So Far...

...aside from the predictable side-effects, I haven't had too difficult of a time adjusting to the 24-hour cardizem (generic, of course!). I do have a headache, and it's like a low-humming piece of machinery. You know it's there, but you're not concentrating on it too much. 

If it persists through Wednesday, I'll call Sis and ask about it. That will have been a week, and I think that's perfectly long enough for any low-dose headache. I'm kind of tired, but perhaps it's anxiety -- I am restless because I'm afraid, never having had a "normal" headache, that this headache will turn into a migraine. 

Cardizem relaxes the blood vessels so that your heart doesn't have to work as hard. Maxalt, the migraine med, also relaxes blood vessels so the migraine loses its grip on your skull. One can't be too relaxed, obviously. As it is, the Maxalt would knock me out anyway. I'll have to ask the doc about that, and hopefully, this last go-round with Mother Nature will be the absolute Last Gasp. My mom says that after that, the migraines tend to go away. Huzzah!!

Still haven't gotten my EKG device yet, but Hubby says it's been shipped. So we shall see. 

Technology...

I will tell you that the Samsung Galaxy 4S has a much, MUCH better camera than my Nokia 900. But the bad thing is, I can tap the Nokia's screen to take the picture. With Red (now the nickname for the Samsung), I have to tap the screen to focus, then hit the camera icon at the bottom. You also zoom in by pinch/swipe movements. Anyway, it takes really nice pictures, and once I figure out how to get them to the computer, I'll share some. 

I also know that I can use it as a music device so that when I'm teaching my Yoga class, I can use an in/out cable and download practice music instead of rooting around for CDs. 

It still looks like we'll be purchasing the new Nokia phones sometime soon. Just not sure when. Hubby is researching some backup/transfer programs so that all our apps and stuff move over when we get to setting up the new phones. Kid #2 isn't sure what kind he wants, but he's going to just do his research. 

Estate Stuff...

The IRS is a joke. The saga is this: My idiot brother was "sticking it to the man" (yeah, please do roll your eyes) and didn't file tax returns for several years. He was sporadic in the years he DID file taxes, and for at least one or two years, he was on total disability because of a work injury. 

So I've been working with the paralegal to get all the info to backtrack - file those years that he missed. The irony is that, nitwit that he was, if he HAD filed, he would have gotten decent returns. When he died, he had a total of somewhere around $50,000+ in IRS liens. The lesson here, children, is this: FILE YOUR TAXES. 

Because if you don't do it, the IRS does it for you. And guess what? They file at the highest percentage they can. And charge you interest practically from the moment they THINK about filing the returns. 

So we have all but about 2 years. I spent a day or so tracking down W-2 forms via some pay stubs he kept. This was in the way-back times of 2003-2009 (not all of those years, thankfully). But he worked at smaller companies - many merged or just went out of business, or the original owners weren't around. For one particular year, we had to petition the IRS to send us the W-2 info. Obviously, anyone that works realizes that your employer files this kind of info with their own returns. 

I got a letter back from the IRS. It basically said, "No tax returns were filed under this SSN for that year."

Ummmmmmmmmm. Yeah. I know that. We're trying to file the taxes. I dutifully sent it off to the paralegal, who promptly said that the IRS is not making this easy. I noticed. 

When I got the letter and read it, it was right after the a-fib attack. I hollered, "FOR GOD'S SAKE YOU MORONS, I KNOW THAT HE DIDN'T FILE THE TAXES!!!" while flinging the letter across the room. Quinn headed for her cave. Tippi looked at me as if I had just flipped a cog. And Raisa -- well, she's a husky, so she barely noticed. 

That low-dose headache ramped up to about a 7 or 8 on the pain scale for about an hour after that. 

Anyway, we're trying to pry a W-2 form out of the IRS. Then file the tax return. Then hopefully have enough proof so that we can knock the liens down a bit. And then close the Estate. 

I just want this over. 

Yoga...

I'm teaching a Karma Yoga class. Karma, of course, is the concept of "what goes around, comes around." As part of my training, we're required to teach a class to those who are underserved in the community. So my friend G set up a class for me with a local rehab place - alcohol and drug rehab, that is. 

I have a very simple sequence for them, since she did it last year and said that "you never know who's walking into the room." We have 15 students coming, and she's staying to help get things set up. 

It will be interesting to teach this kind of population. I mean, often in Yoga, you get folks who are in rehab for stuff, but normally it's physical ailments, not addiction. 

And next weekend, I have my last "intensive." A Yoga "intensive" is a concentrated course - in this case, 4 days - with a teacher. I'm honestly really not looking forward to it. I think that I was in a groove a while ago (like a year ago when I was in the midst of the training) and now I'm not in that groove anymore. 

I don't mind taking the extra courses. I think you never stop learning. But I think that the long days are just not my cup of tea this time around. Anyway, it's the last one of the entire curriculum, so anything beyond this will be one-time seminars. Next is preparing my final thesis (not a whole big honkin' thesis - mostly "what do you want to talk about in regard to Yoga" that we're required to do), and then I'm going to be certified as a 200-hour teacher. 

Knitting...

