Birthday, Anniversary, and Camping oh my!

My Birthday came and went, and the realization yet again, that I'm a year older. I went through the usual motions, but this year, I went to work. For the first time in my working life, I worked on my birthday. I was bitter about it, and made it a point to remind everyone nearby repeatedly of my displeasure with the entire arrangement. Not just on the day of, but for the last couple of weeks leading up to the date. It was my choice however, as I wanted to spend Niceguy's and my Anniversary camping at the beach. Trade-offs had to be made.

I got a gyro from our favorite Mediterranean restaurant for lunch, and a quesadilla from our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. The gyro as always, was amazing, the quesadilla, needed attention. Next time. Next time....

I told Niceguy I wanted a cupcake with a candle in it for my birthday, since I knew the two of us would not eat an entire cake. Neither of us likes icing. So I wanted something small and birthday-esque to close out the evening. We got to talking and went to Walmart to get stuff for our camping trip, and before long, I'd forgotten about my cupcake....

The next day, with a "Happy Anniversary" kiss and the most handsome chauffeur, I was dropped off at work for a half-day of hell, while Niceguy took the truck to get an oil change and packed up with all the gear needed for our trip. He picked up Ellie, his parents' dog, and looped around to pick me up at lunch hour. We were off. Full tank of gas, happy puppy, groovy tunes, and stories to tell about my morning at work, which shockingly, wasn't that bad.

We stopped a couple of times to get lunch and sodas, take potty and water breaks for Ellie, and before long, we were at the beach.

I checked us in at the registration booth and off we went to our campsite. Upon arrival to the campsite, there was a stereo "Oh hell no...." from both of us as we turned the truck around and began cruising the park for another spot. Our "large tent-site" that was meant to hold at LEAST a 10x10 tent, was barely big enough for a 6x6 tent. We needed a spot big enough for two 13x10 tents. We marked several spots on the map, and headed back up. Lucky for us, all the spots we'd picked were in a loop of the park that hadn't been advertised online yet. So we could have any one we wanted! YAY!

So we were now in a gigantic spot, and got to unpacking the gear.

We have A LOT of gear! And when we're supplying for others, we bring EVERYTHING. Just in case....
 

So after figuring out where everything was, we got to setting up the tents. Even though our companions weren't joining us until the following day, we wanted to get everything ready so we wouldn't have to worry about it.

 Dun dun dun.......

Yet again, a tent with a broken corner. That's twice now..... You can see the spot where we attempted to hammer a stake through the strap and the tent. Yea, that didn't work. Not at all. And naturally, we didn't think to bring one of the extra tents. So off we were to get a new tent.

We were already having a great time. :-)

On our way in to visit Walmart, we get hit with the wildest freak hail storm. It was absolutely crazy. As soon as it started, I grabbed BOTH of our cell-phones and started filming. Because Google reduces the quality of the videos down to dirt, we've put them on our Flickr account which is for family only. If you don't have access, sorry.

Crazy Hail Storm

And then as quickly as it had began........It ended.

After getting a new tent, Anniversary dinner at Newport Cafe, some firewood, and general other stuff we'd forgotten, we were on our way back.

Our new tent is huge!

Since we didn't know which bed had the hole in it, we brought both! Funny thing though, they both had holes.... Regardless, as you can tell, there was enough room to set up both, and they were just tossed in there. With creative adjusting, we could have fit three queen-size airbeds.

When the one on the left went flat, we tossed it. It only took an hour, so we knew it was beyond patching.




Niceguy got to the fun fire part while I continued moving the gear from the red tent to the blue and getting everything organized.

Ellie was comfortable already, but made occasional trips in to the tent to check on me. She really was the perfect camping buddy.

We went down for a walk on the beach later that evening, allowing Ellie some time to run, and us a chance to explore.

We caught a glimpse of the sunset, amidst the clouds.

The next day, we took a quick walk on the beach with Ellie, and got another nice panoramic shot.

