Winter Gardening

Some people (like me) are really slow learners.  I'm especially that way where my health is concerned. I'm interested in health topics and always stop to read things online that tell of new and better ways to live your life. Course I'm terribly weak when it comes to healthy eating but I work on it and spend a whole lot of time feeling guilty about it.

The last couple of days and nights I've felt relatively decent as far as this Restless Leg Syndrome goes. I started putting more time in between taking the pills (I was told to experiment with it anyhow and see what works for me) and I started taking less.  I got it in my head that maybe I was cured.  Gees, but I'm stupid sometimes!  I woke up at 4 a.m. in a world of hurt.  I was mighty unhappy. And pissed off too! I got up to finish sleeping in the recliner because I knew staying in bed was out of the question and I knew I was still very tired.  Needless to say, I'm back on taking two or three pills three times a day.

I lowered the dosage, not just because the pain was easing, but because I wanted to see if my little tremors and tics stopped.  Some days they're worse than others, and either the pills are doing it or my nervous system has a short somewhere.  I've got my fingers crossed that the neurologist can figure out what's going on.  At first the tremors were kind of mild and only happened occasionally. I've noticed now, however, that holding a book to read can make me notice the movement. It''s still not severe but I don't particularly care for my body doing anything I haven't ordered it to do.

I took Maddie to the orthodontist this morning and decided to run to Safeway while she was in there as I needed a couple items.  Wanted to get back home as it was early and I hadn't even had my coffee yet.  She gets back in the car and says:  "Ugghhhh....they messed up my hair!"  It looked fine as far as I could see but she's 12 and it has to be a certain way.  She said she likes riding in the car with me 'cause it's like watching the movie 'Grumpy Ole Men.'  She thinks my comments are funny but most are just my observations of things I see along the way.

Mailman just brought the DVD I bought of Homeland's first season. I'm anxious to start watching it.  Also got a letter from my half sister in prison.  She said the economy is hitting them too as their bonuses (as she called them) are going down from .30 to .20.  She didn't say if that was an hourly wage or a daily wage. I'll have to ask her.  She said they were told that at a "meeting at work."  I forget now what she said she does in there. Anyhow, she also said cable went up but she can't afford a tv or the $19 a month it costs.  She also said the state takes 30% of their income and the prices in the commissary keep going up, as well.

Here's two more of those pictures I got in an email a few days ago....

"Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers." After realizing a woman was running Boston marathon organizer Jock Semple went after Kathrine Switzer. Other runners blocked him and she went on to finish the race. 1967.

Russian peasants getting electricity for the first time in 1920

I went out in the backyard to empty some recycling into the bin and next thing I knew, I was walking around the yard trimming dead leaves and rearranging bird feeders and filling them with fresh seed.  I ended up working for an hour doing little clean-up jobs. Made me wish that spring was closer.  Was curious to know what kind of animal had made a hole under the neighbor's fence and mine.

After I came back in the house, a flock of pigeons flew in to pick up dropped seed and then the other birds gathered as well.

I noticed some kind of growth on a section of the fence down close to the ground. This picture doesn't show it all that well but I wonder what it is.

I also noticed one of my favorite trees (the one I brought from Sequim) has some kind of bark problem. I hope it isn't something I need to take care of. I was thinking it was just normal winter bark shedding. If there is such a thing.

Well, I guess I better get moving. Not too much on my agenda today. Going to fix up some genealogy notes and see if I can discover any new stuff. I did notice yesterday that my great great grandfather (Zadock) married Elizabeth Bolt and Elizabeth's mother was named Celey Amos.

I suspect we're all related one way or another. This morning at Safeway, the clerk (upon seeing my last name) told me her maiden name was Blank and she always thought her great grandfather shortened it from Blankenship or some name similar.

I found some items in my old notes that I had overlooked so I'll share them tomorrow. Yep. You're gonna learn all about Blankenships as I stay tuned into ancestry topics.