Monday, November 23, 2015

ANOTHER GREAT START

Guess I am managing to sneak in one more round of antibiotics before the end of the year. 

Considering how hellish the ten days were while I was on Cipro for my kidney infection, I thought I might actually get a break. No such luck. I've had a sneaking suspicion over the past couple of weeks that maybe not everything was kosher yet. When I had to pee six times before I had even left for work this morning, I knew I was in trouble.

Luckily I was able to get right in to the doctor's office so they could do labwork, which confirmed that I'm still not quite right. Well, not that I ever was quite right, but that's another tale for another day.

As the nurse was checking my vitals, I asked if my pulse was normal because when I had gone to the walk-in clinic last month, it was 122 for no apparent reason. Today it was 92, which is still a bit high, but my blood pressure was way up. They made me stick around after my appointment so they could take it again, and it had gone up even higher.  Now I have to go back in a week to have that checked out. Honestly, it's always something.

I did this mani last week. I used a polish that I had purchased through the Hella Holo Customs group I'm in on Facebook, so I don't know if it's even available for purchase by people not in that group.
Frenzy Polish The Pink Army, Mundo de Unas Cream, Uber Chic 3-03 stamp
This is "The Pink Army" by Frenzy Polish, and a portion of the proceeds on this one went to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Pretty awesome, right? Awesome that the maker gave to charity and awesome that it helps me ti justify buying it. LOL

Of course I couldn't just leave it alone; I had to muck it up with a damn stamp.
Frenzy Polish The Pink Army, Mundo de Unas Cream, Uber Chic 3-03 stamp
I used Mundo de Unas Cream and the Uber Chic 3-03 plate for the stamped design.

After it was done, I really wished I had just left it alone. Either that or used a more delicate design. This one just covered up the color way too much.

Now I'm off to pick up this latest medicine. I guess as long as I'm there, I may as well pick up some more Peeps. And caramel corn. I mean, something good should come out of this unplanned pharmacy trip.

And of course I'll just have to check for any new and exciting nail polishes.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

SWEATER, DONE

I do love to knit, but I absolutely hate finishing a sweater. Weaving the pieces together is always something I dread. I took a break for a couple of days trying to get myself into the mood to do that. After that all that was left was knitting the hood.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It certainly works for me as kind of an oversized hoodie that has plenty of room to wear a sweater under it, which is how I like my hoodies to fit.

And now I'm making another one just like it. I'm going to make a few alterations in the sizing because I think I might like it a smidge smaller. I also have a feeling that when Tyler comes home for Thanksgiving, she might just take this first one home with her.

I was wearing some orange to work on Wednesday so on Tuesday night I did this mani.
China Glaze Riveting, Mundo de Unas Black, Uber Chic 6-01 stamp
The orange is China Glaze Riveting from their original Hunger Games collection. It really is a good orange with a nice metallic shimmer to it. I grabbed my new Uber Chic 6-01 stamping plate and used Mundo de Unas black for the design.

I'm ready for this one to come off, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow. I have quite a few new stamping plates that I've barely looked at and still can't decide on something to do with my nails. So frustrating to not have any kind of original ideas in my head.

Maybe I'll get lucky in the next 24 hours and come up with something fantabulous. In the meantime, my only plan for the rest of the evening is just to knit until my hands cramp up.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

BLACK MOOD; BLACK NAILS

What a difference in this November's weather compared to last year. My Facebook page popped up with a memory on November 11th where I had posted about how my bossman had nicely plowed my driveway. This November has been in the 50's almost every day. Needless to say, I much prefer this year. While I hope that bodes well for the entire winter, I know better. As far as I know, it's supposed to be a harsh one, and I'm not looking forward to it.

Lately it seems I'm not really looking forward to anything. The holiday season is beginning, and normally I would have at least done some shopping already. So far the only things I've purchased are a couple of items my daughter found for her hubby and Griffin that I'm paying her for. The whole idea of doing anything festive just is not appealing to me at all, and I don't know what my damn problem is.

Maybe it's just that I still don't really feel quite right. I don't know what that's about, either. It's been such a weird year healthwise, and I keep feeling like I'm just waiting and watching for some new strange thing to crop up to derail me.

Or maybe today being the 16th anniversary of my dad's death is lurking in my brain. I don't know. I just want to snap out of this shit mood and get on with it.

I did this mani a few weeks back. I don't remember what my original intent was. I know that I did a black base and tried something that failed. So I did this quickly because of course it was late at night and time for bed.
Kleancolor Metallic Black, Essie Good as Gold, Uber Chic UC 4-03 stamp
This was the first time I've used Kleancolor Metallic Black as a base, and I liked it. After whatever I initially attempted wasn't working, I took Essie Good as Gold and stamped this design with the Uber Chic UC 4-03 plate.

Even though it was sort of a replacement mani, I actually liked this one. I liked how it looked like gold strands were running across my nails.

Speaking of Uber Chic, they need to stop making stuff I want. I just got their new Christmas plate and the #6 series of plates last week. I just can't resist their stuff!

It would make Christmas shopping so easy if everyone was just a nail fanatic.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

RADIAL GRADIENT

I'm pouting today. 

I've been itching to replace my couch. We had looked in the stores a few months back but didn't get very excited by anything. It also pains me to get rid of the couch I have. It's 13 years old, and structurally it's like brand new. Kev and I both use recliners so the only daily use the couch gets is from the dogs. Unfortunately, the fabric was not a good choice, and it has not stood up very well at all.

