July 12, 2026 Sunday

Greetings!

Well, let's see...Dagan came home Monday later in the day.  No additional CT scan.  They went by his symptoms and he's been feeling good.  He's done with his oral antibiotics today so we'll see how it goes.  He brought me to the lab for my bloodwork on Friday afternoon for my virtual visit with the rheumatologist this coming Wednesday and he was feeling fine then.  Maybe that will be it, eh?  Time will tell.

I've been feeling kind of draggy and low energy.  Not sure if it is the methotrexate or just my chronic fatigue syndrome that accompanies my fibro--lol!  But I did get some work done on the studio later in the week.

The boys came down to show me what else Ian had just finished putting together that he got for his birthday.  It's a pin ball machine!  Has orange plastic pieces that will "explode" off into the air if they get hit hard enough! 

Trouble is, you have to find them after they shoot off into space--lol!

This looks like another of the very complex wooden puzzles...but with marbles, a metal ball, tiny yellow plastic balls, red marbles, and the orange pieces that can fly off randomly.

It is quite something!  Ian loves putting these intricate puzzles together and he's quite good at it.

Caught a close up of Allie asleep in her cat couch by the window.

Allie wondering what I was doing silently creeping up on her when she was sleeping--lol!

I forgot to add "change the shower curtain" to my bullet journal.  I have added it now.  

I never had trouble remembering before because I had my cleaning girl who came every two weeks.  Such a creature of habit am I, eh?  It is now in my bullet journal.  :)

My week in the studio went like this.  This was when I was about half way on the six boxes.

 I was emptying the boxes little by little. 

The organizing part has been more difficult than I expected.  I had all those containers there on top of Allie's litter box put away in the wide drawers and pulled them all out again.  Couldn't stack them and they took up so much room that way. 

 I think they will end up on the bookcase shelves...which was where they were at the old apartment.  But I need help getting the shelves in.  Dagan and Leah will be down today.  

The plan today...well, I had a chunk of money left from the sale of my furniture, oil painting supplies, etc, when I moved.  I ordered a Breville smart oven and a cart to keep it on (Prime sales!) that I plan to roll back and forth from the laundry room or even the storage room.  Not enough counter space to keep something like that out all the time.  Was Leah's idea to have a sturdy cart for it!  Brilliant!  They plan to put the cart together and unpack the oven today--whoohoo!  I have never owned anything like this.  There will be pictures!

Meanwhile--back in the studio...

I think I have found spots for all the stamp sets for card making, but I'm not positive until I am all unpacked, of course.

Also the acrylic blocks.  Will be fun to make cards again once I get this room in order.  :)

I couldn't even remember if I took a picture of the Chinese brush painting supplies in the wider dresser.

Now have all the watercolor palettes in one of the wide drawers, too.  :)

Plus one huge mess of piles on the table to sort through.

I did get some odd supplies put away for foiling and embossing...

...and pen supplies.  But for some unknown reason Blogger won't let me add it here and keeps adding it at the end of the blog.  Can't copy, move, and paste it, either.  So it is the last photo.  Sorry.

Anyways, the table looks like this at the moment.  I need help getting some shelving put up so most of this will have to wait...but hopefully it will get put away today.  I'll be asking for more boxes to dig into, also, after the table is cleared again.

The heat wave is back.  When they are running the AC it actually gets chilly down here.  We are supposed to be in the 80s and 90s (95 today it says on my phone) for the next two weeks at least.  Good time to be living in a basement--lol!  ;)  Chilly enough I have noticed Allie spending time on her self-warming mat in her carrier in the corner and she's spending more time than usual with me when I am in my comfy big chair--lol!

Wild Card:

Goodness!  Almost everything!  Over the course of my life I have had things happen over and over again to put myself in positions to see life with a different perspective.  Especially after being raped, having a baby they tell you will die soon, becoming disabled over 20 years ago, and recently surviving stage four cancer I wasn't supposed to.  When big things like that happen in your life it changes your perspective.  Things you thought were so important become rather insignificant in a bigger picture, you know?  It has formed me into a mostly present moment type of a person who is grateful to be smelling the roses.  Really does help me to not sweat the small stuff.  Most of the time, anyways--lol!

Also helps you discover what areas can still get under your skin in a big way.  I guess it has helped me learn where my soul weaknesses are.  Helps me to keep working at those things that I allow to bring negatives into my days.  I feel lucky to have had lessons like that from such a young age.  Can teach you empathy, that you can live through all kinds of situations, that life is mysteriously precious, and to trust my inner guidance--not to listen to people in positions of power or authority (like doctors, teachers, bosses) or even friends or family.  To trust being true to myself...and to be brutally honest with myself.  

So, like everything else in life--taking things less seriously has two sides for me.  It makes it easier and yet harder--lol!  But isn't it something!!  

Pen stuff pic Blogger demanded go last.

Until next week... smell those roses!!

Love and hugs from Fargo!  :)