Keppra Countdown Continues...

...and the countdown continues. We're a few days into the "one at bedtime" thing, and surprisingly, with an INCREDIBLY stressful week where I've wanted more than once to throat-punch someone it hasn't been bad. I'm talking about the draw-down of the Keppra, not the stress. 

It feels very weird, after all these years, to not take that huge white horse-pill. The woolly-brain has for the most part ceased. I'm still having the pretty intense hot-flashes, but otherwise, I think it's going ok. The twinge-y headaches have faded, which to me is a good sign. 

So we keep on keepin' on. We shall see. One month on "only at night" and then we go to one month of "every other day at night." 

Yeah - I've had to mark my calendar, just to keep track!!

Knitting...

I wish I could say that some knitting has been accomplished. Well, hang on. Yeah, it has. On Election Day, I got a few more rows done on the cuff of the green sock. Otherwise, it's been insanely busy - mostly church stuff, what with Holy Week upon us and services coming at me from all corners. 

So no huge progress on either Petty Harbour Sock or Close to You Shawl, though I'm looking at both of them now, as I type... 

I think I have another row or so and then I can start on the leg. I know that once I get past the ribbing, it'll zip along and I will probably focus on that. I don't know - I love the patterned socks, but I do like a nice, quick plain vanilla sock. 

I don't like this longer rib, but I'm living with it. Only because it's K2, P2. It's just as bad as the one row in the 4-row repeat in Petty Harbour where it's K1, P1. It drives me nuts. But ribbing is what it is. Somewhat of a necessary evil in the knitting world.

Particularly when knitting is basically just knitting or purling, I shouldn't really complain. 

Since I'm not holding class tomorrow, I'm hoping to get some needle-time in after we do Easter (early - don't freak out - it's our thing) at my Mom's house. 

March for Our Lives...

Today, I stepped out with about 1,000 of my friends in the Frankfort, IL March for Our Lives. The kids' speeches were impressive. The usual NRA agitators were there. And what bugs me is this: This is a march for the kids. Are the kids less important than your guns?

Apparently so. 

One guy was making a ruckus at the back of the gathering. My friend and her husband were there, and he was holding a huge sign - he's an artist. The sign was of his own creation, and showed the head of the NRA as a gun, in a strait-jacket. It was a good piece, and huge. 

Well, the guy making a ruckus was very loud and trying to overpower the speakers (which was stupid - they have microphones and amplifiers!). My friend's Hubby turned around, bringing his huge sign with him. 

Not sure if the guy was silenced by his size or his sign. Or both. Because he got really quiet. 

Another guy was shouting down (or trying to) someone, and one of the folks from Southwest Suburban Activists (I'm an ambassador and have been involved since its early days) walked in front of him with her sign. He hollered at her, "Hey - are you trying to block me?" She turned, smiled, and said, "Actually, yes." And just stood there. She's an older woman and I swear - you don't want to pee in their cheerios...

We were hoping for a couple hundred people - Frankfort isn't exactly a bastion of liberal thought - and it seems like we got close to 1,000. Yes, there were more in DC and Chicago, but for a south suburban, fairly conservative area? A thousand people is a great outcome. 

I didn't take many pictures. I'm having a problem with my phone and it crapped out on me for some reason. It was on the charger all day, but it fizzled within an hour of being there. I have to have Hubby look at it. 

Holy Week...

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday - the "official" start of Holy Week, which is a big deal in our church. I come from a Catholic tradition, so it's not strange to me, but it's a different kind of service this year. 

Without going into gory detail, we're still looking for a vicar and we have a phenomenal long-term sub. That being said, a church really does run better with a permanent priest. I'm the administrator, but that's not the same. And the sub is just that: a sub. Unable to make substantive decisions, only there to do Mass and make sure we're taken care of on the weekends. 

Anyway, this is what I was working on today. All 36 pages of it. We decided (thankfully) to combine the 3 services, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil, into one big bulletin. It's a good attempt to save paper - you just return it at the end of the service and you re-use it. 

I did the Palm Sunday bulletins last Wednesday and finalized them on Friday/Saturday - it was a pain having to do Election Day on Tuesday, because my schedule is (I've found out after looking at my calendar) incredibly scripted and tight. I'm not complaining, but it does throw things out of whack. 

So I'm going to go over everything with our priest and organist and should have it all ready to go by this Tuesday. 

