I'm thinking in sentence fragments. Urge to write as such simply overwhelming.
Busy. Finished the stupid belts.
There they are. Dumb belts. That's all I'm going to have time for, too. Seven. *shakes head* Pennsic will just have to fight it out over 'em...I have priorities now & they don't involve accessories. Still, they did turn out nicely. I always do my best.
The plaques are coming along...coming along. I've been at them all weekend. It's all those tiny LEAVES that are tripping me up...so damn many of them. Also I started the beading (pearls are simulated mistletoe berries) and the pearls are being hateful & ugly. They're too irregular...I hate them. I got as close to round as I could afford, but they still look too potato-shaped to me & so I've ordered some new nice regular glass-core pearls. They'll be here by Friday so that still leaves me plenty of time to get other stuff done.
The other plaque is also having its share of bead problems (carnelian beads simulating holly berries), because the carnelian was exceptionally orange. Not much I can do about it; they're a natural stone & sometimes they just look that way. *shrug* It's still pretty though.
The other plaque is also having its share of bead problems (carnelian beads simulating holly berries), because the carnelian was exceptionally orange. Not much I can do about it; they're a natural stone & sometimes they just look that way. *shrug* It's still pretty though.
Crazy stupid weekend. My daughter wanted to throw a party for her best friend's birthday. Our yard is small, the neighbors are old & mean, and we have only one bathroom so my Mom kindly volunteered HER backyard. What a nightmare. Can you imagine...13 teenagers in a backyard? I don't know how we managed to survive. It was too frustrating & exhausting for me to want to revisit the horror by writing it down...let's just say I'm never letting her do that again. :-/
It occurs to me that teens are like ferrets. They LOOK cute, & they seem like they'd be great pets...but they're just a few clicks short of wild animals. They're domesticated only in the broadest sense of the term, they're smelly, & if you don't know how to handle them they can bite. *sigh* Really, no fun at all.
It occurs to me that teens are like ferrets. They LOOK cute, & they seem like they'd be great pets...but they're just a few clicks short of wild animals. They're domesticated only in the broadest sense of the term, they're smelly, & if you don't know how to handle them they can bite. *sigh* Really, no fun at all.
Happier stuff: Look! Look at what
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moonphased made! Naruto onigiri, or something like that. Isn't it adorable? If I ever get to Tokyo I'm going to BEG her to teach me how to do that. My sushi is pretty damn good, but that's just freaking amazing. It's too cute to eat!Back to glum: My weight loss is still going really well. I feel pretty good, my miles during my bike rides have increased (oh yes grasshoppers...even though I'm terribly busy I am STILL making time to exercise. I'd go nuts without it) , my clothes are getting ridiculously loose. But. I have a problem. My belly is freaking ugly. :-( It got like this the last time I lost weight too, only now it's even worse. Having Charlotte stretched me all out of shape & nothing I do helps worth a damn...it's a saggy ugly thing. I need a tummy tuck in the worst way. They cost between 5 & 7 thousand dollars.
Thing is, insurance sure won't cover it. Certainly, my HMO won't. Know what's obscene? If I was on Medicaid it'd be covered! Grr! It's like I'm being punished for having insurance.
Anyway, it's really making me sad. The more weight I lose, the worse it looks. :-(
So yeah. Pictures of all the plaque work coming soon. They'll be spectacular, I think.
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Belts and Potter (comment is not a SPOILER)
I have finished Potter #7. So has my daughter, your sis-in-law, Marya. I called Marya. Said, "Got your book?" She replied, "On Chapter 8." So the race was on! At eleven this morning I called her again, "I'm done!" She replied, "You pulled an all-nighter, you cheat! I'm on Chapter 30." She called when she finished and we agree, to use a "Potter-ism" that the book is "bloody brilliant!" Don't read the chapter titles through. Makes it lots more fun. Love, Bonnie
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Re: Belts and Potter (comment is not a SPOILER)
lol...I wish I had time to read! Soon, soon.
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Tell me if I owe you more for pearls. By the way - are you pleased with how it's looking? It was kind of a weird idea, the whole mistletoe thing. I'm still ruminating about spring, by the way.
Finished Harry Potter last night. Way late last night. The problem was that I found that I had NO recollection of book 6 and had to re-read it. I was pleased with how she wrapped it up.
