Saturday, October 25, 2014

Birthday Gifts, Other Stuff, and Christmas is Two Months from Today!!!

Hello!

Oi!  Or is it Oy?  Whatever it is, I am uttering it. The past couple weeks have been a mishmash of annoyance & confusion &, well, Oi!  Or Oy!  Or both!!!

Heart-related issues.  I'm not sure where this is going, but there's talk of a third surgery   : (   As Doris sang, "whatever will be, will be" ... but Oi/Oy! I have another followup with the doctor a couple days before Thanksgiving.  I'm assuming that he will discontinue my medication again and we'll see what happens after that.

Tiredness is a major problem.  I just don't get it. I'm pretty certain the majority of people in the world can get through their days without needing an afternoon nap for an hour or two.

Last week I had my credit card number stolen  : ( I wouldn't have even known it happened if I hadn't looked at my online bank statement to check something one day.  I was shocked to see a bunch of pending charges I did not make!  I immediately called the bank.  They asked me if I knew how someone got hold of my card number.  How would I know?  I purchase things quite a bit online but have never had any problems like this.  The bank issued me a new card, refunded the questionable charges back into my account, & launched an investigation.  I then changed my passwords to every password-requiring site I visit.  I hope they tell me how this person came to acquire my number.  I was told they could not have made charges with the number only.  They would've had to have known the expiration date as well as the 3-digit code on the back!  Very scary & annoying!

Let's see ... what else.  Our mower guy kinda cheated us.  One of our toilets has stopped working.  A mouse (Ed) made his home in our garage, & his brother & sister-in-law (Ralph & Alice) decided to make their home up the road in our cable box where they chewed through a wire that controls our phone line.  This resulted in an extremely loud hum on the line & we couldn't really hear anyone who called us for days.  The phone technician shooed Ralph & Alice away & made his repairs.  Hopefully the little fur balls won't try to set up housekeeping there again.    

On a happier note, Christmas is just two months from today!!!

I absolutely cannot wait!  I don't know why but I think I've been ready to start Christmas decorating since July!  Sometimes I have to literally force myself to not bring the tree downstairs & start stringing lights!  I guess the fact that John has been playing Christmas CDs for the past few months might have something to do with this ... or maybe it's just me   : )

The temps have been a bit cooler ... sometimes in the 50s during the day & in the 30s at night ... but we're getting a revisiting of bad weather (known to some of you as warm/hot weather) in the coming days.  It's actually predicted to be near 80 degrees one day!  Ugh!  Where's the barf bag?  All things considered, we've had a pretty nice autumn.  The photo below shows what is probably our favorite tree in the yard.  Its autumn color is always so beautiful!  Isn't it nice how God could have just given us plain ol' green trees all year round, but instead He makes the leaves have these gorgeous colors for us each fall?  
What a beautiful prelude to the most wonderful, magical season of all!!!  Yes, I'm talking about winter   : )   I am, as you can no doubt guess, eagerly anticipating the arrival of snow!  I will be so happy when the white stuff starts to fall!!! Think of me looking like this, but without such a thick beard & maybe with a little less hair on my head.
We were blessed with some cool weather earlier this week so I dusted off the hot chocolate maker & make myself a cup of yummy white hot chocolate using a Ghiradelli white chocolate bar! It's the nearest thing to heaven in a cup   : )

And instead of a cake for my birthday, I got to eat this very huge, very yummy cupcake purchased at Fresh Market in Lexington!  I could have eaten a dozen of them   : )
I promised to share with you the gifts I received from fellow stitchers, which has always been the thing one does here in blogland, so here goes.  All the gifts were very prettily wrapped but of course I only took photos after opening them.