Speaking of stress, I missed a humdinger of a meeting. That's kind of the cause of the stress. It's incredible that we think our national political scene is a horror show. It is, of course, but there's nothing like church politics. Especially sans a vicar... That's where I asked my mother if it would be improper, during holy week, to fling a hymnal at a person. 

She said it would be improper. So I choose to ignore it. For now. All I can say is that the next church council meeting is likely to be "lively." Too many people think they can complain and nitpick. Like I said: typical church politics. 

We've decorated the office for Easter, and it's bunnies and eggs from front to back. These are wooden eggs I've purchased from the Polish deli down the strip from us. 

Similar to pysanki, the Ukranian eggs, these are hand-painted and a lot less delicate! I was looking for some shred stuffing but couldn't find any - so I shredded some scrap paper (I was going to recycle it anyway), and ended up with nice fluffy stuff for the basket. 

I've done the Ukranian eggs - I learned from a nun. But mine aren't all that good. Actually, if I practiced, it would be easier, but I don't have time lately. I'll probably have to re-purchase all my dyes because they've sat in the basement for a long, long time... But it is something I'd love to get back into. I have to find a compass or something to give me a better sense of proportion. I have trouble with the oval surface and keeping the designs equal. 

Easter Dinner...

So as I've said: you're not going crazy. We do Easter the week before. At first, my mom was annoyed to have to move it, but now she's kind of digging it. And so am I. 

I'm fiddling with a recipe that I'm making for the vegan nephew. The original recipe is called "Sweet & Sour Bean Hot Pot." I did the sauce differently and used some different spices. 

The first sauce had to be tossed. Apparently, I hung on to a bottle of apple cider vinegar a bit too long. You're also supposed to use tomato sauce; I didn't have any but I did have canned tomatoes. It adds a bit of texture. 

This gets put together and you slice potatoes thinly, then layer them on top. Bake it and the spuds brown nicely. 

We're having ham, potatoes, salad, broccoli, and my grandma's Jell-O. Every Easter - it's a tradition! Also, the potica I made. 

Kid #1 won't be home; and I believe that some of the great-grandkids are staying home, but that, sadly, is the flu. 

Oh, and I forgot to pick up the Reese's Peanut Butter eggs for Kid #2. I've gotten them for the kids since forever. Dang. I have to figure out how to do that sometime tomorrow. That's going to be impossible interesting. 

Anyway, this is a dinner I really enjoy; it's fairly simple, and I can farm out a lot of the stuff. But I do miss the traditional breakfast we used to have. As my mom said, though - it's so hard to gather everyone and doing this before Mass would be a challenge for us. We used to be able to do it at home when the family was smaller, but as we've spread out, logistics got a lot more complex. 

Random Picture...

And we have tomatoes!! Not every seed sprouted, but I saw my seed-donor and he said he had extras. These are mostly cherry tomatoes. He's got heirloom seeds for a couple different veggies, and sunflowers. I'd love to plant sunflowers again. 

I'll have to see what he's got. See what comes back. See what Mother Nature has left us with this strange weather. Yesterday we had winter weather warnings, calling for up to 8" of snow. Then, in the same day, we had an "advisory" that said it might miss us. But both warnings stayed up simultaneously, so we had no idea what was going on!

I'm sure I saw a few snowflakes at the march today! 

But the daffodils are coming up and I see signs of life in the Icelandic Poppy in the front yard. And I've seen robins. 

And we have tomato sprouts. Spring is coming! 

Keppra Countdown...

Well, we're a month in to the "Keppra countdown" and results are mixed. 

First off, no migraines to speak of. I mean, there are twinges, most every morning. But there's been no big full-blown migraine. I've downed a couple of Excedrin Migraine tabs over the past few weeks, but so far, the "detox," if you will, is proceeding. 

What I am having trouble with is the plethora of side effects. Woolly-brained (nothing to do with knitting!), sleeping trouble, intense hot flashes (different from menopausal hot flashes by about 10 degrees or so!), mood swings, sometimes an unquenchable thirst, depression... I'm having a hard time with all of that. It's impacting areas of my life that I don't want it to impact, and I don't know how to explain it to anyone. 

In fact, last Tuesday, I had a major melt-down. I mean, everything went wrong, at least in my head. I was headed to my women's group meeting, but when I got there, I was hit by a wave of depression so heavy that I almost couldn't get the words, "I can't stay for the meeting because I'm not feeling well" out of my mouth. The tears threatened to overwhelm me. I dashed out of there, got into the car, and actually shuddered with sobs. It was an interesting ride home. I got home, sobbed some more, and finally, eyes gritty and jaw clenched, I stopped. I felt like my insides were being ripped out. 