Then we made our typical coffee/tea run. We grabbed some more firewood, and decided to have a quick run on the beach with Ellie.  Niceguy decided to do a great sand ballet and instead of chewing on sand on his way down, performed the most amazing somersault. I giggled almost all the way back to the campground.

Our companions were due in later in the day, so we headed to Lincoln City for some time at Robert's Books and lunch in Depot Bay at Bonepile BBQ. Bonepile is NEVER a disappointment, and we always leave stuffed. Homemade goodness all around! Yet again, I had the pulled pork, and yet again, I ate too much.



Niceguy had the brisket and practically rolled from his chair when we left. Oh well, one of the books we picked up should help that. Relax and nap if we have time.

Ellie seemed itchin' for another run, so we went for another walk on the beach. I apologize for the video skipping. My phone decided it no longer wanted to work for video.

Ellie and Niceguy

Back to the campsite, we just get the fire going, when our friends show up. No nap for us. Add four more to the table, two kiddos and two more adults. We're in for a wild ride!  I apologize, but all four of them were camera-shy, so we don't have any pictures of them.

We relax for a bit while they get situated, and then the guys head in to town to get lots of firewood and the fixin's for dinner.



Naturally the first thing the kiddos spot is the biggest beetle I've ever seen. So a picture must be taken!

The kiddos, their dad's girlfriend and I, head out for a walk around the campground while we wait for Niceguy and our friend to return. When we get back, we further help to unload their stuff, and I'm handed a bag of Birthday gifts from them. Inside, is a bottle of my favorite liquor, a box of homemade vegan doughnuts, and another box with 8 vegan cupcakes, all with candles in them..... I seriously almost cried. Just awesome. =)


Our friends are vegetarians, so vegan hotdogs, tofu and grilled veggies, and then hotdogs for Niceguy and I, and we're all having a great time. I am also a huge fan of tofu, and was allowed to help myself to a bit of the leftovers. S'mores, work stories, chit-chat, and ghost stories for the kids as soon as it was dark. We all turn in after a night of fun, friends, and full bellies.

Ellie insisted on sleeping with us. So we let her, for a little while. She seemed so comfy in the sleeping bag with the pillows....






The next day, we're greeted with fresh coffee and tea first thing in the morning. Okay, that was awesome. We relax, do a quick walk on the beach, where Graceful Jess decided to grace everyone with her mud-ballet. I yet again, tweaked my ankle. (Yes, the same one.) I did not fall though. Just slid through the mud a bit. Anyways, we spent some time on the beach. The kiddos and Ellie got to play a bit, and then we split up to head in to town for lunch.

Niceguy and I grab some awesome junk food and then are on our way in search of a spot recommended to us by a local that we know quite well. It's so secret, we were actually asked not to tell anyone. So we won't tell ya where it is, but it was awesome. If you're lucky, maybe we'll show you someday.












We find the awesome secret spot, and head back to town to meet up with our friends who then follow us back.

We went down on the beach and realized we were the only people there. Can you imagine that? Have you ever been on a public beach and been the ONLY people on it? We were the only people there for a good 45 minutes.  Anyways.....

There were tide-pools! They had fish and actual sea-life! Star-fish! Seal-rocks were everywhere! It was awesome! The kids got to do some climbing, Ellie did some swimming, and us adults were freaking out and getting all giddy every time we saw a fish or hermit crab move in the water when we were looking!

Look in the sunny spot of this image, upper right, and you'll spot a couple sucker fish.

LOL, it was truly awesome, and Niceguy and I have every intention of returning very soon.

Pretty panoramic shot of the beach. Niceguy is very proud of this picture.

We headed back to town, grabbed some firewood, and another run on the beach with everyone, then back to the campground.

Our friends decided to head back in to town to pick up Pizza for dinner instead of doing burgers, so pizza and more s'mores.

They gave me a stick. I had fun. *shrug*  ;-) So what if my characters look drunk?

We played UNO with the kiddos until after dark, and then everyone headed in for an early-ish night.

