Just Swell! Friday, May 15, 1am I made the mistake of spending most of the last six hours or so sitting at the computer. Now my right ankle is near twice its normal size, and my foot is not far behind. It's not just the six hour stints at the computer, though. While I was at Connie's, the swelling went away completely. It went away when I was with Jev last summer and fall, too. It's just that when I'm home, I get in my usual rut and don't move around as much as I really need to. I wonder, when Jev is finished with school and I move to be with him, will I get in the same sort of rut? Or will being near him all the time have a cumulative positive effect on my health? When Jev was here for spring break, Mom was amazed at how different I was. Granted, most of the time we were lazy bums, but we were happy lazy bums, and therein lies the difference. Help! I'm being bugged!! It's been warm here since I got back, and I've been leaving the window open in the evenings to catch the cool breeze. Unfortunately, it seems I didn't get my window screen in straight, and there is a gap big enough for lots of flying things to find their way in. The cats have a blast chasing and leaping after them -- even the oldest acts kittenish -- but they keep buzzing me, and I hate bugs! Especially mosquitoes, like the one that is pestering me after I tried to swat him with a shoe earlier this evening. It could be worse, I suppose; the lightning bugs aren't out yet. Our first summer in this house, one of those got in. Just try sleeping with a lightning bug blinking at you from the ceiling directly over your bed! I'm gonna go to sleep now, while I've got the chance... Vicious Cycle -- 1:37 am I hate it when I just turn out the light and close my eyes, only to have an idea pop into my head. I think it's one of the occupational hazards of being a writer, even an unpublished one. I know it won't go away and leave me in peace until I do something about it, and 'something' usually ends up being the length of War and Peace. Well, okay, maybe not that long, but typically, I wind up going to sleep a couple hours later than I'd planned. I hope this isn't one of those nights. I don't know where my mind was going; as I turned out the light, I half expected the green flash of a lightning bug, but it didn't happen. For some reason, though, I got to thinking about my featherbed, and the vicious cycle I go through with it. That, in turn, got me to thinking about other cycles in my life... Wonderful! I'm now hearing this horrific buzzing over in the vicinity of my window. I closed it, most of the way... something's blocking it from closing all the way, but whatever it is sounds too big to get through the gap. I just hope whatever's causing the noise hasn't found it's way in and I just haven't spotted it yet. Have I mentioned that I hate bugs? Window closed. Sounds like it's between the screen and the glass. Of course the tiny moth or whatever that just hit me in the face and scared me out of a year of my life wasn't really appreciated. Yes, I saw X Files Sunday. I don't care if it's just a TV show; I'm jumpy! Now back to your previously unscheduled ramblings... Cycles: I'm a binger -- one who binges, not one who bings -- whether it's a chocolate binge, a writing binge, a stitching binge or a reading binge -- moderation is not in my vocabulary. I may start to read someone's journal, catch up on a month's entries or more in a day or a week, and then not be back for a number of months. I'm the same with the newsgroups I frequent. I guess that the truth of the matter is, I have a short attention span for the amount of patience I have. That may sound weird, or maybe it just sounds like an excuse for being a procrastinator. I guess it's just a negative side effect of having so many interests. So much to do, so little time. If I could just schedule it all: Monday & Tuesday, a writing binge; Wednesday a graphics binge; Thursday, upload all my new stuff and tinker with page layout and all that kind of binge; Friday would be a websurfing and chocolate binge, Saturday a housework and grocery shopping binge, and Sunday, a cross-stitching binge and a day of rest. Then come next Monday, start all over again. That way, I could fit in everything I wanted, not get bored or annoyed, and make progress on my bigger projects. If only it were that easy -- a day for everything; if only there were so few things I wanted to do! If only pigs could fly! ;) Anyway, now that that's out of my system, the featherbed thing can wait for a more decent hour. 2:30am... Chrysalis They used to laugh at me, In my frumpy caterpillar skin. All shiny in their beetle-armor That no taunt could pierce. They wouldn't admit that once, They'd been larvae too. If they could see me now, They would stare at my chrysalis: The wall I built to keep them out, While I rebuilt myself. They would wonder, And frustration would win. Their prying eyes, their hurtful words, Would