Ladybug Studio

Backing Out

I hurt my back a little bit on Saturday while playing tennis. At least, I guess that's how it happened. I didn't notice anything at the time, but after showering and having lunch, it started to hurt. Since I can't imagine that I pulled a muscle having lunch, I'm blaming it on tennis.

It's not terrible. And in fact, I'm 99% better now. But I did spend the rest of the weekend walking very slowly while hunched over like an old lady. I skipped my lesson on Monday and doubles on Tuesday, just to be safe. I don't think I'll attend tennis on Saturday either, but that's partly because I'm planning on biking instead.

Alex is on his own for a few days while Jeanene and Akiva are out of town. He's going to come over, probably on Friday, so that Tom can help him install a new crank set on his mountain bike. He bought a sweet one while we were in North Carolina, but hasn't had time to do the work. Tom enjoys working on bicycles, so it's perfect for both of them.

We'll probably go mountain biking on Saturday. The weather should be just right.

Ready for Cookie Time

I bought a neat "bookazine" (not quite a book, but better than a magazine) this weekend and it has me inspired and enthused about baking cookies this holiday season. By the makers of Cuisine at Home, the cookbook includes dozens of cookie recipes with big color photos of gorgeous, delicious goodies. Also included are step-by-step how-to's with photos and lots of helpful tips and techniques. The hard part is going to be deciding where to start. Shall I make Inside Out Almond Joy Macaroons, Cinnamon Coins or perhaps Chocolate Caramel Cracker Bars?

After a discussion with Joy yesterday, we both agree that making cookies together would be fun. She too has purchased a new cookie recipe book, so we will have plenty to choose from. I'm looking forward to it!

I made Mum's fudge sauce for Tom last night and it came out great. While Joy seems to have mastered the technique, Ann and I still have issues at times and end up with a water thin sauce. But I let it come to a rolling boil, turned the heat to medium and stirred continuously for five minutes. Then I put the pot down in a large bowl of ice water, stirred for a few more minutes then left everything and went about my business. Later, when I transferred the sauce to a container, it was a nice consistency and tasted divine. I didn't have any on ice cream, but Tom did and he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tom thinks these shoes are hideous. What do you think?

A Twisted Christmas

My alarm clock woke me up to O' Holy Night this morning and that's just crazy. It's too early for Christmas music. But then again, why not. All of the stores are decked out for the holidays, tempting me with pretty sparkly decorations. I am trying very hard to resist because God knows, I have more than enough Christmas decorations. But I am weak. So my best course of action is to stay out of the stores. Which will be difficult as I tend to visit Target at least once a week.

Despite my complaining about Christmas music, I do love it. In fact, I purchased two new Christmas CDs recently, for my ever-growing holiday music collection. Faith Hill's Joy to the World and Sheryl Crowe's Home for Christmas, which is only sold at Hallmark. I haven't listened to either of them yet. Generally, my personal rule is that I can't listen to holiday music until after Thanksgiving day. But I may go ahead and try them out early. Thanksgiving is late this year and I might need a jump start on finding some holiday spirit.

This will be the first Christmas with both Mom and Dad gone and I think it might hit hard. Last year, I didn't really miss Mom because things were so wacky with caring for Dad. I was so worried about him and about Joy and me and how we were coping with it all. Then Christmas Day itself was odd, getting together at Dad's house, which we haven't done in years. It was so wrong to be sitting at the dining room table having our meal while Dad was laying in my old bedroom, in a hospital bed. I really don't think he knew it was Christmas.

Given all of that, this year is bound to be strange. Oh, in addition, that fourth sister of ours isn't in the picture. I haven't spoken to her since Memorial Day weekend when she ditched Joy and I and left the entire job of getting Dad's house ready to sell alone for us. Though I also would not be surprised if she tried to connect with us for the holiday.

So. Holiday spirit.

I think it's up to me. I have to find a positive outlook. I have to want to be happy and enjoy the holidays. Make some plans, schedule some good times. Shopping doesn't have to be a chore, I can buddy up with someone, combine it with a good dinner somewhere. Wrap gifts while watching a holiday movie or listening to Christmas music. Wrap gifts with a friend or a sister. Anything is more enjoyable when you share it with someone.

And that someone likely won't be my husband. We'll shop together, but there's no way he'll wrap presents with me. And that's okay, because he's pretty terrible at it.

Two Birds

I ran across this photo while searching in the Kennedy Space Center media gallery. Very beautiful and so amazing. Two shuttles, double rainbow…

"With two rainbows framing the Launch Complex 39 area in the early morning at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis (foreground) sits on pad A and Endeavour on pad B. Both rotating service structures are retracted. The rotating service structures provide protection for weather and access to the shuttle. For the first time since July 2001, two shuttles are on the launch pads at the same time at the center." Photo Credit: NASA/Troy Cryder

I should be able to see the astronauts heading for the launch pad when I leave work this afternoon. They are scheduled to leave the building at 4:05. I was concerned about getting stuck at work, as they close off the roads leading to the the pad until the astronauts and their convoy have passed. But they leave pretty quickly and the roads are accessible as soon as they pass. There shouldn't be much of a delay and it's worth it to me, to get to see our Center Celebrities and cheer and wave for them.

Tom and I were discussing it this morning and he said that he's not much into hero worship. I'm not either and really couldn't care less about actors, musicians and their shenanigans. But the astronauts… well, they're amazing and brilliant and brave. I don't have any problem admiring them.

Highlight

The highlight of the week: I had a pedicure yesterday. Despite it being fall, I chose a nice bright shade of pink. Because it's warm today, I'm able to show it off with sandals.

But it's supposed to get cool this weekend. There's a cold front coming down on Friday, which often means rain. Hopefully the weather won't keep the space shuttle Endeavour from launching as scheduled. It will be a night launch, which is always wonderful to see. The entire sky will light up orange and yellow. I'll be watching from home, well away from the crowds and traffic jams.

Nothing

My finger is much better! The cortisone shot really did the trick. The cyst is noticeably smaller and there is little to no pain. I played tennis for 4.5 hours on Saturday and didn't have any problems at all. So far so good. There's still a chance it could come back, but hopefully not. Though I'm a tiny bit sorry to not have surgery. I wanted to see what it looked like…

I haven't been updating much lately and freelance is to blame. Since that's practically all I do anymore, there's not much to write about. And when I do something worth writing about, there's no time to write or I'm too tired to bother.

Just Shoot Me

I saw the hand doctor about my finger yesterday. He confirmed that it is a ganglion cyst and declared my three choices: 1) do nothing and see if it goes away on its own, 2) a cortisone shot which may reduce the cyst or 3) surgery to remove the cyst.

Obviously, the first option is not an option. Because it's causing pain, I am not willing to wait and see. Option three has the best chance for successful removal, but is a bit drastic without first trying option 2. So I had my first cortisone shot and it wasn't nearly as awful as I had feared, based on what I had heard from others. Just a needle prick and very slight burn. The most annoying part was that there was anesthetic in the cocktail and my finger was numb and fuzzy feeling for a couple of hours.

I have an appointment to go back in a month. If the cyst reduces in size and stops causing pain, I'll cancel the appointment. But if it doesn't get better or in fact, gets worse, I will go ahead and schedule the surgery.

So did everyone vote yesterday? If you did, and if you had short or nonexistent wait, thank an early voter. Apparently early voting made a huge difference in the lines at the polls yesterday. Glad I could do my part. I voted last Friday and it wasn't bad at all. Less than an hour for the entire process. I watched TV on my iPhone as I shuffled along in line, which was fun. I felt so tech-geeky, in a good way.