it looks like now.

A Wednesday Clinic Visit planned...

**{{Sigh}}**
So, today is the first day I could sleep in for summer vacation because I"ve had Vball practice that last two mornings...

6:05-awake (which really is okay)

When I opened my eyes, my left one felt "weird." The swelling from the poison ivy rash on my face has reached the edge of my eye all the way around towards my nose.....

**sigh**

So, it's a definite! As soon at the 8:00 bell tolls, I'll be on the phone with the clinic to get some medical aid with this lil' rash. I have read so much the last few days that I think I have become a Poison Ivy GURU!; it takes anywhere from 1-4 weeks for the rash to disappear on its own. Most information shared some home recipes; one even talked about rubbing a banana peel on the rash. I haven't tried that out. Medical attention was only suggested if the rash covered more than 10% of the body OR if was on the face or genital areas. {{{OH MY!!!!! Genital areas!!!-----OHHHH, my heart goes out to anyone that would be THAT unfortunate!!!!!!}}.

Yesterday, the rash was a bit more annoying and I kept it soothed with a cold washcloth at times and an ice pack at other times. Calamine lotion has been my fragrance of choice lately.

Hopefully the clinic will be able to get me in shortly after opening so I can have the majority of my day ahead of me.

We've had rain over the past couple of days----a MUCH NEEDED rain. The garden most likely needs some attention and maybe I'll devote an hour or so to it. BUT, my quilting also needs some attention---I haven't sewed since Sunday.

I'm no botanist!!!

Out of nowhere yesterday, an annoying itchy area showed up on the inside of my elbow.....

{{scratch-scratch}}.....

and then a bit later...I noticed that my face was a bit itchy too...
......and when I checked it out in the mirror
...I was MAD.......

what would DARE cause this annoying, pestering, IRRRRRRITATING itch and BLISTERING rash?!?!?!!?


off I went MARCHING to find the culprit......

the other night, Paul and I planted corn down in a new patch of field, freshly tilled up. While wandering along one row, I noticed this weed that seemed more "vibrant" than the others......so I took a gander....


stupid ME even said...."hmmmm....hun.......look at this! I wonder if it's poison ivy----I always hear that it comes in leaves of three, but never understood what that meant......does it mean this? That the leaves are group in threes OR that the leaves need to have three points on them?...."

...{{all the while, touching the plant with my gardening gloves....}}.....

Well Folks--------

IF YOU SEE THIS PLANT, DO NOT admire it and WONDER if it is poison ivy!!!!!!!! I have a pretty good feeling-----IT IS!!!!!!!!

Ohhhhh.....RESISTING THE ITCHING is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's enough to make one go INSANE!!!!!!!

At least it's ONLY on my face and inside of my elbow!!!!!!!!!!!!


{{BTW---have you ever tried taking a picture of the inside of your elbow before?? It's not that easy! ..... }}

Scraps decluttered; Too Good to Cut progress; Stash report for THREE WEEKS

How does a mess like this go uncleaned for soooooo long?????? I started the day (Saturday) with sewing on the mind, but.....I was COMPELLED and MOTIVATED to clean up and organize this mess. Who was *I* to ignore the urge!?!?!?!!? I'm SURE you all have a mess like this on the edge of your cutting table, right??? The "collection spot" for all those little ends that aren't big enough for the current project, but too big to toss into the "crumb collection"......yeah, yeah.....

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.............Now THIS makes me want to dig right back in....nothing like a clean, BIG area for cutting........AND LOOK!!!! I found my purple-handled scissors!!!!! Yipeeeee! Most of the scraps were cut into 1.5" logs for my scrappy log cabins.....
remember those?
I have 19 blocks completed; pictured are the blocks I did up the first day of this WIP.... I'm feeling inspired enough to dive back into those blocks!!!! Oh......there needs to be more time in this life for quilting!

When I eventually sat at my machine, I did make some more progress on my Too Good to Cut Challenge blocks....
This fabric line is so flowerly and "light"----glad I finally took the plunge to cut into them, but.....eh....I'm really not a frilly girl. What was I thinking when I bought these fabs?

Okay----onto the stash reports.....
Golly! I haven't reported in three weeks....