The next morning everyone was up early, and we dismantled our little tent city. We said goodbye to our friends, and Niceguy, Ellie, and I headed up to Depot Bay to pay one last visit to Bonepile. We really do love that place. It was just before opening, so we drove around Depot Bay, which we'd never done before. Lots of houses for sale. Wild....

Unfortunately, Bonepile did appear as though they were closed, with a gigantic "SOLD OUT" sign on the door. Bummer...... So we headed up to Lincoln City for a quick lunch, and to let Ellie run on the beach one last time this trip.

What's a trip without a crazy? Whoa! Some shop, somewhere, is out of Cowboy's gear!

It was cold, but we all had a wonderful time. Ellie I'm sure, was happy to be home. I passed out only minutes from town, and Niceguy dropped me off at home to nap while he took Ellie home.

All in all, a great trip. We had a wonderful time, and are really looking forward to the next. Unfortunately, our friends who went with us, this was a first trip for one of them, and she does not plan to take a second. That's okay, at least we were able to make her first trip an easy and memorable one.

Bed time!

Love to all!
~~~

*Sigh* Sick again....

It never seems to fail. As soon as it starts looking like the clouds will part and reveal some sunshine, the clouds part, but what is released is far from sunshine.

Friday. Caught up day. Plan camping trip day. Only 6 days away, and the twinge happens.

The twinge. The phlegmy feeling at the back of your throat. The tickle, the cough, the sniffle. No matter how you describe, everyone has experienced it and knows the feeling well. The older you get, the faster you recognize it and begin to panic.

I took 3 Airborne, 3 vitamin C tablets, a multi-vitamin, and drank probably a gallon of water/tea over the next 24 hours. By the time the cough hit, I gave up.

I'd missed that ever-shrinking, 3 minute window of preventing the cold/flu. I woke up Monday morning, stuffy, chest-congested, coughing occasionally, and only able to speak in wisps. Out sick I'll be. Here I am, yet again, hoping that the random illnesses and crap I've been plagued with in recent months, don't rid me of my equally crappy job. It may suck, but it's a paycheck. And, after the wisdom teeth fiasco, it's a small paycheck as of late.

On the bright-side of my being ill.....

I have found that when I'm running a fever, like everyone else, I hurt. A lot. Every joint, bone, muscle, everything hurts. I'm getting to the bright-side.

To combat this, I move. A lot.

Yesterday, I slept til noon, made a super-sized(3-4 meals worth) batch of crock-pot chicken and dumplings almost completely from scratch, took a short nap in the afternoon, did some crochet, and discovered we have an ant problem(now resolved). Even Niceguy, who was also home sick, was surprised I had the energy to spend 2 hours in the kitchen cutting veggies and chicken, and tried to discourage me. He's learned over the last couple of years to give up quickly.

Today, while I sound worse and am still sore, I have more energy. Call it the heaping portion of chicken and dumplings I had for dinner last night, or the slice of cranberry bread I had for breakfast. Either way, I'm awake and rearin' to go!

If we'd already gotten a storage unit, I'd be knee deep in my stuff, tossing things in to donate, garage sale, or storage piles. Alas, no such luck.

Only have 2 loads of laundry and some dishes to do. *sigh* Today is going to drag.....

Oh yea, the cranberry bread! It's fantastic!!! So very very tasty. I used the same recipe as the "Apple Pie" bread, but instead of apples and raisins, I used a bag of dried cranberries. Yes, the whole bag. Well worth it. If my stomach could stretch enough, I'd have eaten the entire thing by now.



Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......

While the cinnamon raisin swirl bread was a bit of a bust, it too was tasty, but I won't be making it again any time soon. And by bust, I mean, lacking in swirl.

It was so stretchy, I simply could not get it to roll out thin enough to get it to a point where I could roll it more. I probably just need more counter space. Our small kitchen doesn't afford much.

Breadmaker = great tasty tasty, I mean money-saving investment.

Another cool thing we discovered yesterday....

Our new crock pot, that I pulled out to use yesterday(for the first time), apparently came with a sauce warmer. It's a teeny-tiny crock pot. Freakishly cute! Anyways, just thought I'd share.

Not much else going on. We're both home sick, and I'm bored. lol

I am going to go cut myself another slab of tasty bread, and then start cleaning up the kitchen.

I will now leave you with "Awwwwwww" and "Get out of my face." Enjoy!

Awwwwwww

Get out of my face.

Love to all!!!
~~~

See? Fun stuff!

