That’s a take-off on Katy Perry’s hit song, “I KISSED A GIRL (and I liked it). Today I finished decoupaging a loose-leaf binder for Stacie to hold all the memorabilia from her entry in the MY GRAMMY MOMENT contest, especially all the positive emails she received. It came out SO great! I will be varnishing tomorrow, so I’ll photograph and post pictures very soon!
It was really a challenging project, because I had never done any kind of book before, and this was a cheaper binder, so it was just a layer of thin plastic on top of thick cardboard, rather than a solid plastic. That made it harder, because the thin plastic would move away from the cardboard and was almost like working on fabric. Difficult, but not impossible! I like working on new surfaces, because every time I’m able to accomplish something new I add more versatility and variety to my repertoire!
When I woke up this morning, my nose was completely clear. It was such a strange feeling. I have been spraying my Rhinocort Aqua more than usual, because I was hoping it would help me breath better and blow my nose less. So, I was ecstatic when I awoke and didn’t have to blow my nose immediately.
The ecstacy only lasted about 10 minutes. After being up for a few minutes, while I was talking on the phone to Eric, I started to sneeze. I sneezed about 6 times in a row and the sneezes were so intense that my throat hurt afterwards! I actually hurt myself sneezing! Then, my nose started running. It was such short-lived relief and then it was the same old story.
The good news today was that it subsided relatively quickly and I haven’t taken any DAYQUIL or NYQUIL in a few days. I’ll never know what sets my allergies off, what makes them worse, and what more I can possibly do to make it stop, but everyone I talk to says their allergies are bad, too, so I know I’m not the only one, and you know what they – misery loves company!
I never left the apartment today. I had planned to finish my project and then take a shower and go out, but after I finished my project (and spoke to Eric) I took a nap. BIG SURPRISE! When I woke up I thought maybe NOW I should take a shower and go out, but instead I made myself a fast dinner of cottage cheese on WASA crisps (which are thick rectangular crackers that taste like cardboard unless you have something good on them – like cottage cheese or hummus.
I also intended to go food shopping today, but I never did that either. I definitely have to do that tomorrow, because the cupboards are bare (and so is the fridge!).
I will be doing the majority of cleaning and organizing tomorrow for Artie’s visit on Monday night, because I have plans to be with Rosemary for most of the afternoon on Sunday.
I don’t have much to do – just the usual dusting and vacuuming, cleaning Conrad’s cage (my sweet darling – I do adore him), and cleaning my desk, which always manages to get filled with papers.
I did go out for a few seconds (literally), because I wanted to pick up my mail. I just put my fluffy bathrobe over my pajamas and walked 100 feet to the mail boxes. It was dark and I didn’t see anyone (although I really wouldn’t have cared if I did). I did have plenty of mail, so I was glad I walked out there!
My niece Jessica – the newlywed – called me tonight. She’s so sweet. She just wanted to see how I’m doing and to tell me that she’s anxious for me to come back. I’ve always been so close to “my girls” as I call them. They’re really my nieces through marriage, as they are all the daughters of Eric’s sisters, but I have known them since they were babies, and I adore them all (as well as my nephews!).
All my nieces and nephews, including the ones on "my side" of the family, have brought me such joy and I have always told all my nieces and nephews that they are the only children we will ever have, so that makes them extra special to us. I know all aunts love their nieces and nephews, but those aunts that don’t have their own children are extra special aunts.
I know my Aunt Evelyn, my mother’s sister, was like a second mother to me and my sisters, even though we sometimes resented it. She was always there—our whole lives, until she died in 1987. She always lived within a few miles of us, and was there for every special occasion, and was a major part of our lives. Because she never had children of her own, she was completely devoted to me and my two sisters.
I always feel a connection to my Aunt Evelyn, although I never got a chance to tell her, because I now know how much we meant to her, because that is what “my kids” mean to me. They may not be my own, but I love them and care about them with an intensity that goes beyond the normal aunt and I know they all feel that.
Well, as I sit here blogging, Conrad is singing his, “please come back in the bedroom” song. You may not believe it, but he is SO loud when I am hanging with him and then go out of the room. I call out to him “I’ll be there in a minute,” and then he’ll quiet down for about 20 seconds. If I don’t go in by then, he starts up again. It’s hysterical.
I am so nervous about the flight home, because he’s so delicate and skittish and I have a feeling he’ll be traumatized by the flight for months when we get to NY. I SO want Eric to see how he’s grown and all the wonderful things he does, but it took him almost 2 months after I went to NY to get back to his “old self” so I’ll be very surprised if the same thing doesn’t happen again.
That’s something I really do have to investigate, because I’m still not sure exactly what I need to do to bring Conrad to NY with me. I know I have to get some kind of clearance from a vet, and then have a special travel cage that will fit under the seat in front of me. Can you imagine the stress of not only packing, shipping, having my car picked up and leaving San Diego permanently, but I also have to worry about my darling Conrad? Oy! The stress!