Yeah. It was awesome. The cloud hung over me for a few days. I had thoughts that I hadn't had for a long, long time, and they scared me. I'm hoping that once all of this is done, my brain gets back to normal...or "normal" for me, at least. 

Next week, I go down to 500 mg at bedtime... So now, I'm at 500 mg twice a day; then I go to the bedtime-only dose for 30 days. Then, if that lasts - if there are no major migraines, which is the criteria I'm using (twinges don't count), I go to "every other day" till the Rx is done. Then I'm finished. Hopefully off the Keppra forever. 

It's nice contemplating being 60 and GETTING OFF a prescription, rather than adding more. Now, I suppose, I will need to get myself to my primary care doctor - it strikes me that I haven't been in 2 or more years. That's not like me, but I've been busy. 

Yes, I know that's no excuse. But it's what I have. My next thing will be to change my MedicAlert bracelet - which I'll still wear, because I think that it's a good thing to have in an emergency. And as far as I know, I'm not sure that the tachycardia will be relieved when I'm done with the Keppra. My cardiologist thinks the Keppra is "contributing" to it - but we won't know how much of it is Keppra and how much is the result of the PVI I had done. We have to wait on that. 

It would be great to get off the beta blocker. And it would also be great to get off the GERD medication - that's the NEXT next thing. Whole 30 starting April 2. 

Lenten Fish Fry...

The Croatian Cultural Club in town has one of the best fish fry dinners imaginable. We're a big fish-fry town. There's the Knights of Columbus, Cro-Club (as it's known locally), The Elks, and a few church halls that do them regularly during Lent. For our money, we love the Cro-Club. The fish, a lovely whitefish, is done nicely, there's buttered parsley potatoes, and a salad with a basic sweet vinaigrette. And 2 slices of "Italian" bread. You can buy a piece of cake or pie if you want dessert, but as you can see, there are two very nice slabs of fish - you'll be full after you eat this dinner.

I always steal Hubby's tartar sauce, because he uses lemon juice on his. 

You have to pick up the dinners by 4:30 or you're going to be standing in line forever. You can eat in, but I've never done that. Maybe it's just me - I kind of like eating at home. 

Hubby and I did go out for dinner tonight - it's been a long, long time, and it was nice to get out. Went to Hamburgerseria - yes, that's a restaurant name! I've linked it here - you'd love it. If you have a chance and you're in the area - stop by. I had the "Grilled Cheese Burger." Hubby had a basic cheeseburger with bacon. 

This weekend, we have a fundraiser dinner to go to. I'm sure it'll be chicken of some sort. It usually is. Dessert will likely be the best part of the dinner. It's an annual function, but somehow, this year it crept up on us both!

Easter Potica...

So this time, we did 4 poticas. I used the old family recipe, but I doubled the filling. I shouldn't have doubled the filling... I had a lot left. The dough behaved beautifully, and rolled out very even. The single batch makes 4 large (almost 3-pound) loaves, using my grandma's long pans. 

Hubby bought me Pullman Loaf pans, but honestly, they won't work. Our table is 52" square and I'd need a bit longer of a rolling surface so that the loaves would have more rings. 

I have two "pretty" ones and I've sold one of them. The other will stay in the freezer till Christmas or till someone says they want one. I use the "not so pretty" ones for the family because my family doesn't care what it looks like. They want the taste!

I got to use the copper bowl that The Kid (#2) bought me for Christmas. It's beautiful, and has the rounded bottom that allows you to whisk by hand. 

I started whisking by hand and by golly... The copper bowl really DOES work more quickly. The caveat is that you need to have the egg whites at room temperature, which I did. 

Usually, I use cream of tartar to puff up the whites more easily, but honestly, with the copper bowl, I didn't need to. I ended up going to my Little Red Kitchen Aid hand-mixer, and I'm telling you - those egg whites were whipped in under 2 minutes! Granted, it wasn't the usual amount - normally we double the recipe which means 3 times the filling. 

I'm pretty sure that the "regular" amount we make won't fit in this bowl. 

I wonder if they make a copper whipping bowl for a 5-quart Kitchen Aid mixer. A quick Google search seems to indicate that the answer to that is a confirmed "No."

