Nope. Nothing that thrilling.
I'm prepping for my "regular" colonoscopy/endoscope adventure. It's been a little over 10 years, and I'm a bit overdue. What prompted me was the combo of the food poisoning + the antibiotic for my Traitorous Tooth. Trashed me tummy fer sure...
So - in a hunt for "whatever else is going on," my gastro guy has scheduled this.
I'm just as thrilled as you can imagine. The 20-minute nap is not the problem. It's the prep, the day before. And don't be fooled by the "weight loss." About 85% of it is water anyway. One matcha latte and I'm back to square one. With a sore bum...Clear liquids, nothing red, and citrate of magnesium. Which some fool thought would be good "flavored." Ummmm. It's not. It's disgusting.
I can't even have my "bugs" tonight -- that super-duper probiotic. Because, why? I mean, seriously, they're not gonna stick around. I've tried to avoid having them in yogurt because I didn't want the extra calories, but most times, that's the easiest way to get them down. The stuff in water tastes like yeast, which isn't pleasant. Once all of this is over, I'm hoping that everything (tummy included) is back to normal.
I'm still going to talk to a nutritionist about the lingering symptoms of IBS. The gastro guy said that they could last for a long time. I'm still not sure what triggers it; just knowing that it's a possibility is really not fun. I don't know how those folks who live with this condition even function.
I'll tell you though: the organic chicken broth I bought was kind of a genius move. The protein is helping my stomach. Last time around, I over-dosed on pineapple gelatin. I'm thinking that all that sugar was not a good idea. So I got the broth; it's fat-free, and I think next go round, I'll add a touch of olive oil to it. I'm not starving; and I've skipped plenty of meals. But I know with the reflux, I need to do something to keep my stomach reasonably happy, all things considered. And this helps.
Birthday Goodies...
I had a birthday recently and several nice things happened. First, Scone Guy at the office brought scones for us! A few days before my actual birthday, but still... Mine has a decorated label-- well, they all do, but I thought this was terribly cute. 
And what was inside? Well. I did NOT share with Hubby. Call me cruel. But I didn't, so there it is. I actually traded with "C" in the office; he'd given me 2 of them with jalepeno peppers. Not happening, even WITH a decent gut. These beauties are (on the left) a chocolate chip scone and two "bacon and cheese" scones. Ummmmmmmmm. I make a decent "double raisin + cinnamon" scone, but he's got the savory stuff down. The funny thing is, that chocolate one? He's allergic to chocolate. He's got no idea how they taste. Except when we tell him. We really appreciate the treats. And this timing was perfect. I was up to my eyeballs in insurance verifications, and was what my granny would call "stagger-blind" from an office with a set-up whereby I'm this|close to the monitor and frankly? I was kinda cranky and my eyeballs ached. These? Fixed me right up!
And to my own chagrin, I thought Hubby had forgotten (long story...). He texted me when I got to work to say, "I didn't forget - mornings are hectic" -- which they are, truly. Crazed. Insane. I had mentioned a while ago that I'd like a Morganite pendant. And this is what he came up with. I'm delighted.
It's set in rose gold; matches my earrings and the ring he got me a couple of Christmas' ago. I love the tiny diamonds around it. I'm horribly hard on rings, so we do keep it simple with those - I'm either reaching into the bowels of a machine, pulling something from under or out of a dog, or gardening and forgetting that I'm actually wearing rings.
I've worn it a couple of times and it's just a lovely, simple piece that means a lot to me.
Then, since my birthday was on a Wednesday, we didn't go out anywhere. My mom kind of yelled at me, but he's got to get up before the chickens, and I get up WITH the chickens. Normally, both of us are fighting to stay awake past 8 p.m.
Maybe after the "colon cleanse" is done, we'll go out somewhere. God knows, both of us will have earned it by then!
But anyway, I was eating a sandwich I think. And I wondered if I'd saved a few of Kid #2's "Surprise Ganache Cookies." Lo and behold!! Dessert! And, Hubby doesn't particularly like them. He's honestly not a fan of chocolate; but he did ask me if I wanted a candle stuck in one of them...
These are a "mistake" -- or more properly, an "experiment." Kid #2 was trying to make a rolled cookie, but somehow, the dough slouched a bit, the ganache held, but oozed beautifully, and he then dusted it with cocoa.
Well. Yum. That is all. I told him that these were my "new favorite" and that henceforth, they were to be included.
That's what you get when you're a competent baker.
