Tuesday-11am

Good Morning!

It's a balmy 37 degrees and might hit 40 today.  Probably our warmest day for the rest of the week.  

The snow is gone.  Was too cold to melt.  I think it blew away or evaporated in the wind.  

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Dagan ran over to pick up Leah's drill on Sunday and he messed with my computer a bit.  I've had this Shockwave Flash problem making McLap super slow and freezing up.  Apparently Chrome comes automatically with Shockwave Flash and it can compete with other flash plug-ins or something like that.  So Dagan tried deleting my Adobe Flash and it seems to be working a lot better.  Pages are opening faster and it isn't freezing up constantly telling me Shockwave Flash has crashed.  

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But I still have gotten the boxes telling me a page is not responding--do you want to wait or kill it?  If you "kill it" you can lose everything you were doing.  Computers.  Been a real headache over here for the past six months or so.  I never had any bugs or viruses, so it appears to be a software issue.  *sigh*  Things are better than they were now, though.  I was about ready to keep a deck of cards nearby to play solitaire while pages loaded like I did in the very old days when I got my first computer--LOL!

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Anyways, then Leah came over later on Sunday and we worked on Christmas cards.  Well, mostly Leah did--LOL!  We sure do love the new MISTI!  But we have discovered that if you have to print more than once with pigment ink it doesn't dry well and will smear days later!  :(  So we'll be using dye inks in the future.

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Leah made a trip to the store for me, too.  Now you don't have to worry about me having poster tack in my mouth--LOL!  She got me this wax you use for braces.  It works great and is actually meant to be in somebody's mouth--LOL!  

She brought me more cold medicines, too.  So I am all set.

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Leah's got the tail end of the cough but is doing better in general than I am.  I caught this when I was at such a physical low-low that it is just taking me a long time to get over it.   From what I've heard this stuff loves to cling to you as long as possible...weeks.  So--just waiting it out.  (Hasn't gone into my chest--whew!)  And, thanks to Leah, we can start working on getting Christmas cards ready.  Yes!  They're done!  

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I still wake up sounding like a frog, but I think that's because I'm breathing through my mouth all night--LOL!  I am just thrilled to be sleeping better most nights.  But I do need the cold meds to be able to sleep...and they immediately gave me diarrhea.  I know--TMI.  But that is why I am not going to be able to make it to the dentist until I am well again...both ends--ROFL!  No point in calling yet.  Thank goodness the tooth doesn't hurt.  :)

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Good Lord!  You never know what I might be talking about when you come to visit, eh?  ;)  LOL!

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I have even been too sedentary for too long for Miss Karma.  I know.  Impossible to believe.  But I haven't had her string toys out for weeks...or brushed her, for that matter...as I was walking past the chair in the kitchen she took a swipe at me.  You know how cats love to attack each other?  Well, she wanted me to play with her and I am still too much of a zombie-woman to play.  Karma was not happy with me, as you can see.  She's not always sweet, I tell you.

This morning she was walking around complaining for some reason.  She's been going over and pawing at Ian's cloth containers in his shelves lately.  It got very quiet.   Caught her just sitting up there in the sun half dozing.  Silly girl.

She's been extra cranky lately.  Goes off and sleeps in the bedroom.  Old age?  Sometimes I think she still wants to go "home".  It was the only home she knew all her 10 1/2 years.  But she does love the new power recliner, I tell you.  More room for her to sleep on the footrest and she has learned to wait until it is half the way down before she jumps off so she doesn't have to jump as far.  (She has been rather stiff-legged the last couple years.)

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Well, that's about it from here.  Caroline was sick last week so she is coming to clean this afternoon.  I will close with a picture of my end table for the T Stands For Tuesday group over at Elizabeth's.  

No clue whether I will be able to make it around to visit the group this week or not.  I hope so, but no promises can be made in good faith.  As for me--right now I have to go refill the humidifiers and my water bottle...and then make me some more pour-over coffee.  I hope everybody is having a good week.  Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating.  :)

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I think I may have posted this quote before, but I do love it.

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"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the Sunset."