From my buddie Michelle ... who also loves birds ... I received this pretty cut of fabric, bird-related charms, a cute little wooden hanging bird, & ribbon which says "Everything Stops for Tea" ... the "tea" being a little teacup.  And it does!  Also a lovely card.  
This next gift is from my sweet friend Robin in VA. A pretty card & beautifully stitched pin pillow.
My dear friend Vicki sent me a beautiful card & three charts from my Wish List.
And last, but not least, my good friend Sally sent me the cute card, cross stitching magnet, & gorgeous little lamb ornament.
Thank you all again for remembering me on my special day   : )

Hard as this may be to believe, I haven't done any stitching for the past two weeks.  I sent a lot of things to my finisher to be finished & knew she probably wasn't going to have time to finish anything else for me before Christmas, so after stitching three designs at the beginning of the month, I decided to do a bit of knitting.  I've always wanted/needed a shawl.  I purchased some bulky yarn & tried the Basic Prayer Shawl pattern, but my yarn was variegated & the pattern of the shawl was totally lost in the color changes.  I then un-knitted that bit & started again using a simple garter stitch pattern.  I'm not real happy with the results ... I made a few errors & you know how OCD I am with myself regarding that ... so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.  I haven't blocked it yet, but here's a photo. 
I am now project-less.  I could start another knitting project, or a stitching project (I do miss stitching), but I'd best get after a few finishing projects I need to get done before Christmas.  I farm out my "pretty" designs to an outside finisher who is way more creative & skilled than I am, but plain primitive stuff I can do reasonably well ... I think. 

Well, just when you think things are looking up. Remember the non-working toilet I mentioned above?  I planned to call the plumber about it on Monday.  I mean really ... who wants to call a plumber on the weekend?  We have 2 other toilets. No big deal.  I did a load of laundry this morning, then decided to do another load.  The washer started to fill for the rinse cycle, & when I went to pour in some fabric softener, the water was very soapy.  Odd.  I decided to put the washer on double rinse to make sure all the soap would rinse out.  I then went into the kitchen & before too long something just didn't sound right.  It sounded like the water in the washer was maybe overflowing onto the floor, but I had just been in there & it was barely full.  I went into the laundry room ... no water running down the sides of the washer but I still heard the strange water sound. I then realized it was coming from the half bath across the hall.  I opened the door & the water was flowing like Niagara from that toilet.  I turned off the water for the tank & couldn't understand why it kept flowing.  I yelled for John to bring towels.  They barely sopped up the water which I now realized was soapy.  Was the water somehow draining from the washer to the toilet? I turned off the washer & the bathroom Niagara eventually stopped.  John & I got the floors all dried (we've now got a mountain of soaking wet towels in the utility sink) & then decided to look in the bathroom with the non-working toilet.  It didn't look pretty.  The toilet didn't overflow but it's very nasty looking in the bowl, & "stuff" backed up into the shower   : (   I called & luckily reached our plumber who told me something about the septic tank & a snake & a D Box. Apparently if the snake didn't work, the D Box would have to be dug up? That didn't sound good ... but everything worked out well.  He arrived, the snake did its job, & we were given the phone number of a septic company that we are to call to come "blow out" the tank.  This is the first time in our lives that we've had a septic tank.  Can't say I'm too fond of them after this experience, but it could have been worse.  I often put clothes in the washer, then we go out shopping or whatever.  Then when we get home, I simply need to take the clothes out of the washer & put them in the dryer.  Won't be doing that anymore!

It is now mid afternoon & I am thinking about how I had planned to accomplish things today other than washing a mountain of towels, sanitizing bathrooms & floors, etc.  Maybe tomorrow. Hmmmm ... reminds me of an old Iveys song from my youth.  (The group Badfinger was called The Iveys before they changed their name to Badfinger.)  The lyrics have no connection with the day I had today, but here's an old video for you to enjoy.  Maybe Tomorrow ... lip synced by The Iveys.

20 comments:

Vickie said...

Well then! Yikes! We had birds take up residence in some box for the phone line down the block earlier this year. No good.
We had a problem with our septic tank at our last home. Same thing with "stuff" in the shower, and the washer causing problems too. No good. I am praying for you.♥

Maggee said...

I absolutely LOVE reading your blogposts! I wish you a Belated Birthday! Dang! You have some lovely gifts there... And I KNOW you are super excited for Christmas' arrival in two months! I have been thinking along those lines these days... but one holiday at a time for me! Thanksgiving first! Sorry to hear about the plumbing mishap, but I am surely glad it was an easier fix! Hugs!

The Bear's Blog said...

