TGIF!

As you can probably tell from the title, this post was actually posted on Friday, but Blogger messed up!

Let me get you all caught up on what's been happening around here.

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Tuesday, I went back to the dentist for what I thought was the last time. I was almost right about that.

He gave me a shot of Novocaine, removed the temporary front teeth and filled a cavity on a tooth next to the ones he was replacing. The cavity was so small it was almost nonexistent, and now that I know that, I wish he'd skipped the shot.

He then put on the new caps, so I have my permanent caps at last. I can now bite into a sandwich or cookie if I want! I'm planning to get some corn on the cob next time I go to the supermarket.

At this point, the area that the shot affected is not hurting as much, and in a day or two (hopefully) I won't be able to feel the ache anymore.

I have to go back in two weeks just so that they can check out how the new teeth are working with my existing teeth, the alignment, etc. There may be a few minutes of adjustment, but that's all.

Corn on the cob! I've missed it!

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Wednesday was a nightmare of trying to get my computer to work properly again. John was an enormous help, and after reloading the last upgrade to the system, some of the problem seemed to be fixed. My browser still wouldn't open. I tried to use Software Update to update it, but it said I wasn't connected to the internet, and I couldn't do it. Then it asked if I'd like to update my software. I said yes, and it informed me that I had a big problem with my browser and asked me if I'd like to fix it. I clicked yes, and it's fixed. Well, it's still a little slow and glitchy, but at least it works somewhat.

I still have some other programs that I have to repair or replace before I'm back to where I was before it all crashed.

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Thursday I saw the doctor again. She told me that I need to do more walking, and I told her I've been discouraged about doing that because I feel so bad after even a little walking. She looked at me like I was crazy.

So, after thinking about it for a bit, it finally occurred to me that if she thought it was that weird, maybe there is something wrong. She thinks I'm not getting enough vitamin D, and I'll be getting a test for that. I should mention that I'm taking lots of vitamin D supplement, but the gastroenterologist did say that I probably have big problems absorbing certain kinds of nutrition.

I went to JoAnn Fabrics and (finally!) got the yarn for Everett's Christmas present!

Yes, I know how late it is.

Getting to the store involves what is a lot of walking for me, and I felt terrible last night, and still feel like someone beat me up yesterday. I had planned to go to the post office today to return the yarn I bought that looks very different in real life than it does in the photo, but in light of how I feel, I think it's going to happen Monday instead.

I feel bad enough that I don't intend to be on the computer for very long today. I just hurt everywhere!

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There's a new post on the Steve Canyon blog! John recorded a new interview for the next and last of the Steve Canyon DVDs! All the information on it is on the blog. It's very exciting!

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January is Thyroid Awareness Month! I see people all around me almost all the time with very obvious hypothyroid symptoms, and their doctors insist that there's nothing wrong with them and won't even test them, so I feel that this is an issue that people need to know more about because I can promise you that your doctor doesn't know much about it. And if that doctor is an endocrinologist, he probably knows even less about it than a GP, but thinks he knows everything (from my personal experience), and therefore won't listen to anything you have to say.

By the way, there was a study done where they sent out questionnaires to patients with hypothyroidism, and they discovered that, out of patients who had hypothyroidism for two years or more, 95% of them knew more about hypothyroidism and it's treatment than the doctors who were treating them!

The problem with this is compounded by the really bad tests available for it, and most doctors' misinformation on the subject of thyroid testing. Not only are the tests bad (as in not giving accurate results, especially the TSH), but what's considered "normal" is skewed so that it misses all but the worst cases. If the drug companies can keep you sick, they can sell you osteoporosis, cholesterol, and other medicines and make more money from it.

Check out the symptoms here, and if you suffer from many of them, see your doctor! If you actually do see your doctor, print out the list, and check off all your symptoms. He probably won't listen to you unless you do that.

Wow! I just read that list and I have 41 of the symptoms! I knew that I wasn't getting enough natural dessicated thyroid because Armor Thyroid (which is what I'm taking) was reformulated about a year ago, and although the stated amount of hormone is in each pill, the filler that they changed makes it difficult or impossible to absorb the medicine, and everyone who's been taking it has had hypothyroid symptoms. I'll be switching to Naturethroid as soon as the drug store gets it in, and that should solve the problem or at least help the situation. But I didn't realize how bad it really was!

If you have many of the symptoms, check the sidebar for more info.

And don't let your doctor prescribe Synthroid! Ask for Naturethroid or West Throid! Or even Armor Thyroid, once it's available again. They're reformulating it again to make it the same as it was before last year. Doctors keep telling me that some people get along fine on Synthroid, but it's really hard for me to believe because I feel so bad when I take it. Taking Synthroid is like being short on sleep every night. When you fist take it, it's an improvement, but over time, you just feel a little worse every day until it's even worse than not taking anything at all. Switching to Armor Thyroid was like waking up from a nightmare for me!

