Better. *So* much better.

Today I got through everybody's incoming mail, worked most of my ToDo's, sent out or faxed the signed stuff, and had a coworker file something for me, as the e-filing portal has been intermittently glitchy all week. She's had no difficulty. I, however, got one item filed yesterday before their system went Oops! Haha! I forgot I was broken.

My ambient stress level is much lower today. I am still going to pop a muscle relaxer tonight. When I had my mammogram before going into work this morning, the tech asked if my neck were stiff. I told her yes, always. Admittedly, until recently it was relatively relaxed. I think I went off my muscle relaxer three months ago. I hadn't needed it. I hope I won't need to take it for more than a couple of days.

I'm baking a cauliflower pizza as we speak. I'll have some carrot sticks as well, and maybe I'll nuke a serving from the second tub of lobster bisque. If not, I might eat some of the ice cream I picked up after work when I got Middlest's vitamins. Not all of the ice cream. Just some of it.

Ta Daa! My pizza is out. Middlest's pizza is in. And I'm going to go eat my pizza in bed.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were about the same as last week.

I'm covering three full dockets this week. And I am not quite drowning. Today was better, however. With half an hour or so of "recess" for a coworker's baby shower, I worked through the day nonstop and took my lunch period at the end of the day.

It was nice to have more light than usual on my drive home. But I didn't go straight home. I made a beeline for the Kendra Scott store in Uptown (i.e., Dallas just north of downtown but before you start hitting the suburbs). My wonderful sister gave me an amazing necklace for Christmas last year. Very boho, with three large amethyst drops and a whole lot of gunmetal chains and charms, smoky quartz beads, and a few crystal beads. I wore it to work today with one of my Gudrun Sjoden tops and the sterling earrings that I made when we lived in Fredericksburg a quarter of a century ago.

I was hoping to come up with a pair of earrings that were similar in style and tone to the necklace, and I think I succeeded. Pictures, maybe, eventually, but I'll be wearing it all to church on Sunday and maybe to the family brunch on Saturday before that.

There's been some knitting. And Lunch/Dinner almost as soon as I walked in the door. I tried to be sensible about it, but at some point my body is going to realize that it has been robbed. I only hope that that doesn't happen between midnight and when the alarm goes off.

I'm starting to fade, so it's time for scriptures, meds, and lights-out. I'm tired but peaceful. That's a good place to stop.

Monday was OK. Tuesday and Wednesday were Hades.

We were already short-staffed at work. Lots of people took part or all of the week off before Thanksgiving. My attorneys had three answers that were due next Monday. I was out all morning on Wednesday for Middlest's monthly doctor appointment and Rx run. SemperFi was stressed, because he wasn't sure that we would get both of his answers filed in a timely manner. (We did.) Late on Tuesday afternoon I muttered quietly that I could really use a tranquilizer gun.

Knit happened. Reading happened. Sleep happened. Chocolate abuse absolutely happened, and I finished the last third of the Coke that's been sitting in a drawer (capped) for the past two or three weeks.

I did a little research. The turmeric has been wonderful for reducing inflammation in my body. And I have had moments of falling asleep while reading, nodding off at my desk at work. Thankfully, never while driving. I'm on the lowest possible dosage of Metformin for my diabetes. I will ask my doctor if it's time for me to start monitoring my blood sugar. I don't know if I'm blacking out (for want of better words) due to my blood sugar tanking, or if it's spiking without my knowledge.

Had a great time at Firstborn's yesterday for Thanksgiving dinner. I spent most of the time there talking with the children's father and his "wife?" about this and that, and backing the kids up when they wouldn't let them have more than one dessert apiece. I also made the conscious choice to eat a sliver of pumpkin pie with no Cool-Whip and small portions of everything else, and not the slice of pecan pie I wanted when I'd just told "wife?" that that was the worst possible dessert she could choose for her diabetes. When I brought home our leftover corn casserole, I did slip in a slice of pecan pie, and I ate it much later, happy that I'd not been a hypocritical and rude in front of them.