And yet again, I get back in to the swing of things, and forget to blog updates. Shame on me.

Ok, lets see. Updates, updates, updates....

LOL

So after my last post, and the dreariness, I feel it necessary to update everyone on the cool stuff!

We got our tax returns! Yay! And with that, comes splurging. Because naturally, when you have money you're not used to having, self-control goes out the window..... *le sigh*

Big stuff:

New couch! OMG! We're so happy to have gotten rid of the smoke-riddled, broken, shredded by cats, stinky, tweed, wool, old couches. Check it out:


I cannot begin to tell you how comfy this thing is! You will literally sink in to it. =) We love it, and my OCD loves playing with and constantly having to fix the pillows. I don't love it, my OCD does. Get it right. ;-) My favorite spot is the corner in the middle(top of the chaise). You literally have to mount an expedition to get out of it. I can sit back in it, cross-legged, with a cat in front of me, and still have at least a foot or two of space before the edge. So nice!

We've both slept on it already. At the same time even! lol Anyways, too much fun.

Very pleased with this purchase. Not only was it inexpensive, but we love it, and there's even an added plus. The pillows? Are full of polyester batting, not a pillow with a cover. There's a zipper, and then batting. So if the pillow gets too flat? I can add more batting or remove the old and completely replace for $4 with a bag of batting from Joann's, instead of completely having to replace the pillow! And the bottom cushions are a nice, squishy foam!!! There are material surplus places all over the city that we can get this exact foam from for super cheap! We're very pleased with this purchase. =)

And, I am already working on a new afghan for it. Niceguy picked the colors, and he did a great job! This new one will actually be the bridge between my old tan afghan and the green one I made for him. You'll see when I'm done. ;-)

Moving on. dun dun dun.....

We got a rice cooker, which we've already used. See ya later Minute Rice! Healthy, and cheaper bags o' rice for us now!

Minute Rice, giant box $8 - $11.73 depending on the store.
20lb bag of basic long grain, California long grain or Jasmine rice? $11-$18 depending on which one we want.

Believe me, we eat a lot of rice. This little $30 8-cup rice cooker will pay for itself in just a few months. w00t!

We got a bread-machine.

I was doing research of all the random crap that these food companies put in our food. The preservatives, pesticides, just random garbage that is REALLY not good for you. Bread was actually at the top of my list, because of some of the things they put in it for coloring, flavor, fake grains and seeds to make it look like whole grain. Ewwwwww.

Bam! Bread machine!

We've made three loaves of bread now. Our first loaf was white-bread, which I haven't voluntarily eaten in years, except for Subway or Jimmy John's(and it's been months for them). It was deflated, but it was our first, and it was still tasty. We read the details of the cooking cycles the next time. =)

Our second loaf, three-cheese for pasta night. OMG, so nommy! I am not a huge fan of Asiago cheese, but in bread? WOW! Warm it up with a little butter, mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Our third loaf, I made yesterday. "Apple-Pie" Bread. YUM! With little bits of dried apples and raisins in it. It's like candy in a loaf of bread!

And it's friggin' huge! Look:

That's a 24 oz jar, and it's even after we've already eaten about 3 inches of the blasted thing!

The only draw back to the whole bread-making process, is it takes several hours to make one loaf, and I tend to pace and check on it constantly. That kinda sucks, but the payoff is worth it. No preservatives, no junk. Just good, wholesome, healthy, bread. AND! I know EVERY ingredient that's in it. This machine will pay for itself, in about a year. A bit longer than the rice cooker, but health-wise, we feel it was well worth it.

