Please Pass the Salt


I'm a research scientist who pretends to be a cyclist and sometimes a runner. I also have cystic fibrosis.

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November
20
15 DAYS TIL 30 In the last 30 years I’m proud of/grateful for: teaching myself to sew. This is a recent hobby and I’ve really enjoyed it. It has provided me with a creative outlet where I have tangible output by which I can gauge my skills and try to improve on them. How I celebrated: I spent the day yesterday sewing. I’m working on Christmas gifts for my niece, nephews and cousin’s children. Above is my first creation (zebra puppet).

15 DAYS TIL 30

In the last 30 years I’m proud of/grateful for: teaching myself to sew.

This is a recent hobby and I’ve really enjoyed it. It has provided me with a creative outlet where I have tangible output by which I can gauge my skills and try to improve on them.

How I celebrated: I spent the day yesterday sewing. I’m working on Christmas gifts for my niece, nephews and cousin’s children. Above is my first creation (zebra puppet).


This post has 1 note and tag: # countdown to 30 # sewing .

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September
20
1. I sewed my dog this dress this weekend. Thinking of opening up an etsy store with custom made dog clothing. Think it would be a good idea? 2. I rode my bike on Friday and felt great. Is my old lady back finally healed? 3. Our car’s AC is on the fritz. I hope it’s not expensive to repair. We never seem to get a financial break. I was promised a bonus for doing extra work while we’ve been short staffed at work for the past year, but it turns out it will be less than half of what I was promised, thanks to the dire straights my states government has found itself in. They’re pulling the purse strings tightly closed. Sometimes I regret buying a house. Not because we can’t afford it (our mortgage is cheaper than renting here), but because we could sure have used the extra money from our downpayment in the 2 AC crises we’ve experienced since we bought it (one car, one house, possibly a SECOND car AC crises). 4. There’s tons of crud going around work/Matt’s school. I’m trying to decide whether I’ve caught something. I had a horrendous headache in Sun with a low fever (99.5) and the same low fever off and on the last two days. But I don’t feel bad. No headache anymore. Just a slight fever. Debating if I should I go to water aerobic today… 5. A lost dog ran through our yard this morning and hung out with me while I did therapy until we found his owner. He was a beautiful, sweet and gigantic Airedale terrier who lived on our street. He got a little distracted when going out to fetch the newspaper with his owners and forgot to come home. I think airedales are really cool dogs.

1. I sewed my dog this dress this weekend. Thinking of opening up an etsy store with custom made dog clothing. Think it would be a good idea?

2. I rode my bike on Friday and felt great. Is my old lady back finally healed?

3. Our car’s AC is on the fritz. I hope it’s not expensive to repair. We never seem to get a financial break. I was promised a bonus for doing extra work while we’ve been short staffed at work for the past year, but it turns out it will be less than half of what I was promised, thanks to the dire straights my states government has found itself in. They’re pulling the purse strings tightly closed. Sometimes I regret buying a house. Not because we can’t afford it (our mortgage is cheaper than renting here), but because we could sure have used the extra money from our downpayment in the 2 AC crises we’ve experienced since we bought it (one car, one house, possibly a SECOND car AC crises).

4. There’s tons of crud going around work/Matt’s school. I’m trying to decide whether I’ve caught something. I had a horrendous headache in Sun with a low fever (99.5) and the same low fever off and on the last two days. But I don’t feel bad. No headache anymore. Just a slight fever. Debating if I should I go to water aerobic today…

5. A lost dog ran through our yard this morning and hung out with me while I did therapy until we found his owner. He was a beautiful, sweet and gigantic Airedale terrier who lived on our street. He got a little distracted when going out to fetch the newspaper with his owners and forgot to come home. I think airedales are really cool dogs.


This post has Notes and tag: # sewing # dogs .

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September
11
I made this vest this weekend. It’s the first thing I’ve sewn that I like enough to post. It’s also the first time I’ve tried princess seams and felled seams and I like how polished and not-homemade they look. I was going for something like a safari vest and loosely patterned it after a denim button down shirt.

I made this vest this weekend. It’s the first thing I’ve sewn that I like enough to post. It’s also the first time I’ve tried princess seams and felled seams and I like how polished and not-homemade they look. I was going for something like a safari vest and loosely patterned it after a denim button down shirt.


This post has Notes and tag: # sewing .

