I have a muddy knee. I found some blueberries that are good for growing in Texas at Lowes, so I bought two of them. I can't really use a shovel yet, so Jon was kind enough to dig the holes and help me plant them. I hope they grow.

Jon and I also spent nearly 7 hours today installing ceiling fans. We are not inexperienced with this kind of thing, but the fan just kept fighting us every step. We finally won though, and got the new fan with the remote installed in Jon's bedroom. We also finished installing a fan in my guest room.

We went over to some friends' for dinner, so that was a nice, relaxing way to get over the fan frustration.

I want to volunteer with VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) to prepare taxes for people. I really like doing taxes, always have, and I took the H&R Block class last year to prepare. So I signed up, and now I have to spend all day Saturday in the VITA training class. Bleh. One of my friends said that that's what I get for wanting to be nice. I'm glad I took the tax class, otherwise I would have been so lost. They gave us this bag full of tax books, and we only spent a few hours going over tax law, then did some practice returns online. I was the first one finished, and I got to leave two hours early. They also gave us pizza for lunch, so that was nice.

I slept late today, and then went to the gym to renew my membership and work out. I was the only non-retiree at the gym. I've often wondered if other people show up on days off, and I guess the answer is no. Its been quite a while since I've worked out, because I was sick, and the exercise made me feel awesome. Afterwards I got my car inspected, and found some detective novels at Half Price Books. Yay! I went to the nursery too, to get some blueberry bushes, but they were sold out. It was a beautiful day out, so I went for a walk in the park, since I'm not allowed to run. I saw a few runners, and I was jealous.

It is hard to put on a shirt when your arm doesn't move much. After surgery, the only shirts I could wear were either very big or very stretchy. I still have trouble getting shirts on and off, and every time I manage to get into a new shirt I am happy. Its like a sign of progress. I managed to wear this shirt today, and Marie, my physical therapist, said she had the same shirt.

The good thing about cooking a lot is that you accumulate a lot of ingredients. Jon and I are making teriyaki tuna steaks, and all I had to buy was the tuna.

My spice cabinet is very well stocked, although you won't find something like chives or rosemary or mint in it. Those are growing on the front porch! I do want to start picking the extra leaves and drying them, especially for annuals like basil.

This is a yummy Christmas cookie that I took from Jon. I'm not quite sure what it is, I think a graham cracker covered in chocolate. Apparently Jon loves them, and his mother gets them for him at Christmas. I love them too. Even though they are getting kind of old, they are still worth eating.

I stayed up late tonight to finish my book. When I get hooked into a novel, its so hard to put it down. I will read for hours to finish the book, and then digest it for the next few days. Sometimes I can't even decide if I liked the book until I think about it for a while, but I really liked this book, fun and pulpy. I'm going to have to find the others in the series.

I still have this nasty cold. I'm tired and stuffy, and just want to lay around. I don't even feel like getting on the computer. Its a good thing laying around is so nice.

When I'm laying around on my couch and I start watching TV at night, its so hard to turn it off and go to bed. I just get too lazy to get up and put on pajamas, take out my contacts, and brush and floss my teeth. I usually end up watching reruns of Law & Order, which makes all of the bumbs and noises in the night even scarier.

I knew this day would eventually come, and here it is. Jon and I tried a new recipe tonight (nothing normal, we are adventurous in the kitchen), and it turned out horribly. So far everything we've made has either been delicious or at least good, but this is terrible. We threw it away and went to Taco Bell.

So what is the food that beat us? Lentils. I've never tried lentils before, but Jon has, and has always found them disgusting. I was curious, so we made some red lentils with Indian spices. It is amazingly bland. Rather than being enhanced by (or overpowered by) the spices, the lentils just neutralize everything put into them. I'm willing to try and give lentils another chance one day, but Jon says he is done.