Crowfoot, Leader of the Blackfoot Nation

Saturday-11:30am

I think this was Thursday morning, but I won't swear to it.  

 I am still sick and foggy, but better than I was a week ago.  

Anyways--woke up to a little snow!!!

Love it!  Love it!!  Love it!!

You may recall my whining about no snow last year. 

Everything seemed to miss us so it was mostly a brown winter--yuck!  (Not good for septic tanks and water pipes up here, either.) 

I was delighted to see it sparkling and hope to see more. 

Karma was thrilled, too. 

Leah said I slept through a mini-blizzard that morning.  (Yes!  I have been sleeping--tada!!)  The snow blew hard enough to come over and right through the screen door.  I cracked the patio door open a few inches so that Karma could pretend she was out on the porch...

...but from the comfort of her soft, warm carpet.  She loved it! 

I didn't get a picture, but she ate her fill of the white fluffy snow, too.  She was one happy cat! 

And the next morning...bunny tracks!  And there might be some tiny grouse prints along the edge of the snow there.  What fun! 

Anyways, been in the 20s.  

Quite crispy out there.   

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Leah and Ian came over for a short visit on Wednesday afternoon.  Ian sat for a little while with Gramma and watched one of his favorite programs--Wild China--on Netflix.  He took some time to become reacquainted with his toys in his toy shelves here.  But, in the end, Ian always finds Karma's cat toy container more interesting,.  Of course, right?  LOL!   It's so nice that he actually likes to come to Gramma's place now...where we can shut the door to all those tempting art & craft supplies so he's free to run around.  Ahhhh!  We love it, too!  

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All I have managed to do all week is finally do laundry (had to-no more socks or underpants) and cook up some hotdishes.  The crummy news...yesterday I had a piece of a molar break off when I was eating toast so I have to call the dentist's on Monday.  That tooth is more filling than actual tooth so I expect it means another tooth might be pulled.  Gosh I hate going to the dentist.  *shudders*  

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It doesn't hurt at all, though, so that's good.  Or at least not enough to break through past all the regular pain level.  (But you may recall I had an abscessed molar years ago that I never noticed till my face swelled up--LOL!)

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Oh, and you'll laugh!  The broken piece of tooth is sharp as can be and was rubbing against the side of my tongue.  Hurt like hell.  You don't realize how your tongue moves back and forth every time you swallow.  By this morning my tongue felt like raw meat.  A solution came to me as I was waking up, as happens so often (do believe I get help from GA).  I took a piece of that wall tack stuff to hold up posters, etc, and put it over the sharp piece of tooth.  Worked like a charm!  What a relief.  I'll have to chew on the other side, of course, but if it falls off...well, I have a whole lot more poster tack--ROFL!  How wonderful to be able to swallow without feeling like you are slicing your tongue to pieces.  Makes one appreciate one's normal, everyday pain level, eh?  ;)  Everything is relative.  

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Anyways, Leah is coming over alone tomorrow to work on Christmas cards again.  Sadly, I have not felt well enough to work on them in the meantime.  Am at least semi-functional now, though.  Back up to daily living skills most days, anyways--ROFL!  When I don't take the decongestant or the sleep aide (had to try, right?)...I become snot-woman and can't sleep well.  So I have a feeling this is going to hang on for a while longer.  I'm past the worst of it, though, now--I think.  Hallelujah!!  Hoping to get back to my normal in a week or so...maybe less?  I am always hopeful.  :)

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 Karma is snoring lightly on the chair here--curled up between my legs.  Her feet are kicking every so often.  She may be dreaming she is actually catching the sparrows and grouse and rabbits that loom before her on her IMAX CatTV.  Karma can be optimistic, too.  Just not that often--LOL! 

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Well, have a very good weekend!

I'd love to see a really white Thanksgiving this year.

Hey!  I shouldn't be contagious anymore so I can send out lots of love and hugs!  ;) :)

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"Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together." 

Vista M. Kelly

Tuesday-7:15pm

Karma's even tired of hearing my coughing fits.

 I am still sick as a dog.  