The corn casserole, as far as I'm concerned, was a success. We left some of it at Firstborn's for the heart-kids who were at the Cowboys game and I didn't get to see. Fourthborn doesn't like corn, and Middlest can no longer enjoy it because of diverticulosis, so it's mine, all mine, and divided into portions to take to work next week. I had some, cold, for breakfast this morning when I woke at ridiculous o'clock and didn't want to wake Fourthborn by running the microwave. It's every bit as delicious cold as it is warm.

Today is payday, and the bills are paid, and I had a nice nap after breakfast and have spent much of the day reading. Time for more knitting, methinks.

Fourthborn is staying with us through Monday night, and I'll take her home when I take Middlest to the dentist on Tuesday to have three cavities filled, after I have my quarterly blood work in my doctor's new offices.

Knitting. And maybe an early bedtime. I'm happy, and I'm winding down.

Oh. I discovered two new musicians/groups today: (1) Vanessa-Mae and (2) Black Violin. I've added both to my Lindsey Stirling station and my Piano Guys station. I also heard a really great version of Vivaldi's "Storm" performed by three saxophones and I think an oboe (like a fat, shiny clarinet?).

A wee experiment tonight.

I decided that during and after dinner, I wanted to read several pages in the CIA History that I shelved as being not precisely edifying while I was on my social media fast last month, and then read again or listen again to Elder Bednar's most recent address, which was our topic in Relief Society yesterday, after which I would read my allotted segment of The Book of Mormon and, if my eyelids were still cooperative, grab my freshly-charged Kindle and do some recreational reading. I've managed the first three and am about to gather my meds, my snack-with-meds, and enjoy a few minutes with my Kindle.

I wore my Cardi Cozy to work today. Observations: do not wear a mohair sweater while also wearing lap and shoulder belts. Pilling does not even begin to describe it. More like miniature tumbleweeds. I also need to lint-roll the front and back of my shirt and my skirt. When the office warmed enough around midday that my sweater was superfluous, all of my curves sported a halo of fuzz.

We get to dress uber-casually tomorrow. I will wear the T-shirt my friend Amy brought back from a business trip, from a cafe called [Beloved]'s that specialized in soul food. That shirt surfaced recently. I'd like to wear it at least once before the tides on that side of the room suck it under again.

My eyes are growing heavy. This will have to do for today.

Greetings from my phone.

This week's issue of "The Economist" came in today's mail. I skipped Knit Night and am already 26 pages in. Ergo, speed is picking up, and I'm recognizing bits of narrative from week to week. Oh yeah, that country. They've been having a problem with X, and they're trying Y as a solution, and it just might be working.

Brilliant political cartoon on page 10, with the POTUS as a raging bison and the Republicans and Democrats attempting team-roping.

The knitting continues. As does my slow, deliberate reading of The Book of Mormon, highlighting every reference to the Savior.

Best meme I've seen this week, shared by a wonderfully quirky shop I used to patronize in Fort Worth.

TEXAS: Hey Fall, you coming?
FALL: Yeah, me and Winter about to pull up right now.

Night, y'all.

Charity begins at home.

A friend in my ward shared a link on Facebook to a locally-run charity which benefits women artisans and their families in Peru. I've put a link here on my homepage. 100% of the sales receipts go to the artisans. All overhead is paid by donations. I can spare $25 a month to make another artistan's life better. Can you?

In less virtue-signaling news, I haven't accomplished much for Saturday. We did the Costco and Kroger run, picked up fresh dairy, and I indulged at Hobby Lobby: an earring spinner, a plaque for my kindness wall at work, and a ball of cordonnet cotton in subtly variegated creams and beiges. I've decided that the beading I began on my 20 year old cotton skirt two or three months ago (but did not finish) is not what I'm wanting, so it will be replaced with embroidery, perhaps including a foray into sashiko.

Mostly I've been reading. I'm about 3/4 of the way through my third issue of The Economist, and I read a little over 10 pages in The Book of Mormon tonight. Knit has barely happened. A lovely nap did happen, and I washed and hung up a single load of my Gudrun Sjoden brights.

When I saw my friend's post on Facebook, I thought, I would like to do that. And when I read King Benjamin's address tonight, he reinforced that impression. (Mosiah 4:16-19, 22-23)

16 "And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.

17 "Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—

18 "But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.

19 "For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

22 "And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.

23 "I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world."

Convicted, as our Baptist cousins would say.

The fridge at work.