Teenagers are strange creatures. But trust me - you'll get past it.
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The plaque looks amazing...just amazing. I'm troubled with the mistletoe, because you know how I am with details and mistletoe is very "twiggy"...but the design has no twigs just leaves. I'm just laying them out in clusters & I hope that's ok. It looks great but it's slightly inaccurate so...
OMG the teenager thing... It has me crazy. I hear from everyone that 13,14,and 15 are the worst years, so I guess I'm right in it now. :-( Sucks 'cause we've always been close & she's always had a lot of respect for me...but for now I'm just "evil" & that's the way it has to be. Hope she loves me again when she hits 18.
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My God - 13 was horrible. Sullen, sulky, not *quite* rude enough to call on it... I actually called my mother up and apologized for my own teen years. It was with decidedly mixed feelings that I heard her say "really, you weren't that bad." Our experience is that this will pass in a few years. Grit your teeth, don't do anything that you'll both regret in a few years, and hang on. It'll get better.
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I'm having the same skin issues with my weight loss...except it's EVERYWHERE. I hate it. Not enough to stop losing weight of course, but...yuck. BTW, I've been meaning to ask you what this tea is that you've been drinking? I saw tons of weight loss teas at the local health food store, but have no idea which one are semi-worth it.
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Waahh...I'm so sad about the loose belly thing. :-( It's not fair, is it? Totally saving up for that tummy tuck.
BTW if you have (or qualify for) Medicaid, look into surgery. I swear it's TOTALLY covered by medicaid. With Greg's job & insurance, it's not like we can drop our HMO & get into the program, but you might be able to.
The tea is just oolong tea...nothing more. No special additives. You can get oolong at any decent heath store. I got mine online (like a monkey, I fell for the cute Asian guy who promised me it'd work). Wu-Yi source, or somethin' like that. Ended up costing 45$ but really SO worth the money because I love the stuff. I have one cup a day...sometimes two. It's not nearly as diuretic as most tea (green is even worse for that IMO) and it really gets you going in a nice way...I have it with breakfast.
I should totally write down what I'm doing, diet-&-exercise-wise. It's been very easy & I'm down 34 lbs as of today.
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Huh. Oolong tea. I never even thought of that one. I've seen tons of Green Tea stuff, but not that. I shall have to give it a shot!
HUGE CONGRATS on your weight loss!!!
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I'm probably taking Harry Potter to Pennsic as well. I'm rereading the series, because I haven't read the whole series since book 4 came out, and I wanted them fresh in my mind. But I wasn't able to start them until recently, so I'm still on book 3. I think Calum is almost done with the new one, though. Which is good, because I'm taking it with me and I'm coming to Pennsic earlier than he is (he doesn't have the vacation time for 2 weeks of Pennsic).
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OMG SO looking forward to seeing you guys at Pennsic. :-) We'll be in on the 4th or 5th.
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I can understand not being paid enough for your time, but it's unfortunate. Your belts and headbands are truly lovely. I've never seen anyone come even close.
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I did have the extra skin removed when I had my surgery scar revised to lie horizontally rather than vertically...which amounts to a tummy-tuck. It's that much where you are? It's 3,000 here. Was for me, anyway.
Certain types of massage can restore skin elasticity...I saw a woman on a weight-loss type series (10 Years Younger, I think) who had an ugly lumpy loose belly who had it returned to basically perfect after a bunch of weird kneading-massage type sessions. Pretty specialized though...reckon you can't find that sort of treatment very easily.
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It's just my belly has been through two surgeries where I was cut practically from hip to hip...and it's just never returning to normal. When I put on weight, it sorta pools right there & when I lose it, the area looks just sad & awful. No amount of exercise works.
All I can do is keep working at it, & save my money up. I need pretty much exactly what you had...a bikini tuck, but like I said it's between 5 and 7 thou here (LONGS for socialized medicine). I don't know about Canada, but in France AND England this kind of thing is totally covered. It's considered a health issue for many reasons. *sigh* I swear I'm not just being vain...this thing is a real problem for me.
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This is the same system who told another friend of mine who'd had cervical cancer that they wouldn't cover her for a pap test every year because: "those American doctors - they worry too much." She was driving into the US to see a doctor down here because she had more faith in US care.
Our system is deeply flawed, but I'll take it.