Anyway, I felt a little bad making "mixer marks" on the bowl, but I don't care - it's a bowl to be used, not just sitting there looking pretty. I want to make sure it's well-utilized as I bake and I'm not going to "save it for later." Time to use things now. 

So, I said that I made too much filling. Well, it doesn't freeze, and I had no more dough. Hubby made his Grandma's "Never Fail Pie Crust" recipe and we stuffed mini-muffin tins full of it, and used up all the filling for "potica pies." I thought we'd have enough for church for coffee hour, but we've been munching on them steadily... We didn't even roll out the dough - just pulled knobs of it, tamped it into the muffin tins and baked for about 25 minutes. Only because of how thick the filling is. 

They freeze nicely, which has enabled us to have them for a few more weeks. 

I may see if I can snag a few for my mom - when we did this for Christmas, I thought I was going to have enough of them for the cookie trays. Except that Hubby ate them. 

All of them. 

Granted, there weren't as many then, but still. He ate them all. And I can't say that I blame him. Had I been home, and not working all day, I'd have eaten 90% of them all... So, in explanation, Hubby works - but he works at home. I work outside the home for the most part. 

It's probably safer for my waistline and my snacking habit that I do. 

Knitting...

Sorely lacking in the knitting department - as you can tell, there's been a lot going on. The Close to You shawl is coming along, though I did have to tink back one row. Somehow, I screwed up the 14-row repeat and was merrily doing TWO 14-row repeats in a row. Not cool. But I caught it and fixed it. I can tell you it wouldn't have been "merry" if I hadn't been paying attention and had done most of the blasted thing before tinking it back. 

This yarn, while yummy, definitely has a different feel to it than my own version with the sock yarn. I think my friend will like it, and I'm anxious to see how it blocks up. I think hers will be quite a bit larger than mine. 

That's ok. I can get more yarn like this if I want to do one in purples for me. 

I might do that. Or at least try it in another sock yarn. Or maybe Cascade cotton - it would be kind of heavy, but I know that their Pima cotton yarn drapes deliciously - and the colors are so saturated that they just glow. Potential, potential, potential!


Oh, and I'm having a little fun with the unicorn bowl. I wear this chalcedony bracelet a lot, and every so often, like when I'm working at the laptop, it "clacks" because it hits the base of the unit and it annoys me. 

I had to stick it somewhere, and the unicorn's horn seemed to be a logical place. I may make this my profile picture in Facebook! Or maybe this blog, but I love my picture of my adorable, much-missed husky River. 

The yarn bowl is working nicely, and is certainly heavy enough to take the tugging I'm giving it. However, tomorrow I'm putting felt dots on the bottom; it's got an unfinished ring on it and it was scratching up the Arlo table. I have it balanced on that notebook where I keep my sock patterns, but I need to put the felt under it so that it doesn't scratch, and doesn't slide off the notebook. 

Tomorrow I also have to work on the...

Baby Tomatoes...

My kid's friend AJ let me borrow this catalog and gave me some of his leftover seeds from last year. No, those aren't altered by Photoshop -- they're heirloom tomatoes, and while those aren't the seeds he gave me, I'm going to get my own copy of this catalog and get those for next year!

They're called "Atomic Cherries," and they look amazing. I'm growing, from seed, 3 different varieties - and I've set aside 2 of the little grow-pods for Kid #2 - he can put them in pots and grow them on his front porch. 

I'm hoping I have better luck. I think this year, we'll make sure the vines don't go nuts. Lately, we've been having these 12' tall tomato plants - seriously - you've seen the pictures - but no fruit. Or what fruits we get are small. I think the plant puts so much into trying to reach Heaven that it has no energy to produce tomatoes!

So we'll see (a) if these seeds germinate; and (b) if they do, we'll pinch them back to keep them bushy rather than rangy. 

Random Pictures...

It's a two-fer tonight. And both are sunsets. The one with the two houses is across the street from me. It was a stunner. I ran out in the snow in my house slippers to snap this one. 

The other is outside the studio on a Sunday evening. Lately, we've had the most amazing sunsets, and I've tried to get each of them when I can. 

I know - seems like I'm trying to live life through the lens of my camera (phone...), but I really just love the incredible colors. 

Each of these sunsets are a reminder that one day ends and another will begin. It's a reminder to do as Emerson says, "finish each day and be done with it."

