Archive for October, 2007

I think we’re gonna need more candy

October 27, 2007 · Filed under Halloween, Life in Peekskill

Sources have warned us to expect in the neighborhood of 150 - 200 kids come Halloween night. I’ve made two separate candy-shopping excursions so far, mixing it in with my regular trips to the stupidmarket so as not to scare myself. Here’s what sits in bags on the dining room floor right now:

1 bag of Snyder’s pretzels (36 pouches. G says we’re gonna get egged for trying to give away pretzels. I think not.)

3 bags of Butterfinger (51 pieces; I ate three)

1 bag Butterfinger Crisp (18 pieces)

4 bags Kit Kat (84 pieces)

1 bag Brach’s Honey Candy Corn (75 pouches)

1 bag Jolly Rancher Assortment (100 pieces of fruit-flavored chewy candy, hard candy sticks, and lollipops)

1 bag Junior Mints (16 pieces; they were not on sale like the rest were)

1 bag Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (15 pieces)

1 bag Reese’s Crispy Crunchy Candy (20 pieces)

2 bags Snickers (36 pieces)

2 bags Milky Way (36 pieces)

4 bags Nestlé Crunch (96 pieces)

2 bags 3 Musketeers (42 pieces)

1 bag Tattoos For Trick-Or-Treaters: A Safe And Healthy Alternative (20 boxes, because there should be some tricks after Halloween is officially over)

That comes out upwards of SIX HUNDRED FUN-SIZE CANDY BARS. But at two hundred kids, that’s a measly three apiece. Or is that the going rate? The last time I had trick-or-treaters I was so excited I just told them to take handsful. Or am I going to be bringing in a boatload of leftovers to work November 1st? Weigh in, people!

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So I went to Rhinebeck.

October 22, 2007 · Filed under knitting, shopping, yarn

with hubby in tow, credit cards akimbo. My overall feeling? Meh. Underwhelming. I know, I know. Maybe it was the last dregs of PMS, or the feeling of being watched, or that it was the Sunday and not the Saturday so there was less choice, or the fact that we didn’t get there until one pm, or that I couldn’t pay attention to the festival map, or I don’t know what all else, but I didn’t get all squee’d out like I did last year, breathless and dizzy. I also didn’t come home with a fraction of the loot, but I did purchase some nice things. I didn’t take enough pictures, there’s my mood again, but I did capture a bit. We arrived in time to hear half of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s talk, I think all of which she covers in her books and at the last two talks I’ve heard, but she is The Yarn Harlot Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka The Yarn Harlot and I was thrilled to breathe the same air. She admired the basketweave scarf that I had on (I made it for my dad for last winter’s holiday season but didn’t finish it in time so it will be gifted this year.) and when someone asked during the questions part about her shirt, she deftly spotted me standing in back, wearing its twin and pointed me out. Everyone turned to look! (I AGAIN forgot the stitch markers. Didn’t even think about them until I was about to get Casts Off signed. Idiot girl.) and get bookbookbookbook signed (I’ve got them all done now), but missed completely the Ravelry/blogger meetup. I saw some Blogger Bingo Squares, but no one on my card.

BrabantsYummy, furry feetBelgian heavy draught horses with creepy guyWhat we did see were some beautiful horses, Belgian Brabants, tended to by this guy in black Spandex. Ew. The horses are a bit smaller than Clydesdales, but just as furry. They remind me of giant Maine Coon cats that can pull a sleigh. Yum!

We stopped by Journey Wheel and talked with Jonathan Bosworth awhile about the charkha wheel. It felt very, very strange to use, I’m not so sure that I liked it. I know that it’s what Gandhi spun with, but it felt counterintuitive. I think maybe it was that my right hand had to really concentrate on what it was doing, and I’m a lefty. G intimated that maybe I’d like one for Christmas. I really don’t know. Jonathan said that it usually takes about four years for someone to go from trying a charkha to buying one.