It gets gross and smelly on a regular basis. About every two or three months, one or the other of us will send out an email letting people know that at 2:00pm on Friday, the fridge is getting mucked out. This week, I was the one who had had enough. This is the email that I sent out on Wednesday:

Subject: The fridge (ominous background music)

The fridge is beginning to smell like a bacteriology lab. (If I can smell it after decades of sinus trouble, you know it’s bad!) C. and I will be donning our hazmat suits at 2:00 on Friday afternoon. You know the drill: all expired and otherwise suspicious items will be tossed. If you value it, please eat it up or take it home. Thank you!

Which led to this exchange with one of my attorneys:

J: You should have the Poltergeist help you!

[Backstory: a few weeks ago I walked into the supply room and found a clean bowl and spoon on one of the shelves. Somebody blamed it on a poltergeist.]

Me: Nope. She'd just leave it in the supply room.

J: Haha!

Fast forward to a much improved fridge, and this follow-up email:

Subject: The fridge (update)

Birds are singing. Butterflies are fluttering. Lambs are frolicking. Vivaldi is playing softly in the background. (i.e., the fridge has been divested of all things expired, freezer-burned, or impersonating a petri dish).

Your friendly neighborhood hazmat team, C. and me.

(That's all I've got for y'all today. Over and out.)

Blogging from my phone tonight.

(Even if it doesn't format as nicely as when I work from my keyboard.) ShutUpMaggie woke Middlest and me well before our respective alarms. It made for some punch-drunk conversation over breakfast.

Nevertheless, I had a quietly productive day at work. Hoping for another one tomorrow.

I'm interested in what my A1C reflects when I check in later this month. My appetite has been greater than usual, and the breakfast I eat at home is barely enough to fuel the drive to work. Sometimes I have to get an order of scrambled eggs from the deli. I think it might be the turmeric. Not sure if I need to start testing my blood sugar, but I'm going to discuss that with her. I don't know if I'm having spikes or crashes. Maybe we just need to reduce my Metformin?

I also need to figure out how to magically lose seven pounds before the next appointment. And start eating more salads again. And. And. And.

Made my first batch of overnight oatmeal a little bit so. Pumpkin spice, heavy on the spice.

Leftie is coming along nicely. I wove in two sets of ends tonight. Mostly I read the issue of The Economist which arrived on Monday. But now it's time to read my scriptures and try for an early bedtime. I'm happy. I'm also verging on knackered.

Things misheard and unsaid.

On the drive to work this morning, the DJ announced that we would shortly be listening to Mendelssohn's "Ruy Blas Overture." I heard "Wee Glass Overture," and thought, well, he was rather fond of Scotland.

The guy who examined my receipt at Costco tonight was named Chance. I thought, he's not a Fat Chance, and he's not quite a Slim Chance. I guess he's a Reasonable Chance? When I told Middlest, my beloved child said, "And he's not a Chance in Hell." Middlest for the win.

Last night I finished the second baby sock and wove in all of the ends. I also read a great swathe in last week's edition of The Economist. I'm getting faster, and I'm starting to remember bits from week to week, or at least that I read something about a subject in a previous issue. The third issue arrived on Monday. I'm hoping to finish last week's edition before calling it a day.

Mid-term elections are over. I'm mostly pleased with the outcome. Pete Sessions has represented Texas well (in most respects) for 22 years. It was time for some fresh blood, and we got it. And Beto came within three points of beating Ted Cruz.

In further knitting news, I am having so much fun knitting Leftie.

This is the part where I publish and then work on my calling as chorister. We have the Primary program next Sunday and Thanksgiving the week after that. So I'll be able to knock out two weeks' worth of numbers in one email.

Later, gators.

The quilting part is done.

I'm hoping that tomorrow I will get the binding assembled and machine stitched to the front of the quilt. And then I can hand stitch the binding down a few hours at a time. That will surely be easier on my hands than all of this quilting. I have three fingertips that are pretty seriously chewed up.

The heel flap is done on the second baby sock, and I'm ready to pick up stitches for the gusset.

I've done nothing on Leftie today. But I've read another eight pages in The Economist, which gives me a somewhat similar sense of accomplishment.

Time to read my scriptures and go to bed. We're meeting again tomorrow for our fledgling brunch tradition.