We also made our first batch of home-made butter. It was so easy, and only takes minutes. We've completely cut out margarine and switched 100% to butter. We used our homemade butter to mix in with shaken-potatoes(my Mom will know this one) or in our house know as Potato-Goo. Very very tasty.

I got another cabinet for my yarn. We got new sheets, a new living room table, and we got caught up on all of our bills. including a double payment to the more irritating one. No bill-collectors left wanting for at least a month. =)

If you ignore the whole wisdom teeth fiasco, all in all, it's been a fun month of purchases, experimenting, and relaxing.

Work is a whole other story. lol, but I'll save that for another post.

Time to get to cleaning. I do hope everyone enjoys the remainder of their weekend!

Love to all!
~~~

Damn Wisdom Teeth

This post is completely about having my wisdom teeth pulled. So if you already know the story, feel free to skip it. Post containing all the new fun stuff is next.

So I had my wisdom teeth out. Yep, all gone. Nothing left but holes where teeth used to be. Oh yea, and a numb spot on my chin.

So after the surgery, it took a few days, but various things started to set in.

Dry socket #1. Left side, bottom. They packed it, and seriously, 10 minutes later the pain was COMPLETELY gone.

A small spot of numbness in my chin had started. Over the next week, it had spread to my bottom lip. All on the right side. This, I still have, but will cover in detail, several paragraphs down.

A few days later, dry socket #2. Right side, bottom.

The funny thing? I don't even smoke!!! And this condition is FAR more common in smokers, as well, they normally only get 1!!!

Absolutely the most blinding, horrible pain you can imagine in the right side of my face. It ran down from my temple through my ear(like having an ice pick shoved in to your ear in an effort to punch through to your brain), down the jaw line, the side of my neck, and across my shoulder. (*Let me just toss this in here, the pain has since subsided.*) After a few days of that, I was back in to the Dentist(not the surgeon). This is where they diagnosed dry socket #2.

They packed it with something a little different and I was off. 2.5 hours later, the pain was back. Friday night, and dental offices are now closed.) 4 days later, I was back in to see the Oral Surgeon, who put a different spin on things. So apparently I clench my teeth. Oh yay..... And in the process of healing from the surgery, I had clenched my teeth so much, I'd pulled the muscle that runs down the side of my face. Nothing that can be done, just wait it out. Muscle relaxants, and relax, relax, relax.

I slept maybe 6 hours over the next 3 days. Spent 6 of my 8 hours of sleep time each night, pacing across my living room. I am not kidding..... I have restless leg syndrome, so when it acts up, I have to move. HAVE TO. No choice. It's that, or I experience random twitching, and I don't want to keep Niceguy up all night with twitching or kicking. I hadn't had a flare up in months, so some recent addition had to cause this.

Now, the other problem.... I was already back to work. You see the issue? I'm a technical support phone agent. I will be talking all day. Moving muscles, and hating consumers. Yep, that's a great way to relax.

I stopped taking the muscle relaxants, and hey, whattyaknow?! I was able to sleep, and didn't have the need to move constantly! I paid attention to what I was doing with my mouth. Constantly checking things with my tongue? Stopped. Shifting my mouth around to check the numbness? Stopped. If I clenched in my sleep, I conditioned myself to wake up immediately and stop. The pain slowly started to subside. I'd get 4-6 hours in the morning, and then pain. Then up to 10 hours. Eventually, all day, except maybe a 20 minute spaz after eating.

3.5 weeks, and still not eating solid foods. I lost 17 lbs. 10 of which was in the first week. Not complaining, but the speed at which it was coming off was concerning. Anyways.... I have put some of it back on, so no worries here. *grumble*

The pain at this point is gone. I might feel a slight twinge every few days or so, and it's likely because I am just doing too much. I started eating solid foods again on Monday, because the muscle in my face(yes, the griefy-one mentioned above) was so tight, I couldn't open my mouth more than half an inch or so. So how to condition it? Chew. Chew chew chew. Sore, but good. I can almost open my mouth as far as I used to be able to. Which for some, I'm sure, is a bit of a disappointment. ;-)