♫ Happy Birthday Miss Shirlee, Happy Birthday to you ♫

Hugs
Prudence & The Gang ♥

Robin in Virginia said...

Sorry to hear about the plumbing mishap! Thanks for sharing a picture of your birthday cupcake! It looked quite yummy.

I'm with you on the weather. I want it to stay in the 50s and low 60s until it is time for the snow to fall.

Lovely gifts you received! And your shawl is very pretty.

Robin in Virginia

Simple Pleasure said...

Dearest Shirlee,
I am sorry to hear of your possible continued issues with your heart...I will offer prayers on your behalf.
Your birthday gifts are wonderful...so glad you shared the pictures. Oh, that cupcake...there is enough frosting on there to make me truly H-A-P-P-Y! I'm glad you enjoyed your special day.
The issues with your credit card are frightening. I do a lot of online ordering...I'm always concerned about leaving my card info saved for future purchases???? I hope the credit card company is thorough in their investigation.
Oh, those horrible septic tank issues...I am thankful that sewers are now in my area. My son is also on septic and a well...many issues, too.
Please share pics when you stitching gets back from the finisher. Hopefully, this week will afford you some stitching time.
We've had a few days with the temps going up to the 70's...yuck!!!!
I apologize for going on and on...
Busy Hands...Happy Heart
Patricia

marly said...

Beautiful gifts. Christmas will be here before we know it and so will the white crap.

Ele said...

Love reading your posts, but so sorry about the mishaps. I had my credit card stolen a couple of years ago and still wonder how it could happen...!
Glad all has been solved and wish you all the best for the visit to the doctor
Gorgeous gifts and lovely shawl
Looking forward to the cold season here too, cannot wait to wear hat and gloves again!!

Michelle said...

So glad you had a happy birthday Shirlee you received some lovely things.

The colours you used in your shawl are lovely xx

gracie said...

You have just brightened my morning...here it is 1:37 AM and I am wide awake...it will be a better long day now.

Sarah in Stitches said...

EEK! It's like the series of unfortunate events. I really hope you get this septic tank situation fixed - it does not sound pretty! I'm also hoping you won't be needing that third surgery. I'll keep you in my thoughts, Shirlee :D Beautiful birthday gifts from Blogland. Enjoy your goodies!

cucki said...

My dear lovely gifts and your shawl is so pretty
I hope you have a lovely today and always xx

butterfly said...

Sorry you are having more heart issues Shirlee.
Sorry about your card too.
Lets hope they catch these people.

Love your shawl.
Look after yourself and rest when you can.
Your in my prayers.

Kaisievic said...

Oh dear re the toilet blocking issues - how awful for you and John.

Simply Victoria said...

Oy indeed! You sure are having some continuing trials. Hold tight! He will bring you through.
Your shawl looks great!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Blimey, it's all go at your house!!

I just love that one red tree in the middle of all the green, it reminds me of you - I don't care if I stand out from the pack, this is me and I'm happy!

The cupcake birthday cake is amazing too, it looks delicious and very special.

The Inspired Stitcher said...

I'm glad the birthday surprises were a bright spot for you. We've had septic tank issues and it's not fun at all. Hang in there sweetie! Hugs!

Carol said...

Oh, dear--not more heart surgery?! I am so sorry to read that, Shirlee... Please keep us posted and take extra good care of yourself. With problems like the septic tank issues, that can't be good for your stress level! I'm so sorry you have to deal with this... And the credit card theft--been there, done that--twice!! Once ours was stolen at a small restaurant in VT and they bought $1500 worth of tools with it. It's really scary how often this happens.

Lovely gifts from around the world! And each and every one is so well-deserved... Hope you have a good week ahead, Shirlee--please take good care of yourself :)

Julie said...

Belated birthday wishes to you .... you received lovely gifts.

The cake looks delicious.... yummy!

Sally said...

You received some beautiful gifts Shirlee.

So sorry to hear about all the problems you're having. Fingers crossed you don't need more surgery.

Pam in IL said...

I don't even know where to start. I'm praying that all the stressful things get smoothed out and giving thanks that you have some nice gifts and little pleasures to enjoy.