A meager hoard To the loot: from Shelridge Farm, the Cropped Aran kit in Green Apple (which they’re sending me next week, no more left), of which I neglected to take a photo for reference (again, idiot girl was holding the camera), from Hilcreek Fiber Studio I scored a pair of Ashford Mini Hand Cards, an oak 2-yd niddy-noddy, and an extra bobbin for my Ashford Joy, from Green Mountain Spinnery I procured two skeins each of Partridgeberry and Pink Pink Mountain Mohair (70% wool, 30% yearling mohair) with which I plan to make a scarf for myself to match the Lynn Pullman blanket coat my mother bought me for ChristmaChanuKwanzaaKah last year, and from The Good Shepherd I bought a skein each of Raspberry Dreams and Peach Dreams Shepherd’s Rainbow worsted weight, lovely, vareigated, 75% wool, 25% mohair blends. That’s it. No roving, no qiviut. A very sparse hoard, and I’m cranky about the whole damn thing.

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“My first act as Queen/King of the World will be…”

October 21, 2007 · Filed under Sunday Scribblings, bipolar, meds

Universal health care for everyone. EVERYONE ON THE PLANET. And by that I mean good, effective, reasonable health care where the doctors and nurses don’t treat you as if you are a blight upon the Earth. Or crazier than they’ve ever seen before. Or stupid and ignorant. Even if you are. I don’t intend for doctors and hospitals and drug companies to go broke or die trying, no, not at all, but to be simply reasonable about the whole thing. For those of us who require more, erm, attention in the health care department than others, I think that it shouldn’t break your bank to try to be well. I think that Big Pharma ought to change the wording for their “indigent patient programs.” Here’s what the dictionary had to say about the word indigent:

1. lacking food, clothing, and other necessities of life because of poverty; needy; poor; impoverished.
2. Archaic.

a. deficient in what is requisite.
b. destitute

Deficient in what is requisite. Oh, man, is that a stigma. As if we needy folks aren’t needy enough, you have to add stigma to the top? And I, working retail, make too much money to be considered. Do you know what retailers are paying these days? Oh yeah, there’s a pretty passable discount, but do you actually know what my paycheck reads for standing on my feet with crazy clown smile on my face pushing one more extravagantly priced knife, one more hurricane lamp, forty hours a week? After taxes and insurance (for both of us, because as a one-man operation, my husband doesn’t qualify as a small group for insurance), it isn’t much. I took a pay cut to work where I do now (but the insurance is actually better and cheaper than at my last job, so it kind of evens out), and my employers are pretty high up on the pay scale retail-wise, trust me, I’m not cranking on my job, just the whole benefits thing. Ha! They have the nerve to refer to the whole scam as benefits. And I’m at the mercy of the insurance company, they get to decide if I’m worth the cost of my medication. One company, years ago, decided that they weren’t going to pay for brand-name Wellbutrin any more, just for bupropion, the generic. My thoughtful pharmacist (can you taste the sarcasm?) informed me that it was a “Class A generic,” meaning that they are bioequivalent (containing the same active ingredients as the original formulation). However, as Wikipedia points out, “Bioequivalence, however, does not mean that generic drugs are exactly the same as their innovator product counterparts, as chemical differences do exist. Some doctors and patients emphatically believe that certain generic drugs are not as effective as the products they are meant to replace…” She then adds, flippantly, “I mean, it can’t hurt to try it, right?” Lady, it will hurt you, me, and anyone who gets in the way if this shit doesn’t work. Luckily, for everyone, it did work, up until recently.

Or maybe I’m just cranky.

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$111.84

October 15, 2007 · Filed under Life in Peekskill, bipolar, meds, work

Is how much 60 80mg capsules of Geodon costs with my new insurance plan. Way better than $441.58, which is what it cost under my old plan. Still not as good as free, but I knew that my pdoc wouldn’t be able to keep handing it out to me forever. Wonder how it’s going to react to the simply lovely Gewurtztraminer I’ve been nursing for the past two hours? I’m a bit dizzy…Best drug news? Generic Ativan costs EIGHT DOLLARS.

Had to be at work at nine this morning (ugh) and was, of course, exhausted. But surprise, surprise, I gobbled down a Triple Chocolate Chaos Balance Bar (no high fructose corn syrup!) and felt instantly revived. I mean, within minutes of eating the last bite. I woke up, felt better, total yay. I’m going to make sure I have plenty of these bad boys in my locker for the future.

Reheated the second half of last night’s turkey, bacon, and cider pie for dinner tonight, and the flavors just melded and blended into what I lovingly refer to as “crack.” I crisped it just a little too much in the toaster oven (I keep forgetting that it runs hotter than it says) and had to scrape off some of the charred bits, but it was pretty damn tasty. We ate while watching Heroes, totally forgetting about the aforementioned Gewurtztraminer until after we’d licked our plates. Damn!