The two holes on the top of my mouth are almost completely closed. YAY! The bottom two? Still pits, and angry pits at that. Too much, and I get sore, so I'm having to REALLY focus when I eat, and not over do it. I had a cheeseburger on Friday, and I cannot tell you just how amazing it was. I still find myself mashing and sucking on foods occasionally, so I really have to focus on chewing. Overall though, I think I'm doing very well.

Now, on to the numbness I mentioned. So my bottom wisdom teeth, really didn't want to come out. The surgeon said and I quote, "They came out as good as we could have expected them to, considering the proximity to the nerves." One tooth was on top of the nerve. Yes, touching it. The other, actually had it wrapped around it. While you try to figure that out, I'll continue.... I was warned of this before I went in, so like any idiot with the "Stuff like that will never happen to me" attitude, I blew it off. *sigh*

Left side, meh, it's healing. No pain, all is well. The right side? Nerve damage. So, think the right side of my face here, my chin and the bottom half of my bottom lip are numb. If I bite my lip, I can get very faint bits of pain. But I can slap my chin, and feel nothing. Over time, even the feeling of pushing on my face and the pressure of skin pulling from the surrounding areas started to fade. Surgeon says the area of no-feeling is about the size of a quarter.

The area still functions. I guess I should say that. I might dribble occasionally, but everything is still functional. There just isn't any feeling there. This brought about a whole slew of emotional moments. I won't go in to grave detail about what was running through my head, but let me just say, it wasn't good, and the emotional roller-coaster I've taken Niceguy on, can't have been fun for him either. I still occasionally burst into a random tear-fest, when no one is looking.... Trying to get through this....

Lately though, I've been getting these phantom itches. OMG, it itches so bad, but because there's no feeling there, I cannot scratch it. I just rub it lightly with the palm of my hand(to avoid over-scratching and possibly cutting or scratching myself raw) until it goes away. The last couple of days have brought burning sensations and feeling in the bottom half of my lip again. Albeit faint, it's still feeling.

I've had a checkup with the surgeon, and have another in a week or so. He said the itching is typically a sign of the nerve healing, but not to get my hopes up. Stuff like this can happen, and then it can fade out again. I have been told, that if I don't have feeling back soon, I need to start considering long-term. Am I willing to live with the loss of feeling? Or do I want the surgery that MAY correct it. Even with surgery, full repair is not a certainty. He noted, there are really only a couple of good surgeons on the west coast that do this surgery well, and once I hit three-months after the damage, the likelihood of full repair or recovery drops dramatically.

It's a very invasive surgery, that's the nice, un-detailed way of putting it. Also very likely that insurance may not cover it, or all of it. That basically means that however this turns out, I have to live with it.

So fingers crossed. I want to be able to feel again. I want to be able to completely feel a kiss. (That's a big one.) I want to not have to ask Niceguy constantly to stare at my chin while I eat to make sure I didn't dribble. Or not to have to damn near rub my chin raw with napkins to make sure I didn't spill. Or not to be completely paranoid when we go out to eat. And many many other things.

The surgeon actually made a comment about how so far, I have fallen in to the small percentage of people that experience ALL of these things..... Yay me.... Murphy's law right? If it can happen, it will.

So needless to say, when it comes to this surgery, it hasn't been the best experience, but it's getting better.

Alrighty, so now you know. Next post, much happier stuff.

And since I'm all about posting again....

So yea.... Swelling and numbness continue, but otherwise, feeling great. I miss solid food, but I'll survive.

I tell ya, the most interesting accommodation I've had to make so far, was for my antacids. I got heartburn, and can't chew tums.... Hmmmmm, crush with wooden spoon, eat like pixie-stix, don't breathe. LOL, yes, I had a mouthful of powder. Hey, gotta do whatcha gotta do.