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Sanctuary has been on SyFy all day today, and there will be a two hour season finale on tonight!

The next-to-the-last episode of Dollhouse is still scheduled to be on Fox tonight according the electronic TV guide on Comcast, but somebody on Twitter was tweeting that it will be bumped to put on a program about the earthquake in Hati. So, at this point, I just don't know.

Other new episodes on tonight include: Ghost Whisperer and Medium.

Tomorrow, BBC in America will be showing the Doctor Who episode The Shakespeare Code, and a new episode of Demons.

Have a fabulous evening, and a wonderful weekend!

Happy 2010!

Well, we're recovering from the new year's celebrations. Some of us are, anyway. A friend of mine posted on Facebook "Am I the only one who woke up the day after New Years at noon with a hangover?"

I know how he feels. Not the hangover part, but I didn't sleep well last night: kept just dozing and then waking up. That's very unlike me. I usually can sleep through anything!

I suspect that I'm coming down with something. I woke up feeling like I'd been beaten up. No logical reason why. Unless it has to do with the fact that it's cold in my apartment. It's not supposed to get up to freezing today, and the wind chill factor is currently 13 degrees!

Everyone is tweeting their new year's resolutions, and I wasn't going to make any this year, but after some consideration, I've decided on two things.

I intend to be better at finishing my knitting projects, and, in fact, am planning on finding and finishing some UFOs. I didn't say that I'd finish everything, just that I'd try to do better. To that end, I have a sweater that's just beautiful, but it needs the pockets sewn down and the ends darned in. I will finish it real soon, now.

Speaking of darning in ends, we all know about the "spit splice," which doesn't work on unfeltable yarn, but I just found the Russian Join, which can be used on non-feltable yarns. This is a good trick, and if you hate to darn in ends as much as I do, check it out! I like it so much, I've added it to the tips, tricks and patterns part of the sidebar.

The other resolution is to declutter my apartment. This is expected to be a process, not a quick, one-off crash project. The object of the exercise is to learn how to keep clutter at bay, and to change my way of going about it so that it is an ongoing process that keeps clutter gone all the time.

We'll see how it all goes.

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I broke down and bought myself some Christmas presents!

There's some Red Heart Heart & Sole sock yarn that I bought from JoAnn Fabrics (online)! Heart & Sole is a self-patterning yarn that comes in some very pretty color combinations. Some of those colors are ones I don't normally choose, but they're so pretty that I've fallen in love with several of their colorways.

The particular one that I bought is Rustica, and it looks like this knitted up.

Usually, I tend to like blues and purples, and usually soft shades. This is very different than anything I've liked in a long time. I usually don't like the bright colors, but I love this for some unknown reason.

It's also available in Faded Jeans, which is no surprise that it's one of my favorites.

Another of my favorites is Antique Rose:

I usually don't like reds, and especially pinks, but as my friend, Nancy, pointed out, rose is not pink! Maybe it's the light blue or grey that's in there, or the navy blue that seems to lend a bit of counterpoint. Anyway, I really like this.

Although I don't hate tans, I don't usually want to knit them, but this swatch in Toasted Almond is beautiful.

It may be the pale lavender that makes it work, and possibly just the dash of dark blue.

Back to the stuff I bought just for me! I bought a copy of Lily Chin's new book: Knitting Tips and Tricks. I ordered it over the internet, so I don't have it yet, but Lily is such a wonderful knitter, and she always has great ideas on how to make the process better or easier! I just can't wait to get this book!

I also bought a used book over the internet, Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson! This is a collection of short stories about Maureen, who is under the impression that she is a Barbarian Swordsperson, in spite of the fact that she's a very ordinary woman. The stories are absolutely hilarious, and I've loved the ones I've read, and want to read more.

Buying this book was inspired by the fact that used hardback copies of The Wizard of Karres had been going for $.01 on Amazon (plus $3.99 shipping, for a total of $4), but now that it's out of print and there's a sequel out, the price has gone up. It's now rare to find a copy of it for under $30! So I've resolved (oh, look, another resolution!) to try to buy one low priced book that I've wanted for a long time each month.

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I had planned to stop by WalMart and get some things today. We've been having lots of rain, and I was encouraged by the fact that they predicted that today would be only partly cloudy. I was delighted to wake up and find bright sunshine, and encouraged in my plans until I got out from under the covers and discovered how chilly it is in here, and that the wind chill is 13 degrees! It's very windy, but it is expected to stay below freezing all day, so I'm now less than enthused about doing that, and, in fact, plan to give it a pass.

Besides, Doctor Who is on BBC in America all day today!

May this new year include everything you want to make you healthy, loved, prosperous, and happy!