I watch a couple of cross stitchers who have their own You Tube channels. I think these women are nuts!!!

They must be rich too because they go shopping every week.

One has 50 projects "kitted" up, which means, in a decorative plastic zipper bag, (50 separate bags) she has 50 projects--pattern, fabric, thread all set to go...some over a year old...and not one stitch put in the fabric.

They never seem to get any one project fully finished. They fully admit they can't stand to work on only one project from start to finish.

Their way would drive me nuts! I am what they call a "monogamous" stitcher. I start a project and work on it until it is done. I might have a pattern, on the side, that I want to stitch up someday, but not until I have this project done. I might work on 2 projects at the same time, but one would be cross stitch and one would be crochet.

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This past week was just horrendous!

Smoke alarm going off in the middle of the night, for no reason. I finally got it twisted off the wall and threw it in the bottom of the clothes hamper.

Furnace acting the fool. First it would come on about every 7 minutes, run for 8 and shut down. Then it got so it came on and only ran half a cycle, shut down, the blower would come on and blow only warm air. Then it got so it ran continuously, but could never get up to 72 to click off the thermostat.

I called our electric company, that I pay additional each month for appliance service plan--no outlay of money from me for their repair guys.

They told me the furnace hadn't been included on the plan. Thankfully, I had "minutes" and the name of the woman I talked to two weeks ago to have it added.

A guy couldn't get out for two days...but when he did...he was marvelous. I told him I thought it needed a new thermocouple and he agreed, but informed me, they now call that part a "sensor". Before he left, he wrote down his personal cell phone number and said to call him if there were any more problems.

Sure enough, two hours later, it was still doing the same thing, so I called and he came back.

He inquired as to how old the furnace filter was, I told him I had replaced it the first of December, but on further checking, he could tell it was loaded with white like dust. I had purchased two small humidifiers first of the month...one for bedroom and one for living room. They do not have filters so that warm mist that comes out is laden with lime from this terrible water we have and had not only laid down a fine white dust all over the furniture...I had just dusted the day before, GRRR, but the furnace filter had sucked in enough to clog it up a bit. Thankfully, I always buy the filters in pairs so I had a new one for him to put in. Furnace runs great!!!

I have since ordered some kind of thingie to put in the humidifier water tank that is "guaranteed" to demineralize the water and prevent the lime laden misty-dust. We shall see.

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We haven't had much snow this month. I haven't been out of this house since December 30th, but had a hair cut appointment today. Guess what? We are under a weather storm advisory!!! Hair cut canceled. and I need to go to the bank before the end of the week.

It's not the driving---I grew up in Michigan, I know how to drive in snow, plus all the main roads around here are clear. The problem is getting from my front door to the car door and then back up the porch steps when I get home. I do not need to slip and fall on cement...if I'm going to fall, I want to fall inside, onto the nice, thick, soft carpeting.

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Last week, I got a call from my PCP (primary care physician) that I need to go to little hospital up the road for a contrast ultra sound on my left kidney.

Now I had one of those on Oct. 21 and everything was normal and fine. I had another non-contrast one the first time I was in hospital, first week of November. All was normal.

Apparently this "spot" showed up when I had a contrast one when in the hospital second time...after I had fallen and cracked a rib, bruised my right lung and had fluid buildup. I saw the report and figured it was just a bruise spot on my kidney. No big deal. Now, it sounds like a big deal.

I am not going to make the appointment for the scan until February because truthfully, I just can't handle it emotionally right now.

I wore that fancy heart monitor for a month and was able to take it off and will send it to the lab this coming Friday. I am assuming the monitor will show nothing out of the ordinary because I didn't have any pulse irregularities while I was wearing it.

I'd just like to take one thing at a time. Maybe I can fake my way back into hospital where they could do all these tests all at one time, in one place and I wouldn't have to worry about getting back and forth or if my daughter has time in her teaching schedule to take me, so I don't have to walk so far from car to hospital lobby with my Rollator.

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It has been a blessing to me to have Merle's daughter Marge come down every Monday afternoon to haul my garbage can out to the street. It is difficult enough for me just to get the can loaded up, as it is slippery on my porch and the can is unwieldy and hard to move around. She usually gets my mail for me to. I don't notice if the mail delivery is bad or not...I only get mine when she brings it in...once a week. LOL

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A Face Book friend--a kid that was in Pammie's grade and I haven't seen in 45+ years, sent me two of those reacher-grabber sticks. What a blessing!!!

This morning the garbage pail was too far out for me to reach, so I grabbed the handle with that grabber stick and because the can has wheels, I could pull it right up to the open storm door and throw the bags of trash in it.

It also is so finely tuned on the grabber ends that I can pick up cat hair fuzzies off the floor and pieces of dry cat food.

When Walmart delivers my prescriptions, they just throw them at the top of the porch stairs. I can reach out with that grabber and pick up the package without having to go out on the porch and take a chance at falling when I bend over to pick up the package.

This being disabled with mobility issues sure isn't any fun. There is not one thing I can do in my normal before movement. I can even put down the cat dishes and then pick up their empty ones with the grabber.

Every time I use that grabber, I ask God to bless that kid. Well, he's 62 so not a kid, but you know....they'll always be kids to me.

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Like I said before..."If you can't do it. Adapt it." I've even learned how to sweep my kitchen floor by sitting on my Rollator.