Stash Report: May 17 - 23
Used this week: .472 yards
Purchased this week: 0 yards
Used-to-date 2010: 122.105 yards
Purchased-to-date 2010: 131.75 yards
Net used: -9.645 yards

Stash Report: May 24 - 31
Used this week: 3.090 yards
Purchased this week: 0 yards
Used-to-date 2010: 125.195 yards
Purchased-to-date 2010: 131.75 yards
Net used: -6.555 yards

Stash Report: June 1 - 6
Used this week: .817 yards
Purchased this week: 0 yards
Used-to-date 2010: 126.012 yards
Purchased-to-date 2010: 131.75 yards
Net used: -5.738 yards

Still in the RED, but I'm close to being in the BLACK!

Okay.....I'm up early this AM. I'm off to get started :0)

Cassie loves to read & State Track

I try to remember how I spent my summers when I was little. My family was big on camping, and I DO recall spending many-a-days lounging in the hammoc with a book in hand.

Well....my oldest is GUNG-HO to read everyday this summer. She already read one book last night while swinging outside on the playset, but she's not "counting it" because she said that summer reading will start on Saturday (today). The first thing out of her mouth this AM when she came bounding down the stairs was..."Today is the first day of summer reading, Mom!" NO LIE! Not even "good morning, Mom".....nope......"Today is the first day of summer reading, Mom!".....that's what was on her mind.

An hour later, she came marching down to the basement (I was sewing away...pics to come later) and asked..."MOM! When are you going to get the chart made for the summer reading so I can start keeping track?"

Followed by...."Mom, how many days before school start? I want to tell Mrs. Behling (her 4th grade teacher next year) that I read as many books as possible for each day." {{5 minutes later, after looking at a calendar}}..."Okay mom, there are 88 days until school starts!"

Then, it hit me...why not keep track of her reading on my blog? So....we've created a spot on my left sidebar to keep track of her reading...

We'll see how long she stays motivated....

;0)

And now, I find myself parked on the chair, watching Wisconsin State Track, waiting for our two remaining athletes to compete. We have a sophomore girl running in the 400M finals (5th seed), and one junior boy running in the 100M finals (8th seed), and the 400M finals (the favored 1st seed). Yesterday afternoon, our boy broke the State 400M record by .01 seconds in the preliminaries! He has won the state title in the 400M his Freshman AND Sophomore years; he's going for his 3rd State title. GOOD LUCK TOM & JEN!!!

School's Out for Summer!

Let summer officially begin!!!!!

Okay....two days next week---volleyball at school
two days the following week----two full days of Data Retreat at school
A week later, 5 days of Statistics course
{{ THEN TWO WEEKS TO FAMILY!!!!!}}
Then 4 days of Algebra course
then 4 days the following week of Math Grant workshop
Then the following week, 5 days of Volleyball camp
{{TWO WEEKS TO FAMILY!!!!}}
Then volleyball practice/competition begins
the following week brings inservice
And then.....

SCHOOL BEGINS ALL OVER AGAIN.....


okay, let's not COMPLETELY think summer is over before it's even begun!!!! {{Because, afterall, FOUR WEEKS OF SUMMER VACATION DEVOTED TO FAMILY is better than what most have!!!}}


Happy Friday!

Running log - The beginning of training

Saturday ended my running drought.

The last time I hit the road was on March 18. Nothing like a 2 1/2 month dry spell to remind one's self how extremely out of condition one's cardiovascular system becomes, one's leg's muscle tone, and one's mental toughness.



<--Julie and myself, July 2006, MACC 5K
My running buddy (Julie) and I started a pact 4 years ago (2006) to make it a year of running, leading up to a final race: The Ashland Marathon. I did not start blogging until 2008, so "the running year of 2006" was not recorded other than in my hand written journals.

Then 2007 came along, and we again made it a year of running, completing many of the same races we did the year before; and again, ending the season with the Ashland Marathon (both of us improving our time). Definitely, our BEST YEAR OF RUNNING TO DATE!!!

2008 came and went; with a little bit of life getting in the way of training. Our annual Paavo Nurmi Marathon relay (2008 blog) kicked both our butts, but we still held to our pact....sort of. Julie's life held her back from running the Ashland Marathon that year, but I persevered and ALMOST had a PR.

And then.....2009 hit.
UGH!
All you need to do is do a quick once-over on my 2009 Running recap to realize that my running STALLED, BIG TIME! And sadly, I did NOT hold to my internal goal of running one marathon every year.

BUT.....

now, it's 2010!
Sure, sure, the year is half over.....but we've (Julie and I) pacted again......

2010 Paavo Nurmi...
HERE WE COME!
With 11 weeks before the event, I have PLENTY of time to get serious with my training in order to handle those hills again!


But lemme tell ya!...... I've got a LONNNNNG WAAAYYY to go before I'm back in any decent running shape!



Happy Tuesday!