Petition Update and Creativity

No new progress on the petition/K-1 Visa process yet.

They have updated the processing times for the California Service Center from 7.5 months to 5 months, so that is promising.  Our petition has been in the system for 1.5 months so far give or take a few days.

We had a bit of a hiccup when I got the official notice saying they had received our petition and gave us our case number.  They listed out our names and birthdays and low and behold, I had filled out my Honey's incorrectly on the main form.  It was correct on all the others and there was even a scan of  his passport, but still they requested a copy of his birth certificate.  Sigh.  We had to wait a bit for the certificate to come but all's well now as they have everything they need once again.

We have not received any more notices or anything, but I'm just glad there is a number to call and very nice, helpful people on the other end to help you update things when you screw up.  Of course that triggers a notice for documentation, but that is ok, at least we know that it is actually being worked on!

Oh, and I told Honey not to take it the wrong way that I got his birthday wrong.  I always mess up with Spencer's and I was ACTUALLY THERE on the day it happend.

I'm just bad with stuff like that lately.

I read an article last week that said hot flashes are a major contributor to women having memory fog and that it is temporary and things go back to normal when the flashes stop.

I'm still waiting for the stopping bit.  Summer is pretty much here, it's been hot and I can barely tolerate heat without hot flashes - with hot flashes it is just not good.

I want my normal brain function back please.

I have been having funny ideas about cartoons concerning hot flashes and general menopausal issues.  One day soon I will be going to a place where I can sit, relax and try my skills at drawing.  I have been writing down all my toony ideas as well as other Thoughts that pop into my head.

Now I won't forget any of it.  They are mostly things I want to make, and they are quite good, so hopefully some day I'll be able to work on them.

My Fair Hair and Nails

Well now.  A woman's hair.  Speaking from my own experience, I have always had a love/hate relationship with my hair.  Some days I LOVE it, some days I absolutely HATE it so much that I threaten to shave it all off.  Yes I have threatened it, no, I have never pulled a Brittany Spears.

OK, so now on to what I have been doing with it lately.

As many of you may have realized, I am starting "the Change".  For those readers who have no flippin' idea what the heck that means, I have started down the road to menopause.  The official term right now for my 'condition' is perimenopause.  Which could probably supply enough material for a whole other blog.  Or two or three.

Anyway... Menopause, hormones, and all the crap that goes along with it really messes up things.  Mainly - everything.

One of the more obvious things is the damn hot flashes.  They have been going on for over a year now and seem to intensify as the months roll on.  It has NOT been fun.

The other obvious thing is my poor hair.  First of all, I color my hair. That alone stresses out the tresses.  I use an ammonia-free hair color  that comes with an awesome after-color conditioner to minimize the stress as much as I can and I love it.  My grey hairs turn a bit reddish in the sunlight - it is a cool effect.  The brown is just a shade lighter than my natural color and the grey is gone, what more could I ask.  And yes, I do it myself.  It is not easy lately, but Honey promises to help once he moves over here.  Just one of the many reasons I love that man.  (Hi Honey!)

The thing MOST stressing out my hair is the hormonal fluctuations and the hot flashes.  My hair has run circuit of dried out to straw-like strands,  then not held color, then frizzed out, then gone stick straight (my hair is naturally curly), then been uber greasy.  My poor defenseless hairs have been there, done it all.

It got so bad at the beginning of last summer that I stopped coloring my hair and got a super short cut.  My hair needed a break.   I also started taking a supplement specifically for hair, skin, and nails.  I suffered through way-too-grey hair for a few months until I couldn't take it any more.  I was terrified to color it again, but I eventually did.  I also kept it short for a while longer to give my hair a chance to absorb all the stuff in the supplement and get strong again. The short cut really helped during the hot mess that was my summer.  Hot flashes and hot summer temperatures do NOT equal a fun time.