Today's Free Choice WIP is the Blue Baby Jacket. I'm close - well, not totally close, but let's face it: a lot closer to finishing THIS than Kid's Afghan... I'm just starting the right shoulder and will finish the right front today, I think. Sunday will be the March Snowman, but later. 

Boy Sweater

Sunday is also the twins' FIRST BIRTHDAY!! Think about this: 

 These were the sweaters I made for them!! I'm thinking they don't fit anymore, since Boy Twin is already in 2T, according to my mom... These sweaters only go up to a 12-month size, but I bet you could just do a little math (!) and figure out how to size it up a bit more. I wouldn't go all the way to 4-T, but I think it would still be cute on a 2-T sized kid. 

Their sweaters were done in super-wash wool. It looks like it's held up really nicely, since I last saw them in the winter. 

If you remember, they also got blankets that were the color of the sweaters, but not "masculine" or "feminine" patterns. Though I now wish I would have done the Feather-and-Fan pattern. 

Just because I never have yet... 

Girl Sweater

The Blue Baby Jacket is in an acrylic. I'm thinking that it won't hold up as long as these will. But I don't mind because it's a stash-buster, and let's think about this: the size is for a 12-month old baby. 

Whoever gets this will grow out of it in about a nano-second. So it won't be a situation (I think) that it'll have time to pill or anything. The kid will be out of it that fast. 

Again, just plain buttons for this blue one and the next one which will be lilac. Out of the Button Bin, and not fussy. There's no sense getting cute buttons, because the yarn does most of the work here. It's turning out beautifully, and anything I'd buy would just compete with it. Aside from the fact that any baby in any sweater --- well, the BABY is the star, right? The hand-knit item is just an accessory to the adorableness of Baby. 

Blue jacket progress

I have yet to show my friend D how this is going, seeing as she's the one who handed me this yarn and said, "Here - I won't knit with this; it's just been sitting in my closet."

Granted, for a while, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it till the jacket idea hit me...

We missed getting together this week, but I did run up to Wool and Company for their sale. And I got buttons (at home, otherwise I'd have taken a picture) for the February Lady Sweater. The buttons are triangular and have a Celtic Knot as the design. I figured they would be classier and the knot "resembles" the lace that will be the bottom of the sweater. They didn't have a great selection of buttons in a colorway that would go with something that, in one light looks lilac and in another, looks periwinkle. 

I also managed to pick up a canvas bag, on sale for 25% off -- and then some of the stuff I picked up INSIDE the bag was another 25% off. Apparently, you could fill your bag and if what was in there wasn't already on sale, you could take advantage of the pricing. 

Dang. I should have picked up the Travelers Scarf... it would've fit in the bag and at 25% off the $90 it would have cost, it would have been worth it. I hate when a good idea hits too late. I'll just have to hope that by the time the next sale comes around, there's a big -- I mean MONSTROUS - hole in the WIP pile. Because I don't want to tackle a 12-foot-long scarf till I have a handle on the stuff I've already got in the works. Or in the closet. 

I started the "conversion process" for some old magazines I have. I tabbed the magazines, and I'm scanning what I want. Putting it on a jump drive for reference (rather than creating another pile of papers, I can index what's on that drive), and then I will find a home for the magazines. Maybe the Senior Center in town will take them. 

Easter Already...

Easter bunnies & tree

I haven't even put up the knitted bunnies... I don't know what happened to Lent. It hit me last night when Hubby says, "Oh, is Sunday the day we sing Lacrimosa?" Ummmm, no, that would be Palm Sunday, but holy moley.... That means I'm really, REALLY behind in working on the Exultet. Crud. 

We've set our Easter for Holy Saturday, and because one of the teachers didn't want to shift her schedule, I'm working Holy Saturday. More specifically, Holy Saturday afternoon. Which means I have the morning (and the Friday before) to do deviled eggs, a Lamb Cake, and get the majority of the dinner prepared. 

I don't normally believe in cloning, but perhaps this would be a good reason to do so. 

Anyway, Easter is at an odd time. It just seems like it hasn't been Lent, even. My dining room table has become a junk pile again, and I didn't even put a spring-ish table cloth on it. The bunnies and eggs, if you remember, were created for an art contest, and they didn't win because obviously there's a prejudice with fiber-art being considered "real" art. And nobody thought that the Fannie Mae ribbon was cute, either. 

I have to create a coaster or some sort of felt pad for the base of the tree, since it's metal, and I should have put it up. I may still - will have to see how this next week goes. 

Random Picture...

Raisa decided that since Quinn and Tippi both had "belly rub" portraits on Facebook, she wanted one too. 

Rub my belly. Now. 

Well. No. 

She just wanted the belly rub. Needless to say, I can't knit and belly-rub, but that is totally not Raisa's concern. Rub the belly. End of story. 

She's going to miss the first Intermediate Obedience class because of the birthday party, but we're already a step ahead with her "heel." As long as I have toast. 

Still no heat in sight, but plenty of sniffing going on. Not sure we'll even get to the Obedience class, but we're keeping a good eye on her. 

Off to get some more tea and knit on that jacket. It'll be nice to update the progress charts.