I have a cold, and it is a horrible one. I think I got it from a guy at work. I have been sneezing, snifflling, hot, tired, and achy. I did not stay home from work either though. I have models to finish for a presentation on Friday (Update: the presentation was postponed because a bigger issue came up. I should have stayed home.) I feel horrible. I spend most of the day doped up on Dayquill and hot tea. My Dayquill was wearing off as I left work today, and it felt like the drive home took forever. The drive was normal, no extra traffic, but I was so tired I just wanted to curl up and sleep.

I pulled my lemon tree inside for the winter. It's hardy to about 20 degrees, but I don't want to take any chances, and the temperature was below that for a few days. The tree is now covered in blossoms. They smell amazing. I wonder if i should pollinate them, since there are no bees in my house. The lemons I got last year were delicious, so I hope I get many more.

Karyn made some vegetable soup last week, and put it into freezer bags and shared it. Very nice of her. This is a much better dinner than a frozen pizza.

I saw a beautiful sunrise this morning on the way to work. There are rewards to getting up so early.

I have seeds for my garden. I'm very excited, and can't wait for planting time. These radish seeds may be the ones that I helped harvest last summer during the gardening classes I took. All of these seeds are heirlooms, so I can harvest seeds from the plants and use them next year. I'm going to try and see how that works. If nothing else, I'll get to try out some new varieties of veggies.

Did I mention the engagement party was in San Antonio? So now Jon and I are making the five hour drive back home. Its not a bad drive though, lots of hills and trees and livestock to look at.

Before we left San Antonio a bunch of us had lunch at Chester's. It was a very yummy hamburger. It was the only thing I ate all day, and I did not get hungry at all. I think there is some bowling alley around here, in Blanco maybe, that is supposed to have amazing pie. I think the next time we make this trip, we will have to find the pie place.

Our friends Dan and Katy had an engagement party tonight, which Jon and I attended. We were saying that we hadn't heard of engagement parties before, and weren't sure what it was about, but it was nice. All of their friends and family were there, and there were lots of yummy food and drinks. There were a few champagne toasts to the happy couple, and I even drank a few sips of champagne. I still do not like it though. I had fun at the party, and I'm glad we went. And congrats to Dan and Katy!

I had intentions of being productive today, but they did not happen. I was going to go to the nursery and buy seeds, but then I remembered that it is 25 degrees outside and the shop is outdoors. No one will be out there to sell seeds, even if it is the right time of year to start them (indoors). I did not do laundry, and I forgot to call and register for the wilderness first aid course. I did buy hooks to hang a picture in the living room. And I spent a lot of time working on the itenerary for Jon's and my Japan trip.

I like the sunny yellow tulips on my background. I have the same background at work. Its just so happy to see. My Mud Run nickname a few years ago was Tulip, although I don't know where that came from. Not from my backgrounds, I am sure.

Its cold outside. Very cold. I think its supposed to be 17 tonight, and crazy windy. Its not supposed to get above freezing at all, day or night, until saturday, and even then it will only be in the 30's. This may be nothing special for most people, but this is Texas, and its not normal at all.

I started reading the book Jon got me tonight. It's interesting, and I read an extra chapter after I had decided to go to bed. Its an old book, its out of print now. It smells like an old book. I love that smell.

My fish Caligula has died, for real this time. I came home once a year or so ago to find him floating upside down, but was too tired to throw him out. When I went to get his body the next day, he was swimming around. He was still upside down, but alive. Or at least undead. The petstore said he probably had a swim bladder infection and gave me some medicine. He eventually managed to swim around sideways, but he never was fully upright ever again.

This time he is really dead. His body was on the bottom of the bowl, upside down, and stayed that way for a day while I waited to make sure. It started to grow fuzz, which is a sure sign of death. I thought about putting him in the compost pile, but a burial at sea seemed appropriate. This is how I buried Nero, so its tradition. Good bye, Caligula.

Notice anything about what I'm wearing? Or not wearing? No Ultra Sling II!! I don't have to wear it during the day anymore, only at night (Boo). The doctor and physical therapist say that I'm healing very nicely. Hooray!