I woke up this morning with a big bruise on my foot and no pain or memory of how it got there. Well, okay.....

My real reason for this post though, is this picture:


I absolutely love how this gal did this headboard. The coolest thing is, it's not a painting or a special print. It's a cotton/polyester shower curtain on a frame she built herself.

I fell in love with the idea immediately, and if we had the money, I'd already have it hanging in the bedroom. Niceguy has already approved.

(*Honestly though, he doesn't care what I do, as long as the apartment isn't covered in flowers. That will NEVER be an issue.*)

I've been planning to make the leap from blues to greens in the bedroom for well over a year, just never had the finances to do it. I also wanted something versatile enough to be able to hop over to burgundy or black without much effort. With something simple like this, it won't cost more than maybe $50 to make it, and it'll work with just about any color.

So after discussing it with Niceguy and going through about 500 different shower curtain designs on Walmart.com and Target.com, we narrowed it down to these two:

Yes, we found the exact same one the gal used in her room. (*Pictured up above.*)
$40 set from Target.

We're even considering making the entire thing interchangeable or reversible.
$34.99 for the curtain.

My main reason for mentioning this, wasn't just because it's a fabulously cool idea, and I think everyone should try it, but because I'd like some opinions. Niceguy and I spent a fair amount of time narrowing all those shower curtains down to these two. Believe me, there were some really nice and some REALLY goofy ones in there. Now I'm stuck though. I can't decide.

Heck, I could even attach some rope-lighting behind it, and turn it into the entire focal point of the room. Light, headboard, wall-hanging, all-in-one!

I'll take any and all opinions here. Be blunt!

WOW! It's been ages!

Holy cow! I just got the notification that Mom was hoping for an update, and noticed I'd completely skipped the holidays. It's been just over two months since my last post, so a lot of the little stuff is going to get skipped, sorry.

The holidays brought the usual. High stress, too much traffic, and the attempts to avoid any possible public interaction. Shopping at 11 at night, and the majority of get-togethers were at our place to avoid us having to leave.

With stuffing everything in the second bedroom for storage, we buried the X-mas trees. So I was able to climb over a couple things to reach my little 2.5 foot fiber-optic. Satisfied with SOME X-mas decorations, I let that be it.

December did bring the completion of the 1-up Hat. I'd been working on how to make this hat off/on for months. I'd made one that looked like it was covered in puffy growths. This one came out beautifully.


Niceguy quickly laid claim to it, and I've since perfected the pattern and have quite a few interested parties for when I'm ready to make more. =) It was about 18 hours of solid work. Very few distractions. I aim to pick that up. Hoping for 8-10 hours.

Since the tablet was our big X-mas gift, we'd already done the bulk of our shopping. I made a lot of hats this year, and am still working on more. It actually got to the point, that as soon as I finished one hat, and was ready to pack it away for later shipping, someone spotted it and asked to buy it. I think I've made 10 of the hats I was going to make for my siblings, but only have 2 in my possession. I have a lot of time off right now though, so might be able to lock myself away and get caught up. I'll explain later.

We spent X-mas at Niceguy's parents house, just relaxing and having a good time. Spending the bulk of the evening surrounded by good company, good food, and lots of relatives on Skype.

My family sent us this great cat perch called the Sunny Seat. We loved it so much, we went out the day after Christmas and bought another one. You can tell by the image below, we're getting quite a bit of amusement out of it.

The floor level one wasn't as big a hit with the kitties, so we shifted the bottom one above the mid-door one. It's far more popular, and they aren't beating each other up anymore for it. Still, we did enjoy the playful banter for a bit.

New Year's was uneventful. We did both make it to the ball-dropping ceremony this year though. We had a friend over for several hours which helped. lol

We both got a Kindle a few weeks back. I have already cycled through two books and am starting on my third. I also, as soon as we walked in the door with them, crocheted up some carrying cases/protectors.