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Socialized medicine isn't the magic bullet, I agree. I've talked extensively to both American and Canadian doctors about the problems with that system. Because doctors aren't paid well for private practice, particularly in small towns, there's a shortage of family physicians. There are long waits for basic services like MRI's because there isn't enough equipment for the need. There are a lot of things that Americans take for granted that are not readily available in Canada.
Another issue with the Canadian system is that while treatment is covered, medication is not, so unless they have supplemental insurance, medication costs can be a real problem. My mom's on medications that costs, literally , thousands of dollars a month (fortunately, she has VERY GOOD insurance)--this would simply be impossible for her to afford without insurance.
On the flip side, when I was stressed about being able to pay for some kind of medical treatment, the Canadians I was with made the comment that they never even thought about it--because no matter their job status, Canadians are guaranteed at least basic health care.
But if you have good insurance, the American system is one of the best in the world.
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Now, had we NOT had insurance when my husband was diagnosed with thyroid disease and we were having thousand-dollar days at the hospital, I might feel differently. But on the other hand, my friend in Canada is having thousand dollar days up there, and is being forced to pay out of her own pocket because they can't offer her care in an appropriate time frame. If I knew the answer I sure wouldn't be working in a cubicle!
One of the valuable lessons that I took from my decade of no insurance was a profound thankfulness for what I've got now. I work for part of a VERY large company that can dictate terms to the insurance company, and my insurance ROCKS. But people who've been here forever can only see how much better it used to be. I think a year with no insurance would do them good. ;-)
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I think socialized medicine could work, theoretically, but only if the government is willing and able to pay for the real costs of providing high quality care--and so far no governments are willing or able to do so. Part of the issue is that people resist the high taxes required to support such a health care system, and part of it is that people with higher incomes, and who pay higher taxes accordingly, resent subsidizing health care for people who don't and can't pay as much for it. But it's a very complicated issue, and there are no simple explanations, let alone solutions.
(By the way, I didn't meant to imply that you felt there were easy answers--it's just an issue that is near and dear to my heart, both personally and professionally).
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It's something that's near to my heart also, just from personal experience. There's nothing like dangling over that insurance-less abyss for ten years to make one aware of the costs. The part that I was always bitter about was that the people who just collect and collect and collect and do *nothing* to attempt to better their lot by their own efforts have an extensive safety net, and the poor slobs who work hard but are say, temping, are hung out to dry. It's just... complicated. And the existing system is corrupt on so many levels that I don't even know where they'd start!
But after ten years on the outside looking in, we've gotten lucky with my job, and it's a blessing I count every single day.
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We've been without insurance 4 of the 5 years we've been married, and the year we had insurance it was very hit and miss--we never knew month to month if we would be covered, and when we were covered, we had to fight with the insurance company over every single claim we made (nor were they expensive claims--I'm talking basic stuff like a doctor's visit for a sinus infection and the like). Fortunately, I'll be graduating hopefully this spring (finally!) and then hopefully will be able to find a job with good insurance.
I can't imagine being without insurance for 10 years! But I'm glad that you have insurance now, and excellent insurance at that.
And I hear you about being frustrated with people who abuse the system--I have a friend who's a doctor and she gets very frustrated with people who try to take advantage of the system. It's so frustratingly not fair, when I know there are people who are working and really struggling and fall through the cracks.
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Hopefully we'll run into each other at the booth. I'd love to meet you!
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It would be really cool to get to meet you too! We always come and visit Merimask at Pennsic, so it's very possible we'll run into each other there.
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Hrmm...sounds like loads of fun with the teenager. I can safely say that's one more piece that's convincing me not to have children.
I hate HMOs. Hate Hate Hate Hate Hate.
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*sigh* Ohh...she really HAS been a joy...right up til now. I can say that it really hasn't been bad at all; being a mom. It's just the moody "emokid" thing that makes me want to run away from home.
MUCH hate for HMOs. I fail to see how they provide ANYTHING approaching effective health care. Frustrating...I can practically SEE Canada.
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Also birthday parties for teens = oh hell no. Really though, anything involving a large gathering of young teens just spells disaster unless the National Guard isn't involved.
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Oh man...the kids. They behaved like wild animals. :-(
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Yeah kids...suck. lol (I just spent all of my vacation with a seven-year-old)