Running Hot and Cold….

Well, there I was, a little over a week and a half ago, planning an “I’m baaaack!” post, and a dozen or more things to follow along fairly quickly when, wham!!!!, I was completely knocked out by one of the “upper respiratory virus” things that has been circulating this winter.

I have a suspicion about where I got it. I’d been pretty much holed-up at home that week until the night the water went out (freezing weather led to a break in a main line one neighborhood over) and someone called me up and asked if we could carpool to a class that evening. Now, I’d been undecided about the class but, with no water and a ride-seeker, I thought, hey, just go. Ten minutes into the twenty-minute ride, she starts coughing up a storm and, when she finally catches her breath, says, “Whew! I was sick a week or so ago, and I really am better, but I just cannot shake this cough.” I didn’t sit near her in the class, but she coughed the whole way back too. Now, it is possible I caught the bug from someone else in that class or someone else in that building, but …. Water was back on by the time I got home, so I climbed as quickly as possible into a long, sudsy shower, but I still got hit. Hard!

I was in touch with my doctor by phone, who gave very explicit instructions:

• Drink plenty of fluids.
• Rest.
• Eat chicken soup.
• Sleep.
• Keep drinking fluids.
• Continue to rest.
• If you feel you absolutely have to get up, then go take a hot, steamy shower, eat some more chicken soup, and then go back to sleep.
• Do not expect to really get up for at least a week.
• Do not be surprised if you can’t actually stay up until two weeks have passed. It might even take three.
• Continue to stay hydrated.
• And to sleep!

Doctor made it clear that two to three weeks is average time to recover from this. And, guess what: even when I do feel better, I am not going out with others until I have the cough under control! I hope I am over the very-worst, but I am not yet feeling better, definitely coughing up a storm. I dragged myself over to studio to water the plants today, and left again right away. Can’t have the plants die just because I’m sick! But I have jewelry to make, workshops to announce, blog posts to write, shows to enter … and, for now, I’m just going to crawl back into bed.

So far, this has been a really loooong winter. I am so looking forward to spring! In the meantime, please know that I’ll be back as soon as I can….

Happy New Year to All!

Can it really be the start of Year #4 for this blog? Already?! My, how time flies when one is having so much fun!

Most of the time, that is. I’m afraid it may have looked like I’d stopped blogging last month: my apologies!

I did need to take a few days off after the Art Buzz weekend, but I really had planned to get back online quickly and at least write a note of appreciation for all of the people who stopped by. It was great seeing and talking with everyone, sharing cider and cookies and stories and jewelry (of course!) and more. I also wanted to say thanks to everyone who attended any of my other shows or shopping opportunities this past year.

But then I just got sidetracked. No, not by holiday-season activities (though there were lots of those). No, not by visitors from near and far (though there were plenty of those too). I really had planned for all of that. What did sidetrack me on top of all that was a construction project at home, something I’d been trying to make happen for at least as long as I’ve been creating this blog.

I’d been hunting, off and on, for a contractor to work with: do you know what that’s like? Some didn’t return calls, others did but then missed scheduled appointments, some did eventually show up but then came back with bids that were way out of line (either far too high or even suspiciously low) compared to what I wanted to have done, way too many submitted proposals for projects they wanted to do that bore little to no resemblance to what I thought I’d explained I wanted, and so on. Each round of unsuccessful negotiations left me discouraged. I was starting to feel desperate: what had started as a simple extension of an earlier addition to the house (done by a previous owner) had, over the years, expanded into one that also included some very important repair (re-doing the roof of the earlier addition, which involved reconfiguring windows and more!). Finally, I found someone who gave the impression of both understanding what I wanted and having the ability to execute that plan … if, for a project likely to take four to six weeks (more if there were weather-related delays), they could start it within the next week, meaning start it ten days before Christmas. Yikes!

So every aspect of my daily schedule, many of the holiday-season plans, along with at least half the rooms at my house, were suddenly upended. Yet I am thrilled to have this project underway, and delighted to watch its daily progress.

Amidst all the confusion and after all my other daily obligations, I am also sketching new ideas for 2013’s art jewelry and other small adornments. I am seeking sources for a few specific items I’ll need for several completely new designs I want to try to create. When I do manage to get online, I am trying to sort out a handful of technical issues so that I can run a reasonable mailing list operation.

But, with my physical environment in so much flux right now, blogging is just falling off the list. I’ve noticed that a few other bloogers I follow have given it up lately (some just disappeared for months on end; others at least stated they were going on hiatus to rethink whether they’d be back) but I wanted to let folks know that is not my intent!

I expect to be back here in just a few weeks. I’ll clean up the side-bar entries and I’m hoping to get back to my earlier rhythm of posting an average of about once a week (occasionally more often, when I get on a roll about something). There will likely be another lull or two later on (two more remodeling ventures: overhauls to kitchen and garden, both of which have been waiting for this roofing+addition project to be completed) but I’ll try to at least give a note of warning when those are about to occur.

Which means I really am looking forward to 2013. And I hope you are too, dear readers!