They fit perfectly and are actually quite easy to make.

Button goes here, but I'm also tossing around other ideas.

Just finished the diagonal/vertical striped one the other day. By request.

And now I'm getting requests for them and tablet covers, so I'm sure I'll get a small stock up on Etsy soon as well.

Moving right along. For those that didn't know, mostly because I can't recall if I mentioned it at some point, Niceguy had his day in court, and a payment plan on an old medical debt was arranged. It's decent small payments, so manageable which is very very nice.

Niceguy's Aunt and Uncle surprised us this X-mas with a long weekend at the beach this last weekend. They were there for the week and weekend for his Uncle's 70th birthday. Needless to say, we had a great time, and this was my first time in the Ester Lee Motel. We were quite pleased with the room and the view. As well, this was new beach territory for me, so the shock of finding actual WHOLE seashells was just awesome!

Of course, the quarter conveniently placed shows just how awesome. The tiny ones, that are normally crushed under shoes, we have quite a few. This was just a small sampling. I aim to make some cutesy little bathroom stuff with them. =) Too much fun!

Naturally, what's a vacation without my attempt to break a bone? Oh yea, even with the tooth pain I've been in for months, I didn't feel the weekend would be perfect without me tweaking my ankle on a small lip in the parking lot of the hotel. Yep, yet again. Graceful Jess is graceful. I refused to let the blinding pain in my ankle ruin our last walk on the beach for the weekend, and sucked up the pain. Here we are a week later, still sore, but functional. TAKE THAT ANKLE GODS!!! I WIN THIS ONE!

Speaking of tooth pain. Yep, since being told in August that I needed my wisdom teeth taken out, many things have come up that prevented us financially from getting it done. Even after two of my teeth broke, I sucked it up and decided to wait. Lizzie needed some teeth pulled for one, and then add in all the random issues with the Truck. All the while, the pain was getting significantly worse. Mild dull pain here and there, to these last few weeks of sporadic and then progressing to constant nerve pain. No drug would touch it, and it was enough that I missed several days of work, on top of missing time for being sick.

I'd finally get money saved up, but didn't have enough vacation time to cover even a day or two off. I reached my breaking point and to be totally honest, was approaching the point of being non-functional because of the pain, so scheduled the appointment with the oral surgeon. It was the day before our beach weekend trip. We were hoping he'd think it was important enough to get done immediately and insist I come in right before the trip. This would allow me to recover over my vacation. Which would suck, but be better than missing a ton of work time.

Yea, no, he didn't have the availability until today. So I got my beach trip, and then 11 consecutive days off from work...... Plus two days that I called in because the pain was so bad. Hey though, with tax returns and a surprise bonus from work, we'll be okay.

So you noticed I said today, right? Yep, I had my wisdom teeth, all four, pulled 14 hours ago. Yes, I am fine. Yes, I hurt. To be totally honest though, this pain is like a pleasant massage compared to what I was dealing with yesterday and the 6 days prior. So, I'm totally freaking thrilled that I have four gigantic holes in my mouth. If I ever experience that kind of pain again, I won't dink around with options or time-off. I'll go in and get it done.

Niceguy has been an absolute doll all day today. Not that I expected anything less. Still, I feel it's worth mentioning. He helped me change the gauze in my mouth(which seriously, had to be icky for him), woke me to take my pain meds on time, went to the store and got soup and other food and drinks I could use, and even laid down and took a nap with me this afternoon. Yep, I am one lucky woman. No doubt about that.

Oh, and to top things off, just a couple days ago, my fellow Yahoo! Layoffee's and myself all got approved for Trade benefits. Basically, since our jobs got shifted overseas, we get money to get trained/schooled for new careers.

Yep, so school stuff and an appointment with the Department of Labor are in my future. VERY VERY HAPPY!

I'll leave on this high note, and wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!

Love to all!!!!
~~~