Wonder where that saying came from?
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I usually write Tuesday morning...been trying to work on this since 4pm...just to let you know I am still breathing.  Even if it is only out of my mouth or one nostril--LOL!

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I took these pictures with my cell phone and have no idea why some of them came out sideways.  Regardless, last week I got some happy mail from Jeannie that was wrapped up in tissue paper with pretty silk flowers on the top.

She sent me one of these pocket letters I have seen people making lately. 

It's filled with pretty cards, flags, and post it notes.  Lots of little things I can use. 

Thanks so much, Jeanie!!  This is absolute proof that you really are unpacked now in Korea, feeling better, and playing in your studio.  :) :)

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Leah came over Sunday night.  We are both sick, but she is much more functional than I am.  We got out the new MISTI.  (WE LOVE IT!!)  Leah stamped and I propped up the cards to dry on the craft table.  We got all the fronts stamped for a set of 100 very simple Christmas cards.  

She's planning on coming back this Sunday, too, to work on stamping the inside sentiment.  I'm sure glad I had done the cutting and folding of the card stock last year--whew!  Quite useless right now.

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Oh, and guess what!?
I won this giveaway on Cindy Utter's youtube channel!

I recently started following Cindy (who also has fibro and chronic pain).  The box arrived yesterday.

OMG!!  She said she was going to put a few more things in there...but wow!

Even some hand-painted papers and a couple little handmade books/journals...

...some crayon/colors and extra stencils...

...tags and things...

...some pretty dimensional canvas stickers and all those Dylusions sprays!!!

Wow!!  Wow!!  Wow!!
Thanks so much, Cindy!!!  I feel so lucky to have won all these goodies.  :) :)  As soon as I am well again here I will finally be using my brand new studio in my brand new apartment.  Unexpected gifts are like a christening of that room, aren't they?  Awesome!!
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As for T Stands For Tuesday...Leah dropped me off some medicines yesterday...so I am drinking other stuff besides my coffee in my red mug.  ;)  I was able to sleep in my bed last night, so that's a plus.

I am not sure if I will make it around to visit everybody over at Elizabeth's this week...but I wanted to at least say hi.
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Oh!!  Yesterday when I ran out in the cold wind and drizzle to Leah's car to grab the sick-person-supplies-mercy-delivery...well, Ian thought he was going to be coming inside to Gramma's.  It was the first time he has cried because he didn't get to visit me.  Awww!  When I feel better I'll have to have a sweet little visit with that boy.  ;)
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I am too tired and weak to even go hunt for a quote.  Just hope you are having a much healthier week than I am expecting.  LOL!  :)

Tuesday-9:30am

No pictures.  Not even going to link up to T Stands for Tuesday this week because I am actually sick, extra miserable, and wouldn't be able to make it around to visit all the participants.  Besides, I would barely call this a post, anyways.  Turned out that when I made the Journal Showdown video and posted on Sunday I was already sick-sick but just didn't know it yet.  I always ache all over, get headaches, and generally feel crummy in the first place...so it's hard to tell if I am really sick if I'm not throwing up or something equally dramatic--LOL!  But by Sunday night I was running a low temp, suddenly had Niagara-nose, and was feeling much more miserable than usual.  Wanted to let you know that I'm okay--just have a terrible cold with flu-like aches and a mild sore throat (which may be because I can't breathe through my nose).  That's it.  I'll be back when I am feeling more human.  It's a beautiful morning, 46 degrees, the sun is shining, and Karma has wedged herself between the patio door and the blinds.  Me--I'll pass on blinding sunlight this morning with this pounding headache.  Oh--I did find out the new recliner is pretty comfortable to sleep in.  ;)  
Later..... 

Sunday-9am-Journal Showdown

Good Morning!

We've had a lot of dark (and sometimes drizzly) days.  I have had rare sightings of the grouse family.  Glad to see they're still around.

My energy supply did not come gushing in. 

 I was still about as lively as Miss Karma--LOL!

But I did make one of the two videos that were my goals for this week so I am very happy that I at least got one done--tada!  You can tell I am still a bit spacey and scattery, but at least you get the gist--LOL!  The next one will be the new apartment tour.  :)
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Here was my set up.  I decided to add an old cream colored placemat on the table so that I would have a basic idea where my camera space was.  Karma didn't want to feel left out so she got a chair, too--LOL!    