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A little more verve

October 14, 2007 · Filed under bipolar, meds, work

To say that I haven’t felt “myself” in a really long time is an understatement. Replacing the Abilify with Geodon and dumping Wellbutrin altogether has definitely made a huge difference, and shifting my hours has made a possibly even bigger difference. But apparently not enough, to one person at my job. Someone who has a big mouth and has managed to get the ear of my boss. Someone who doesn’t have my best interests at heart, to say the least. Someone who thinks I don’t “move fast enough.” This one person, I have been warned, has it in for me. That she’s aiming for the top of the ladder and for some reason, feels threatened by me and is trying to knock me out of her way. She, of course, has not said anything of the sort to my face, but has persisted with snide, harassing comments with a supercilious tone of voice. I worked my ass off yesterday (won the sales contest, thank you very much!), hustled and bustled, and was told by another coworker that my effort was noticed, that I was doing a good job. Not fifteen minutes later, the loser comes at me like a bad parent, seemingly determined to teach me a lesson. I’m going to document every comment she makes, and if there is another conversation with my boss about my supposed poor performance, I’m going to read it like a laundry list. And advise her to speak to the coworkers with no axe to grind, who are without prejudice. Meanwhile, I’m going to just try the fuck harder, to put even more effort into everything I do there already. And hope that my pdoc will prescribe an effective antidepressant when the blasted Wellbutrin is finally out of my system.

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I AM GOING TO RHINEBECK!!!

October 11, 2007 · Filed under knitting

Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo, hosted by Stitchy McYarnpantsAs of today, I am going to be there on Sunday, early enough to catch Stephanie Pearl-McPhee for a signing of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot’s Guide to the Land of Knitting. Squee! I am also playing Blogger Bingo, so if you see me coming, DON’T RUN! (I may have chocolate.) I am SO FREAKING EXCITED, can you tell? I can really get in and enjoy the Rhinebeck Ravelry group now. Happy sigh.

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It is nearly done

October 8, 2007 · Filed under Life in Peekskill, cats · Tagged

Moving the inventory of the store I used to have, My Favorite Things, to my house, that is. There’s one half-empty storage compartment left, the most expensive one (natch!) at Westy’s in Port Chester. Four strapping young lads from Collins Brothers Moving (methinks they are not the actual Collins brothers) arrived at the UHaul in White Plains at 8:30 this morning to load up all the wonderful things that used to live in my store. All except the delicious seven-foot long front counter, which I’d gotten from United House Wrecking in Stamford, CT. I hope to sell it back to them. It’s none the worse for wear, really, and I’ll only ask half of what I paid. They should jump at the chance, right? I’d originally planned to top it with glass and use it as an island in my dream house. But. It. Won’t. Fit. Here. Le sigh.

They loaded everything into an overlarge truck (for once in my life there was too much truck for the amount of crap I haul around) and toodled back to Peekskill where G had already ensconced the cats in the basement. Everything, save two loaded flat files, went up three and a half freaking flights of stairs to the attic. Thank goodness I was only supervising; it made me tired just watching them.

So here’s what my attic looks like now (didn’t have the foresight to take before pictures, sorry):

Boxes That’s in the LARGER of the two rooms up there. Here’s the smaller room that was going to be a studio (still might be if I can get my shit together).

More boxes…and a bonus!

Notice the two pointing arrows? Click on the picture to make it larger. THAT’S HARRY, chillin’ out up in the beasty-hot attic, right where he’s not supposed to be. When we first moved in, he got himself underneath the floorboards. Unbelievable. Here’s a better shot of His Royal Hotness:

Harry, where he’s not supposed to be.

Anyway, we’re trying to go apple picking. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but we’ll try.

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Another $4.95 wonder

October 6, 2007 · Filed under Life in Peekskill, shopping, work

Noodle Bowl With Chopsticks, only $4.95. What a bargain!The Noodle Bowl with Chopsticks from Crate came home with me today. Four of them, in fact. Delicious mahogany/chocolate brown porcelain, both dishwasher and microwave safe. Perfect for that homemade chicken & shrimp fried rice that I’m going to beg G to make tomorrow.

