These are a few of my favorite things.

 I smile.

I think I can

I'm feeling like the little engine that could. I love this dress for the ease of wear, interesting patterns and the mix. I can't wear something with sleeves that short. But I think I can make something similar to this with a sleeve of some sort.

 It's silky, richly colored, and beautifully patterned. I want one.

This isn't representative of my color and pattern combos but It would be easy to adapt this idea for a dress or top.




I'm thinking I should make some things so I will have something to think about other than the stuff I have coming up. Maybe?????

Me, up to date

Some of the items listed are me. I don't think I shuffle. But the rest fits pretty well.

Lately I haven't known what to say about my life and what's going on. I'm in the midst of some large health decisions. I've taken a sleep test and it was confirmed I have apnea so next week I go back to the sleep center to be fitted with a Cpap machine. Another night of the worst sleep ever. I also am going to be starting the process of getting weight loss surgery. That's right. I have to have help because what I'm doing isn't working. I want to feel better. I haven't written much lately because I'm so tired all of the time that I don't feel like writing or even thinking.

I would have never thought I'd need surgery for weight loss when I was younger. I never did well on diets but I didn't gain weight even when I was being careful with my eating. One of the big things of my sign is Loves food and comfort. Well that is true even though I don't necessarily subscribe to the veracity of astrology. I'm not taking photos lately because of the weight I have gained. I'm going to put a couple of pics on soon to show you me at my biggest yet. And Hopefully I will be able to improve with the surgery and with time. I'm willing to do the work.

I love fashion and because of the love for fashion I have continued to buy things in the large size that I am. I'm lucky in that I can sew and will alter the things as I need to. Some are too small anyway. When ordering from the internet that is a chance you take. Also, the fashion I'm in love with isn't the name brand and arm party variety. I'm a firm believer in dressing to suit myself. I love the bohemian look. I'm too old to pull off some of the looks but there are a lot of women like me around the world who think ethnic clothing is the most interesting. So you will see me trying to make boho work for a heavy 68 year old woman. I live in a conservative area. I suppose I'll stand out in some ways. Oh well!!!!

I am really fond of the people whose blogs I follow. I count on blogs to increase my view of the world and bring me new ideas. Thank all of you who follow my writing for your support. I think I'll need it in the future.

Quick

I had a medical procedure Tues which was interesting. A full day of prep and then recovery after. And of all the worst times to get a really bad cold, I've had it since Sunday. So if you hear a rumble of  ugly thoughts and nasty words going around it's coming from me. I had hoped to blog about a couple of things this week and my mind is so shot I can't remember them.

But I had to bitch.

It broke loose

I went to the doctor. I have a hernia in my big fat stomach. I'd said I didn't want to have pics made because of weight. I eat when I'm stressed, among other times. Anyway, I went to a surgeon. It turns out I will have surgery. Not hernia surgery but weight loss surgery. And if that wasn't enough, I'll be going to a sleep center to find out about my sleep apnea. And I'll be getting a couple of other medical procedures done. And an eye exam.

I remember thinking that if the financial problem worked out I'd be fine. Well, it did. I'll be able to begin work on the house and have pretty new floors before Christmas. Am I happy? I'm just not sure. I think I'm trying to worry about too many things at once. OK. But how do I slow down. How do I really do things one day at a time? I'm going a little nuts here. So thanks for listening to my rant.

I said I was ready

Sometimes I think I spend all of my time waiting. I tend to think-"everything will be alright when _______ happens". I have big plans. Yeah.

Anyway, I will soon know what will happen over the next 4-6 months. I am going to be doing some redecorating. I've already talked about that. But at the same time, I have found out that there are some other things I have to deal with.



I finally went to the Doctor a couple of weeks ago. I have some things I needed to check on. Friday I went to a sleep center to start the testing process. But I don't know when that happens because this coming Tuesday I have an appointment with a surgeon. It seems I have a lady hernia. A tear in the muscle that runs from ribs to pubis. Anyway, it tore in a north-south direction and will have to be repaired. In order to begin working on the sleep thing I'll need to see when the surgery will be and what it will involve. So the house thing is also in limbo. Damn.

