It's Alway Later than You Think

Where are the days going?!

Dave and I were up at the crack of before dawn this morning because I had to go get some blood work done and the lab opened at 6:00 a.m. We got in line behind four other people at 5:58 a.m. and we were back home around 6:30. That wasn't that bad, actually. We skipped stopping for our usual post-blood work Starbucks because the line at the Starbucks near the lab was insane.

We were up kind of late getting things readied for our upcoming trip. I managed to get to sleep at a reasonable hour though (around midnight) and then was wakened by a strange dream/strange sound. In the dream, Dave and I were driving over enormous snakes (that had skin like pink, tiger-striped salamanders) and giant crabs. It was late at night and we were going up a long driveway to our home, an immense, dark, Gothic mansion at the top of a hill.

I woke up at 3:22 a.m. and got back to sleep at 4:15 or so, only to be awakened by my alarm at 5:00--and then again by Dave at 5:30 so that we could make it to the lab by 6:00.

While she drew my blood, the phlebotomist chatted about Walmart's new layaway scheme, were you can layaway Christmas presents starting in September and ending in early December. I don't shop at Walmart, so it doesn't affect me, but there you go. I didn't mind the chatting. She was otherwise very fast and very accurate and she only had to draw two tubes of blood. (In the ER, we were constantly drawing a "rainbow" which means that we were to draw every kind of tube that we could--the tubes are capped with different colors depending on the preservative(s) they contained and/or their function, hence the "rainbow"--and it seemed to go on forever.)

Later in the morning, I took my brother to drop off his rent and then we stopped by Sonic and got drinks and snacks. I talked a little bit with my brother about a bag I'm going to make for him to carry his portable oxygen concentrator in. Dave and I went up to Joann's yesterday to buy the fabric for it, two yards of dark navy denim, and the thread to match.

Oh and speaking of denim, last night after our dinner (ramen, at our favorite ramen shop) we also stopped by Avenue and picked up a handful of clothes--jeans and knit shirts--and shoes for me. They're not necessarily for our upcoming trip, but because after two years of spending the majority of my time in scrubs, I was down to the dregs of a presentable wardrobe: two pairs of jeans and a handful of shirts. I bought four pairs of jeans (they were on sale, 50% off) and two shirts. I also bought two pairs of shoes. Their shoes are expensive for what they are, but they fit me which I know because, unlike with my recent online shoe shopping fail, I can actually try them on before I buy them. What a concept. So I bought a pair of knockoff clogs and a pair of wedge-heeled shoes. They had lots of cute sandals on clearance since summer is pretty much over, but I'm reluctant to wear sandals since I bruised the toenail of my big toe (wearing shoes that I thought fit me until I tried to wear them for 12+ hours in the ER) and the bruise is unsightly and, so far, slow to disappear. (Apparently bruising under toenails can sometimes persist until the nail grows out, which can take 6 months or longer. So maybe I should buy the sandals and put them away until next summer.)

Anyway, I've also been sewing. I wrote about making a sewing machine cover (The Brain insists on calling it a sewing machine cozy, like a teapot cozy, and I may make a matching iron cozy for the CHI iron I got for my birthday), but I also made a quilted contraption that hangs from the back of the chair at my sewing table and has two big pockets to hold my ironing pad, long ruler, and long, thin cutting mat. I also started sewing a yukata-style robe for myself out the octopus fabric I bought way back in January.  I got pretty far into the project just making things up as I went along, but now it comes time to hem the thing and I'm going to need Dave's help to put it on so I can mark the hem. After that, I have to add a collar and attach the loops for the belt. After that, it will be done!

Jumping back to my morning: After I got back from taking my brother, I changed back into my pajamas and took a nap. I dreamed that I was wandering through a field and into a building while talking to Judi on my cell phone. She was making what she called "cafeteria food." I was trying to ask her what kind of food she meant, but she was not really answering me.  Then I woke up.

That brings us to now. I'm still in my pajamas.