I realized after I had made the video that the other participants were showing only journals they were actually using right now.  Well, I included the very-old-untouched-for-years journals, last years failures, and my future plans for the coming year.  (I hope I am tremendously more successful than I was in 2015--what a laugh, eh?)  Here's more than you ever wanted to know about me and my journals...

If you want to join in or just peek at other people's journals or meet Jamie:
Jamie's Journal Showdown video.
Jamie Riddler Studios
I hope these links work because I copied them from my YouTube description.  Let me know, okay?
Okay--the first two didn't.  So I added new ones.
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Oh, ya!!  Strange!!  I wondered where that last tiny video of Ian saying goodbye went because it didn't show up on my YouTube channel?  Then when I posted the Journal Showdown one...same thing...???  An email came congratulating me on posting a new video, like it always does--but I couldn't find that one, either, when I went to my channel.  ??  Come to find out that somehow Google decided all on its own to make me a new YouTube channel under Rita McGregor!  What the heck?!  Did they use my Google+ account that they practically forced me to open?  Why did they do that without my knowledge?  How could they do that without my knowledge?  I had just gone to my saved/bookmarked spot and did everything the same as usual?  Google has some nerve.
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  So I went back last night and had to repost both of those videos in my original account--which is soulcomfort1 because that was my old yahoo email address I used back when I started on YouTube in 2008.  Does anyone know how to delete a YouTube account?  I do not want or need two of them.  Good grief!
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Well, one down, one to go.  
I'm happy.  
Anyways, have a great day.  :) :)
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"The only thing that will make you happy is being happy with who you are, and not who people think you are."
Goldie Hawn

Tuesday-1pm

Good Afternoon!

Yes, I am moving very slowly today.

Karma and Ian pics today.

Karma loves to pet herself. 

She rubs her own head... 

...back and forth...  

...on the carpet... 

...or wherever she feels like it, really. 

Ian and Mama were by for short visit last week.

Leah remembered we were going to try to get more pictures as they were ready to go out the door.

Ian has a new coat and was pretty tired.

Was waving bye-bye and plenty ready to go home...

...but we tortured him with pictures.

He even played peek-a-boo...

...a little bit.

Leah set my cell phone for me so I could try using it for the first time making a video.

Of course, Ian wasn't feeling as cooperative by this time--silly grownups.  But, he has to learn all about a proper Minnesota Goodbye, right?  Grandma stands outside her apartment door and waves as they walk all the way down the hall.  
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Have you ever seen How To Talk Minnesotan?  
If you click on the link and watch it.  I am Minnesotan born and raised.  It is all true.
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Leah took Halloween pictures.
Ian asleep in the car seat with his big green light stick.  He went five different places.

McFamily had a huge smoking pumpkin out front...

...along with their skeleton and a few more pumpkins.  The teal one next to the skeleton is the one announcing alternative treats.

Ian was a dragon this year.

(So Game of Thrones, eh?)

He helped hand out candy for a little while, too.

Was extra generous, I hear.  :)

But got bored with the waiting pretty quickly...

...so he went and sat in his new IKEA chair to watch baseball with Daddy and eat Cherrios.

I didn't have any kids here at the new place at all.  No surprise.  Hope everyone had a nice Halloween.  
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I'm still on R&R.  Caroline is bringing groceries in a little while.  We have our first annual inspection of the new apartments tomorrow.  My goal is to make a couple of videos this week.  I want to link in with a "Journal Showdown" video that will show you all of my various journals and I also want to make a tour of the new home video, too.  When I get them done I will post them on the blog.  :)
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And I did forget to take a picture of my red coffee mug for T-Stands For Tuesday over at Elizabeth's--but you know it is sitting right here next to the McLap.  ;)  I hope I can get around to visit everybody for T-Day this week.  It's a gorgeous crisp sunny fall day.  Have a fantastic rest of your week!!
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"Today is your day, your mountain is waiting, so get on your way." 
Dr. Seuss