The supplement works great for me.  Not only did my hair grow faster, it seemed 'stronger', I stopped losing so much of it, the small bare spots that were starting to form filled in, my nails grew faster and got stronger and my skin sort of evened itself out.  My nails had always been healthy, but when all this meno crap started, they got weaker and split.  I also never had issues with dry skin all that much, just in winter.  Now I was having very nasty dry patches in the middle of summer - in random areas all over my body.

Anyway, it took a long time (months even) to notice most of the changes that resulted from adding the supplement to my daily vitamins, but change things it did.  Some people don't see any changes at all, others see changes immediately, some people it takes a while.

I am just happy it is helping.

OK, stop blabbering and bottom line it already.

Hair Bottom Line:  I am growing it out again.  I get regular trims so it keeps as good a shape as it can and I color it regularly followed by that great conditioning treatment after.

Nails Bottom Line: I occasionally trim, shape, and buff them.  I like keeping them natural, they are a very healthy pink with rather whitish tips.  When they are buffed, they have a natural "french" manicured look.  I have some cuticle specific cream I occasionally put on when I remember, but my nails really don't take much work.  It's the same with my toenails.  Easy as pie, and I've always treated both this way all of my adult life.

But what is going to be happening with the hair and the nails for the wedding?!?

Nails:  Want to keep the hands natural.  I have problems keeping a manicure looking good more than an hour, so going to keep it simple with a clear coat or two and let their naturalness shine through.  Toes will be done in a neutral polish.  I love to have a bright color on my toes most of the year, but will do something simple for the wedding.

Hair:  Not quite sure what I'm going to do with it style-wise yet.  I do know that it will be colored Medium Golden Brown. hahaha  I'm just going to keep letting it grow and once we get closer to actually knowing when things will happen, then I will start my PANIC about what to do with it for the wedding.

Next up, things I have been learning and looking at as far as dresses and accessories go.  And that is all we'll do is talk.  Or rather I will talk.  Honey can't see any of it so I will talk you all to tears. :) 

Bet you can't wait to get into my head and see what is going on in there concerning dresses and stuff.  Don't say I didn't warn you, but it can be a scattered, chaotic, dillusional place.

Chili Socks in Progress

The Roasted Chilies socks for Antonella are on the needles.  Yay!  I had plenty of time to cast on and work the toes last night while I waited for Spencer to text me and let me know he'd made it back to school and was safely in his dorm. 

Note to all parents with younger children: No, you never stop worrying about your kids - no matter how old they get.

I also had plenty of time to work half way up the foot of one as I waited for a train this morning.  You know you'll have extra knitting time when the platform is crowded and people are arguing about who is cutting in front of whom.  I headed straight for a bench and knit on a Chili Sock while I waited for the platform to clear.

There will be no photos to see here.  I'll post all the details to Ravelry in a few days along with some progress photos so my knitter friends on Ravelry can check them out if they are curious.

Just because she knows that she is getting socks and has seen the yarn (I always get color approval from her before starting her projects), it doesn't mean that I'm going to show her what they actually look like while I'm making them.

She'll see them at Christmas.

And now to complete my lunch hour today by spending some time in the bathroom trying to get bacon and cheese grease off my newly washed fleece jacket and my t-shirt.

I got quite the deal when I paid $6.50 for that grilled cheese sandwich - with bacon! - and a cup of soup.  I got the very yummy comfort food soup and sandwich, a nice big double grease stain, an upset stomach and bloating.  Ooh and a hot flash, because here that comes now too.  BONUS!!

Sigh.  I need to start wearing a bib - and I need to stop eating stuff that I shouldn't be eating.

Some days though you just need the crispy grilled cheese sandwich comfort (with bacon!) that a salad just CAN NOT provide.

Making Changes, Hoping for a Win

Different things have been happening here in the Chaos lately considering health.

They mainly revolve around the fact that I am a 49 yr old woman (or as my doctor is fond of saying "you're not getting any younger"), I'm overweight and I am a 49 yr old woman.