I decided to check into getting it recovered. I sent some pics off to the guy that does recovering, and he called me today with the estimate. He told me that with fabric, it would run me about $2,500. Basically that is about double what I thought it would be. It's also more than twice what I paid for it brand new, and there is no way I'm paying that. So now I have to start looking again, hoping to find something I like.

I took a break from knitting last night and spent some time actually playing with my nails. 

I've been seeing a ton of radial gradients lately. I guess it's the new "cool" thing to do. I figured I may as well jump on the bandwagon and try one myself.

It was very easy to do, but it actually took me longer than the water marble. The only part that took some time was getting the coverage I wanted of the two colors.
Celestial HHC Poipu Sunset and Hokulani, radial gradient, Mundo de Unas Black, Uber Chic UC 3-01 stamp
First off, let me just say that these two Celestial Cosmetics polishes I bought through a special group are completely gorgeous. I realize it might be hard to tell, but they are full of holo greatness.

The pink in the center is Poipu Sunset, and the purple surrounding it is Hokulani. I then used my Mundo de Unas black stamping polish and the rose from my new Uber Chic 3-01 plate.

I'm loving this one, and I probably won't bother to take it off until the weekend. The only issue I have is that the rose that looks so much like a rose on the stamping plate doesn't really translate to looking much like a rose on my nails.

And I'm really nitpicking by calling that out as an issue. If someone sees this and doesn't know it's a flower, I simply do not care.

Monday, November 9, 2015

SEMI-FAIL, BUT I LIKE IT ANYWAY

What a difference a week makes. During that ten day stint of antibiotics, nothing I ate tasted good. Since my stomach felt so crappy that entire time, I think I lost about 4 pounds during that time frame.

As soon as my stomach felt better, I pretty much ate non-stop for about 6 days. I did eat a decent supper every night, but I also managed to wolf down a whole lot of candy corn, Skittles, Sugar Babies and hard butterscotch candy. Oink.

My biggest downfall right now is pineapple Outshine bars. They come in a box of six, and I try to have no less than three boxes in my freezer at a time. I can seriously go through a box of those a day and seldom only eat one. I usually stop myself at two at a time. I figure I can justify that because they are fruit and are only 80 calories each, not that I care about calories. If you haven't tried these, they are a must. The strawberry is pretty good, and they do also have some other flavors. I'm addicted to the pineapple, though.  Damn. I wish I had one here at work.

I still haven't been playing with my nails much. About a week ago I decided to do some knitting. I had done an afghan a few years back and had a ton of leftover yarn so I figured I would make myself a hoodie. I've had the child's pattern for it since my girls were little. It's really the first time I've attempted to make such a huge adjustment in a pattern for size, so I haven't a clue how it's going to work out. I figure if it sucks, it's no big deal. I do hope it turns out, though. I can never have too many hoodies to wear around the house. If it turns out well in the light aqua, I'm probably going to have to make another one for myself in navy blue.

Yesterday after I finished doing all of my sweepstakes entries, I decided to do a water marble.
Sally Hansen Sweet Talker, Sally Hansen Black, water marble
This looks pretty cute in person, but the very light pink that is Sally Hansen Sweet Talker doesn't look pink in this picture. I kind of wish I had gone just a smidge darker with the pink so it wouldn't look so much like white against the black. Oh, well.

At least this one didn't give me a whole lot of trouble. I probably could have tried harder to make the pattern more perfect, but I was too lazy. When I was about halfway through, I wasn't really in the mood to water marble anymore. I did manage to finish both hands, though.

When I'm in a knitting mood, it's really all I want to do, so this one might end up staying on for a few days. 

Monday, November 2, 2015

LAST DAY, THANKFULLY

Halloween weekend wasn't the best. The weather was just awful, and poor Griffin didn't get to trick or treat for more than a few minutes because he was freezing. He was an adorable little Batman, though. Luckily he had enough Halloween activity in Illinois so it didn't seem to really bother him that he only got about 15 pieces of candy in his bag. 

Of course, we bought him a new Lego set to do on Friday when he spent the night. I figured I'd rather do that than add to a candy stash. Actually, it really was just an excuse for me to play with Lego's. The little stinker is getting too smart now, though, so I didn't get to do nearly as much as I thought I would. I got part of the submarine together while he worked on something else, but then he kind of pushed his way into my chair and took over. It's great that he's so good at following the directions, but it's not so great for the grandma that wants to make stuff.

I spent the weekend the same way I've spent the past 10 days, sick. I never left the house at all and spent my days dozing off and on. Today is my last day of antibiotics, and I'm hoping that means I'll start feeling normal again tomorrow. 

And how did it get to be November already?? I'm nowhere near ready to start thinking about the holidays, but I need to get my mind focused on shopping. I've already told two of the grandkids if they don't get a move on with lists, they'll be getting a check and no giftage. 

This mani is from quite a few weeks ago.
Salon Perfect Ivy League, China Glaze Metallic Muse, LeaLac LLC-B stamping plate
I used Ivy League by Salon Perfect for the dark green base and then stamped with China Glaze Metallic Muse and the LeaLac LLC-B stamping plate.

This is one of those that turned out great but wasn't very exciting. If memory serves, I was looking to do something quickly and knew that Metallic Muse would stamp like a dream. 

I cleaned up and reapplied my nails on Thursday evening while I was waiting for Tyler and Griffin to get home. I had hoped I would take some time to do some fun Halloween stuff, but they ended up staying naked until last night. 

I'm really itching to do a water marble but don't feel like I have the patience to monkey with it right now. Maybe sometime this week my motivation will return. We shall see, I guess.