not find a way in. such a cold and lonely cell it seemed as though it would be my home for eternity But when he found me, he knew. Somehow, he could see the beauty hidden within. He reached through the armor and touched my heart, And he gave me a reason to emerge. Now, each day, I chip at the wall That time and fear have wrought, Knowing soon I will escape this shell, Metamorphosis complete 9:47pm Yes, I had an interesting night last night; turns out I'd had too much caffeine, and between that and the heat, I couldn't relax enough to fall asleep. I finally turned on the ceiling fan, and it lulled me to sleep. The foot swelling problem is not so bad today... I remembered why my foot was better at Connies, at least to some extent: I wore shoes. When I'm home and don't plan to go anywhere, I usually spend most of my day barefoot, or in slippers if it's cold. For some reason, wearing shoes seems to keep the swelling down, at least as far as my foot is concerned. My ankle is still swollen, but it doesn't hurt like the foot does, when the skin gets drawn so tight. Yes, I still need to get more exercise and stop sitting at the computer for such long stretches of time, but at least now I don't feel like my foot is a grape ready to burst. I was the artsy-craftsy type today... I had bought some pretty frosted glass beads at a shop down in Springfield with Connie, and since I was home, I had most of the rest of what I needed to make a bracelet out of them. I was lacking a catch, so I tried to make it big enough to slip on over my hand; I wound up making it about an inch too long, but it's pretty, and I don't feel like trying to re-create my 'closure' for it, which was a royal pain, given the tools I was using. While I was sorting the beads, Mom brought out a tray I'd bought to do my beading stuff with, and a kit she'd found at Michael's to make a bracelet and necklace with beads and safety pins. I figured she could give it to Sarah, the little girl from the house behind ours who comes over to visit the kitties and keep my mom from getting lonely (Sarah's words) while I'm gone on trips and such. That took a couple hours, all told, but it felt good to sit down and start something and get it finished in the same sitting. After a quick lunch, Mom and I took a tour of the yard, to see how all our plants are coming along. I've got strawberries the size of the end of my thumb now, and I'm hoping that at least some of them will ripen before I go away in three weeks; the roses are beginning to bud, and even the shamrock plant had flowers on it. I really do love spring; I guess that's one redeeming factor of living here in Missouri. The sky clouded over and it threatened rain for a couple hours before it finally decided to let go. We had about a thirty minute rainstorm, and then the clouds moved off and the sun began to shine once more. It was rather relaxing, as I sat out on the porch and worked on my cross stitch the whole time. I'm so jazzed, I finally finished up the larger section of rocks and trees, and started stitching part of the dragon's tail today. It's hard to see in my update image (on my index page), but I'm starting to get a sort of outline of the dragon, or at least his lower half. Jev called around four, and we talked for at least fifteen minutes today. Once he told me he'd been working on getting an account set up with some sort of ISP, he asked what I'd been up to lately, and I told him all about the crafts and the cross stitch and the cats' antics. I don't know why, but I was literally having a hard time talking. Usually when we're on the phone, he does the most talking. It's not that I'm uncomfortable talking to him on the phone, or talking to him, period; I'm just not really in the habit of talking, and I trip over my words and usually talk far too fast. I've spent much of the past four and a half years doing most of my living and conversing online, and I guess I'm rusty when it comes to actually verbalizing. Is that pitiful, or what?*sigh* Mom made pizza for dinner, then I came in and watched Babylon 5. Afterwards, I went back out on the porch and worked on the cross stitch some more, while Mom watched an X Files rerun on FOX -- the one with the town full of vampires. I wouldn't have minded watching it, as it was one of the pretty funny ones, but I like working on my cross stitching in daylight, or bright light, and didn't feel like moving, so I just listened, and peeked in once or twice. Haven't called AT&T yet, but I did mention it to Jev, and he thought it sounded like a good plan. I'm just a procrastinator, and haven't gotten around to it yet. I've got a couple weeks yet before I have to cash the check. Anyway, that's about all that's going on here. || Previous Entry | Next Entry || || Home | Journal Index || < back two < previous < [ list all | next five | random ] This Webring site owned by Lisana. > next > ahead two > [ about open pages | about webring ]