Knitting with Crystals...
Well, I don't knit with crystals. But I was knitting on the Diamond Smackdown shawl, and my eyes kept being drawn to my crystal bowl full of crystals.
Good news: I'm past the half-way point and have started the decreases! And as luck would have it (whisper here, so as not to tempt the Knitting Gnomes...), I managed to work it so that it landed just about where it should on the scale, so it should be clear sailing to the end. 
The crystals? Well, there's a rather nice piece of Labradorite, several amethysts, an opal and a citrine + amethyst combination. Allegedly, citrine is "before amethyst" chemically. All I know is that the pale tone of this nearly crystal stone is kind of nice and oddly satisfying to hold. The Labradorite is that greenish hunk up there at the top left with a sheen to it. The opal is right next to it. The striated amethysts you can see. The clear lavender stones are at the bottom of the heart. Every so often, I take them in my hands and just meditate. I was an idiot and didn't put them out on the window sill for the blood moon, but I tell myself that we didn't really have a good shot at it anyway. The one window nearest? Our house has large eaves - so you can't see much "up" when you want to.
One of my friends did "moon water," bottles of water that were set out in the moonlight. I figured that at 22* outside, I'd have had "moon ice," and that wouldn't have been cool. (see what I did there? pun?)
Anyway, back to knitting. Still absolutely loving this. The decreases are coming along nicely, and I need to ask Hubby how to catch the sparkles of the silver threads running through this yarn. So far, I've had no success, but I'm sure I need to use the Big Camera to do that. It's smooth sailing and I'm so looking forward to blocking and wearing it.
And like I said a few blogs ago - I seem to be monogamous with these projects after a certain point. I've got single socks to do and I really should start some "stash baby" gifts, just in case. But - I'm plowing along on this one.
I've got another one in mind, as well as finishing a few WIPs that are staring at me since I've tried to reorganize my space. Which I should also be plowing through, since I'm sitting here, but my excuse is "bathroom calls." And I'm sticking to it. I have weekends to mess with that ongoing project of "I need my office back." It's a giant step forward that the laptop is now back here permanently.
Blood Moon...
So, we talked about Hubby's and my schedules. There was apparently "the only blood moon of 2019" and we missed most of it. He said that at 4 a.m., it was "ok" but not red. I stayed up till a little past 9:30 p.m. and caught...not much of anything. I know folks got better pictures, but it is what it is. My phone's camera is crap, I'm telling you. I didn't buy it for the camera. It's a phone. But I tried to catch a bit of the magic through the tree, figuring that would help with focus. Nope. I will tell you, though, barring the freezing weather, I could've just sat and watched.
To me, the moon is magical. There's a reason for all the lore, and the songs, and the tall tales. Last night, I saw the "face" in the moon and it was so big and so bright... I wish I could've stayed up to watch the whole thing, but 2 a.m. was way too late for me.
On my drive to work this morning, though? The full moon was wearing a veil...the pinkish clouds were swathing Sister Moon, and the icy air captured some of last night's magic. I work in a fairly dull municipality, and often, honestly, I'm on auto-pilot on the drive there. I mean, I'm well aware of traffic because of all the freight -- too many trucks sometimes! But normally, I'm not looking up.
Today, I had a hard time concentrating because I kept looking up. Sister Moon was in her lavender sky and I was just a-gog.
The Women's March 2019...
Yes, we marched again this year. There's some sturm-und-drang with the national organization so my friends at Southwest Suburban Activists pulled together with a number of other grassroots groups and "Hey, kids, let's put on a march!" (2 points if you get the Judy Garland/Micky Rooney reference there. Three points if you can name the movie!)I took pictures, as I usually do, and yet I still wanted a sign for the march. Mary Englebreit provided some beauties for the march, as she always does. This is the one I chose, and I also printed out the 11 x 17 version, which I'll frame and put in my office. It's black-and-white; I added color to make it more visible, and Hubby gave me a long stir-stick and put together a cardboard support, then "laminated" the whole thing with packing tape.
I stuck it behind my neck as I was wandering around photographing the event. I must've been approached by about a dozen people. Many women wanted ME to use their phones to take pictures of THEM holding MY sign! A few folks wanted to take a picture - of the thing sticking out the back of my neck... Oh well. The point is...the sign. Here are a few more pics from the event...Your Random Picture(s) for this entry of the blog. The buttons... tons 'o buttons.
That'll teach you to call us "snowflakes."
And the one that "won the signs." 
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