You may have noticed that there are no recent pics of me on the blog. That is partly because I have gained weight. I have tried but losing is just not working for me now. I found out one reason why. It seems that when a person has sleep apnea, they don't have a good metabolism and there is a problem with their leptin level. So they tend to hold onto the weight. And they are tired all of the time. And they want to sleep a lot. And boy can I relate to that. I can remember having a hard time staying awake at work and often I'd have to go out to my car on my lunch break and take a nap. I think I have had this problem all of my life. It's practically impossible to get through a day now without a nap.

About the pics. I'm really ashamed of the weight situation. I see people losing weight and when I really try, I tend to get sick to my stomach. It seems empty isn't good for me. So I'm very interested in getting some good help for the apnea.

Because I've gotten some financial relief I have found a place to buy clothes online that are cute and really different from what I have been getting. I hope the surgeon cuts some of the fat out of my oversized belly so they will look good on me. I found that shopping is more difficult now because of the back pain. It's amazing how much back support comes from the stomach muscles. So Zulily is my new go to place for clothes. They have some fabulous things for regular women's sizes and some better choices for plus sizes too. And the kids clothes almost make me wish I had a little one. I've also ordered a couple of things for the house. The way they work their good deals is explained at the site. I'm so glad I found them.

So, as usual, things are once again up in the air. But not boring. Never boring.
 

I'm ready for a change

 You can see that I have a nice deck and some lovely trees in the back of the house. Boy was that deck expensive but I enjoy looking at it and being out there when it's not too hot.
I had a couple of windows replaced with a single glass window and it turned my home around. I moved furniture in the den with the help of my honey and I'm satisfied. I have all of the accessories I need. But, and that is a big one, it needs to be painted and I need new floor. The carpet is 20 years old. It was blue but when dirt and Tennessee red clay are added to blue it creates a sort of blue green orange nasty mess. And after adding the window almost 4 years ago the room still needs repainting. I've let the house suffer enough. And now I'm doing some finaglin' to fix the problem. The kitchen vinyl is almost 25 years old. The carpet in the living room/office is almost 25 years old. And it's nasty. I did get new carpet in the dining room. Now it needs to be painted too. We need new floors all over the house but the expense---dayam.

 This is an area between the house and the garage which houses the laundry room and a bathroom. For some reason living things die here. It gets the late afternoon sun in summer and the heat from the dryer in winter. And I'm planning to put in a concrete piece with some decorative rocks and maybe some ground cover. Another thing to do.
And we have tried to grow grass in the back yard. No go. I don't know what to do next. The dogs don't help much. I'd like to enlarge the fenced area. Not cheap.

I have done some craig's list purchases and have a few pieces on the deck. This fall I'll enjoy cooking and eating out there. And I've decided to cover the tables and chairs over the winter. I'm using the cheap plastic table cloths and duct tape. Is there anything that stuff won't fix.

The chairs in this pic were garage sale chairs and have gone to the great chair rodeo in the sky. I've got to get back on Craig's list.

 I purchased the sofa and chair at a local furniture store and their quality leaves a lot to be desired. I cover the sofa seat with a sheet because the dogs really do shed. The small one in this pic is Cheyenne who now weighs about 65 pounds. Anyway, the table is composed of prebought base and a top made by my honey of left over tile from a job he did. I'll include a better photo later but I'm really proud of him. Again, the carpet is supposed to be blue.

Here I'm looking into my kitchen. I plan on having the whole lower floor except the dining room done in laminate. I've been told that with active dogs it will be more durable. I'm so excited I can barely breathe.

Another problem. I took down wallpaper in the kitchen and bath. At least I took down most of it. I need to prep the walls for the painter. I've put it off for so long because the job of getting it all done seemed overwhelming. I am so excited.

I've been working on the budget problem for the
last few weeks. Even when there is a lovely outcome waiting there is also the stress of worrying if everything will work out and when. Also in
the middle of the process I'm trying to clean out all of the hoarded crap I don't need so that when the work is done I don't have to think any more about what needs to be done for a while.

Life is an unusual adventure for me lately. I'll post things as they happen.