I joined NaBloPoMo. It’s a way of challenging myself to blog every single day in November. BipolarLawyerCook put me up to it. Well, not exactly. She blogged about it, and it seems like such a cool idea that I had to do it. Not like I’ve got anything to do or anything going on in my life. As Amy Winehouse says, “No, no, no…” It’ll be stressful and annoying at times, but then, I think, I just might work up a backlog of posts for when I run out of steam. Like the fact that I really want to talk about the Shiva lingham river stone that Jenn gave me with which to meditate, even have part of the post written in my head (there’s a dangerous thought), but I’m going to wait and not post it tonight. Save some for later.

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New coffee mugs

October 5, 2007 · Filed under shopping, work

Latté mug, 20oz. That’s a LOT of coffee!came home with me today. Two of them. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Test drive is tomorrow (later today?) with four teaspoons of Green Mountain Hazelnut coffee. I do not intend on buying the Schiuma Milk Frother (Crate has it spelled incorrectly on the site. I’ve seen it in person. You can trust me.) even though it looks wicked cool. It also looks like a bitch to clean properly. I love having a discount at Crate & Barrel.

E2A: Photo, with the caveat that I do not drink my coffee black, as pictured. I add a little more than a smidge of Lactaid fat-free milk and a lot more than a teaspoon of sugar.

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Asthmacat

October 4, 2007 · Filed under cats, meds

When Pyewacket found us two years, one month, and three days ago, she weighed six pounds, fourteen ounces, and was covered in scabs. We subsequently found out that she has asthma, and stress, airborne allergens, and cold weather bring it out in her. Fast forward two years, one month, and one day and here again is the cold weather and we’re in a new house with all sorts of airborne allergens. One of our friends gave us the name of a very reputable vet WHO MAKES HOUSE CALLS. We called her, left a concerned message saying that our little (now eight and a half pound) cat was having regular (every other day) coughing spells and that we had her on prednisone but her scabs were worse than we’d ever seen them and would she please come take a look?

Dr. Andrea Jacobson called us the next morning at nine (ugh) set up an appointment for that morning at ten (Tuesday), and arrived not much later. She examined the very amenable Pye, pronounced her “beautiful” and questioned us extensively on our habits; do we do any smoking? (No.) Of any kind? (Again, no.) Do we burn candles/use air freshener? (No.) What do we feed them? (Harmony Farms, Wellness, Pet Guard, Pet Promise, a host of natural and organic foods. None of that Friskies shit.) What kind of litter do we use? (Arm & Hammer and oops, Fresh Step. Fresh Step is a no-no because of all the fragrance. I’ll be returning the two new containers tomorrow). Where does she sleep and on what? (Any available or not-so-available box, and at night, the bed, with us.) Is the coverlet cotton? (Nope, am ordering the Mercer duvet cover from the Crate Outlet tomorrow. Oh shit. It’s Furniture Collection. Does that count if it’s at the Outlet? Hmph.) And seventy-three other questions that I can’t remember. So we now have a plan of attack. The vet called in a prescription for prednisolone (THAT was an interesting phone call; you try explaining that the name of the patient really is Pyewacket. They still got the spelling wrong.) and there’s a whole regimen of so many for so many days, then less, then less still. I’ve ordered Wysong Nurture Feline Kitten Diet although idiot girl forgot that Amazon might, just might have it and ordered it from somewhere else. Stoopid girl. Oh well, they’ll go through it fast enough, all three beasties are going to be on it from now on. To prevent “storage mites,” I’m freezing a containerful of the dry food overnight (even though the bulk of the food is in an airtight container, they can still get in. Ew.) to feed to them in the morning. And now they are getting twice as much wet food as before, a three-ounce can split between two plates twice a day. I even saw Pye eating the wet food yesterday, wonder of wonders! Cereal Girl, eating wet food? The boys had had their fill and left some on the plate, a normally unusual event. Don’t get on me about the teeny amount of wet food they’re allotted; they’ll leave any more than that to get stale, I’ve tried every good food out there. Along with the regimen of prednisolone, Pye will begetting a once-daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids called DermCaps (for petite and miniature breeds).

The vet applauded our habits and practices, and let us know with the changes to be implemented, we should see a turnaround in our little girl. Who is sleeping soundly on a bamboo placemat on the dining room table.

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