Because I feel fine, I felt guilty about not being at work. I was afraid someone would see me frolicking around town and think I was a slacker. So even though I technically have two weeks of sick time left, I went back to work today. I know, its disgusting. It's an illness, I can't help it.

I did do something fun after work though. Karyn needed a model for a photography project, so I helped her out. I put on my running gear and pretended to run in traffic for her. We got a lot of stares, but thats ok.

Jon wanted to take a break from his bathroom, so we decided to install a ceiling fan in my office. I bought the fan years ago, just never got around to installing it. Its nice to have it finally done. I just need to find some different glass globes, because the ones that came with it are ugly.

We also made fudge today. It was my first time making fudge. Now I know why people only do it occasionally, it was pretty complicated! I hope it comes out good. I love fudge, but only when its smooth and creamy, not grainy.

It was a beautiful day today, so I dragged Jon outside to enjoy it. He was busy demolishing his bathroom, and was a little stressed. Christmas vacation is almost over, and I think we need to do something relaxing. We went to the park and hiked some of the mountain biking trails. Jon used his rock hammer to find fossils, and I took my binoculars to watch for birds. This whole area used to be a sea, and Jon found lots of snail shells and nautili. I saw a Downy Woodpecker. Nice day.

Happy Birthday, Phillip!

Wearing the Ultra Sling II during the day is a pain, but its worse at night. Its very hard to get comfortable. I have figured out how to build a nest using several pillows, and that makes it tolerable. Its very hard to get the blankets over me properly, and moving around is nearly impossible. Only a few weeks left. Hooray.

Happy New Year's Eve! I have never been very good at celebrating this holiday, maybe thats why I'm not a big fan. Last year Jon and I spent it by painting my kitchen cabinets, but Jon got sick from the paint fumes, and had to go to bed.

This year Jon and I worked on demolishing his bathroom. I smashed up tiles in the closet, while he tore down drywall and smashed up more tile. It was a productive day, but we felt like we should do something, so we found some friends to have dinner with.

In Jon's family, they exchange books for New Year's. He doesn't know why they started it, but it seems like a good tradition. Jon gave me a pulpy detective novel, a genre that I love. I gave him a book on using a compass and navigating in the wild. I can remember playing Risk all night on New Year's as a kid, but you can't play Risk with only two people. We're playing Battleship instead. May seem lame to you, but what do you for New Year's? Drink? We didn't make it to midnight, we got tired and went to bed at 11:30.

I got tired of the surgical strips covering my scars, so I tore them off. The scars look pretty good, and are all healed up.

My house almost burned down tonight. Jon and I were in the living room when the power blinked out for a second. We thought it was just the snow that was coming down. An hour or so later my dad goes into the garage, where it was smoky and smelled of ozone. He found this. Apparently the power strip did not pop like it was supposed to. Luckily none of the stuff in the garage got a spark to ignite. I don't have a fire detector in my garage. I need to get one, and a few more in the house too (I only have one). I have 2 fire extinguishers, but a few more of those strategically placed might be a good idea too.

I couldn't think of anything to take a picture of today. But someone once told me that a picture of me smiling was always acceptable. :-)

Jon and I were in the grocery store, and saw a display of Rubbermaid containers. Jon said he wanted to get some large tubs to store his electrical and plumbing supplies in. The next thing either of us remembers is being in the Container Store buying a bunch of elfa shelving units. Unfortunately we measured wrong the first time, and had to make a return trip to the store. But this finished storage unit looks awesome. Previously, there was a wooden shlef above the water heater, and a pile of stuff in the floor. Now, Jon's garage is neat, organized, and there is space for more stuff. Not bad for a spur of the moment thing.

Karyn has given me a deadly weapon. Her neighbors keep giving her Christmas cookies, and she said "Here, here is a cookie jar full of cookies. Eat them for me." I have no willpower to resist. They are very tasty, especially the gingersnap ones. I do only eat 1 or 2 a day, and Jon helps me, but I cannot finish the cookie jar. There are just too many.