The whole quote goes like this, and it's a good thing to contemplate, especially when you feel like things are beyond your control:

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

I Went Ahead and Did It...

Yep. I started the Close to You Shawl for my friend's upcoming birthday. I mean, "upcoming" as in "this fall..." Not like I don't have time. The last one  - which was the first one I ever knitted - was done in 2 months. It took me longer to get around to blocking it. 

I have two pair of socks in progress. I have a scarf that I never finished. I have a few (more than a few) WIPs. But I felt compelled to wind the ball up and start the shawl. 

So this is the yarn. Expression Fiber Arts, "Stone Tulip." It's got a twist to it, so I wasn't sure if this would be good for the shawl. It's billed as sock yarn, but I also don't know if it'll be good for socks either. 

I have a few other yarns of this same type (from different dyers) that are billed as "sock yarn," but I wonder if the twist in the yarn will keep it from being comfortable. I guess I'd better knit one up into actual socks soon. 

I think my friend will love this, particularly since it's her favorite color blend. You only turn 60 once, and it's important to me that I make something for her. It's also kind of cool that we'll have "matching" shawls - at least as far as the pattern is concerned. 

So anyhow, got the swift and ballwinder out and cranked this one out this morning. It sat. All afternoon (you'll see why shortly). And then around suppertime, I figured it was time to cast on. 

I put the project bag together and had to look up my notes on the last one I did so that I could familiarize myself again with the pattern. I admit to a small "mental-pause" there because I was a tad confused on some of the repeats, but then I got the mental picture of the shawl, so it's okey-dokey. I know people have knit multiples of this one, but this is only #2 for me!

Using the Unicorn bowl, but I'm not committing to putting the yarn through one of the solid holes! I'm leaving it in the removable one so that I can take it with me to work on at lunch. I figure it's a decent enough "lunchtime" project that will keep my hands busy. 


We shall see.

You start this one out small and it grows. I like the crescent shape of this shawl because it stays on well. I can drape it, pin it, tie it... It can be worn in many ways, and I really like the "tips" (which you may remember from the last one I made)... You'll see this as it comes along. 

So the socks are temporarily in "waiting" till I get moving on this one a bit. Like I said, I have time, and I can enjoy the process here. I like to be in a situation where I don't have a tight deadline, so I'm kind of glad I'm giving this one a lot of time. 

Enjoying the unicorn bowl - it's finally a bowl deep enough without me raiding the kitchen cabinets for a mixing bowl! 

...And I have a question for my readers. Anyone know what this little gadget is? 

I got it in my shipment from Expression Fiber Arts, and I have no clue. There was no packaging that gave me a hint, no instructions. It's not an eraser. But that's about all I can tell about it. 

Not sure. Anyone?


Eagle Run...

So, we got news that eagles were in a local-ish park. We couldn't go during the "eagle weekend" because of a couple of things, mainly including the blizzard that happened. 

We went this weekend. Of course, you go on "eagle weekend" because they're around. We didn't see anything that resembled an eagle. I did see a hawk and a seagull. And a cute little rescue dog on the trail with its humans. 

Oh, and some folks kayaking down the river. 

But no eagles. 

What I did see were LOTS of ancient trees. This was near the river, and I couldn't stop looking at it. Such an amazing tree. Don't you wonder what it would look like in full leaf? I may have to trek down there and find out in the summer. By the way, I made these two pictures small because I took them with the "big" camera and they're quite hi-res. I didn't want to kill anyone's computer! 

Random Picture...

For some reason, I'm attracted to "path" pictures. I took this one at McKinley Woods today. It's a path. It's kinda sparse. 


But again - unlike a prairie park, where there's lots of grass and few trees, this shows those older trees, and it shows that each tree is unique...as is the path each of us takes. 

I can see this in my mind in the summertime, with the birds flitting through the trees, the leaves making dappled shade on the path. Maybe the smells of the river coming over you as you walk. And I can see it in the winter, covered in snow. 

I can see the possibilities in the path, and I hope you can too. On whatever path you're on. Whether a path actually in the woods, or a path you've set out for yourself. Your path may be paved. It may be gravel. It may be grass...and sometimes there's mud, you'll have a fallen tree or two and there may very well be pot-holes. 

But if you keep your eyes open and keep your wits about you, you won't trip. And you'll also know when it's time to change paths - or keep on with the one you're walking. 

My, I'm philosophical this evening!