I other words, I'm aging, I'm fat and I'm in peri-menopause.

All three are working against each other to cause each of the other issues to get worse.  For the most part.

After many conversations with various health professionals, I have decided against Hormone Replacement Therapy.  I have too many risk factors to feel comfortable adding that to everything else.  Various health professionals agree.  And we all agree that it's much too soon for that anyway.

So, now the search is on to find something that works and doesn't have any adverse effects on any of my other issues or cause new ones.  My main fear is that it will set off my allergies since all this stuff is natural and made from stuff that grows and I'm pretty much allergic to most things that are green and grow.

It's proving to be quite difficult to make any improvements as the age, the weight and the pre-meno all add up to life being pretty damn rough right now.  I find one thing that works for one issue and it'll cause weight gain, which will then trigger more joint aches and pains, sleepless nights, bloating, and then the other issues come back stronger and so on and so forth.

I've tried several things so far. They work for about a month or so and then abruptly stop.  Today I started my third try.  I've also found some exercises I may be able to handle.  There is no bike riding (hot flashes cause dizziness and I've almost passed out a few times-scary!), there is no walking (the extra weight gain on top of my already overweightness has caused foot issues so there is no walking for more than 2 or 3 blocks now), and at this point, just thinking about movement usually makes my knees scream for mercy.

Wish me luck as I take another stab at the whole thing.  Someday soon I will find something that works and helps alleviate all issues.  I'm definitely still in it and fighting.  Right now I'm not aging very gracefully, but that will change once I find something that works and I can finally see and feel some changes.

Off I go to try out those exercises I found while trolling the internet this weekend.  Luckily, there are some "try it out" videos with a few exercises to do to see if your body can handle it.

I've also decided to buy a trainer so I can ride my bike inside, that should be a lot safer for me.  I won't tip over and crash on the side of the road.  With the trainer, my bike will be nice and stable and if I feel bad I can just get off and chill on the couch til the flash passes.  Or even go lay down if that's what needs to be done.

Sigh.

Stalled

Last Saturday I was full steam ahead on the Chaos Redecoration of Spencer's Room.

These past few days, not so much.  I'm just not feeling it.  The beginning of the week was soooooooooooooo hotttttttttttttttttttttttttttt.  Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.

Seriously, it was triple digits for a few days.  It is now cooler.  I am much happier.  The internal furnace (aka hot flash) was full blast these last few days, either brought on by the high temps or just because it felt like firing up full blast.

Loving the cooler temps because even if the inner furnace is ready to blow, I feel "normal".  My cheeks may be purple or red, or one in each color, but I don't feel like I'm going to singe all the hair off of my head.

Side Note: If you see me out in public, no, I did NOT lose my mirror when putting on blush this morning.  I don't wear makeup, that is my new natural coloring.

Back to being stalled.  If you can't tell, I do NOT like high temps.  I feel drained, listless and downright useless.  Since last Saturday, it was all I could do to make sure I got back home.  Therefore, nothing was done in the room.  I tried several times to get some more work going on, but as far as I got was to go into the room, stand in the middle, sigh and walk out.  There really isn't much left in the room to do.  Just need to move the bed, vacuum that corner, clean the window, vacuum the curtains (they get dusty and the vacuum is the easiest way to deal with floor to ceiling curtains), move the bed to the other wall, move the drafting/sewing desk and chair to the room, move the big metal shelf to the room, and start putting things away.

Oh, is THAT ALL?!?

Saturday it's an early trip to Jo-Ann Fabrics for some fabric (of course), and then it's back to more linen laundry and work in the room while that is happening.  I need to get that room set up as soon as possible.  I've got some MAJOR projects in the works and I really need to get them going.  This time around, we're working with the serger and the sewing machine.  It's Chaos Quilting time. I've got three to make.

Dog-size, lap-size, and Twin XL-size.

That is all.