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June
16
This is my favorite vacation picture. Lake Michigan is so calm and crystal clear. I miss Wisconsin. It’s been one week since we’ve been there. It’s hot in Texas—over 100 degrees. It’s weird that it doesn’t feel like I’ll overheat when I’m outside, though I’m sure without an indoor air conditioned respite, I would. I can’t say that I dislike the heat either. It is just sort of normal and what I’ve associated with summer my entire life. The Mavs won the NBA championship. There is much rejoicing in Texas (except by those Houston or San Antonio fans). Some college teammates of mine were/are pals with Dirk when we were in school in Dallas, therefore, in moments like these I like to pretend I almost know him. My teammate hooked me up with a (used) practice jersey signed by Dirk and Steve Nash for my little brother once (cost: one apple pie for my hungry teammate). It’s huge. Add a belt and it would be a dress on me. Obviously it was Dirk’s jersey. That counts, right? We’re practically cronies. My back has been sore since vacation. The biking + beach walking + mini-golf fiasco + trying to stay on the raft amidst extreme waves + sitting in the car for two straight days was a little too much. Tuesday’s 20 minutes on the elliptical probably didn’t help. Finally feeling improvement today. I am still rather frustrated with my body. I need physical activity to make me cough up the junk in my lungs. It must be vigorous physical activity. Walking doesn’t do it. I need high-intensity like biking/running/etc. Going back to work after vacation is kind of not fun. I wish I had summer vacation like students or teachers. Only I like making money, so let’s cross student off the list. And my teacher husband works many more hours (all 100% engaged having to be at peak mental performance) than I do during the school year. I think my job is overall much less stressful than teaching and there is no government/state mandated accountability. But I still wish I had summer vacation. I’ve been sewing since I’ve been home from vacation. I’ve made two blouses and took one failure of a blouse apart. One blouse was modified from a dress pattern and I’m 80% pleased with the product (hem needs tweaking). The other was of my own design (sort of modeled after a blouse I bought at Banana Republic). It’s my favorite creation yet. The inside has very nice French seams and doesn’t look like a war zone like many other things I’ve made do. Quite pleased. Perhaps soon I’ll be brave enough to share photos with the world wide web.

This is my favorite vacation picture. Lake Michigan is so calm and crystal clear. I miss Wisconsin. It’s been one week since we’ve been there.

It’s hot in Texas—over 100 degrees. It’s weird that it doesn’t feel like I’ll overheat when I’m outside, though I’m sure without an indoor air conditioned respite, I would. I can’t say that I dislike the heat either. It is just sort of normal and what I’ve associated with summer my entire life.

The Mavs won the NBA championship. There is much rejoicing in Texas (except by those Houston or San Antonio fans). Some college teammates of mine were/are pals with Dirk when we were in school in Dallas, therefore, in moments like these I like to pretend I almost know him. My teammate hooked me up with a (used) practice jersey signed by Dirk and Steve Nash for my little brother once (cost: one apple pie for my hungry teammate). It’s huge. Add a belt and it would be a dress on me. Obviously it was Dirk’s jersey. That counts, right? We’re practically cronies.

My back has been sore since vacation. The biking + beach walking + mini-golf fiasco + trying to stay on the raft amidst extreme waves + sitting in the car for two straight days was a little too much. Tuesday’s 20 minutes on the elliptical probably didn’t help. Finally feeling improvement today. I am still rather frustrated with my body. I need physical activity to make me cough up the junk in my lungs. It must be vigorous physical activity. Walking doesn’t do it. I need high-intensity like biking/running/etc.

Going back to work after vacation is kind of not fun. I wish I had summer vacation like students or teachers. Only I like making money, so let’s cross student off the list. And my teacher husband works many more hours (all 100% engaged having to be at peak mental performance) than I do during the school year. I think my job is overall much less stressful than teaching and there is no government/state mandated accountability. But I still wish I had summer vacation.

I’ve been sewing since I’ve been home from vacation. I’ve made two blouses and took one failure of a blouse apart. One blouse was modified from a dress pattern and I’m 80% pleased with the product (hem needs tweaking). The other was of my own design (sort of modeled after a blouse I bought at Banana Republic). It’s my favorite creation yet. The inside has very nice French seams and doesn’t look like a war zone like many other things I’ve made do. Quite pleased. Perhaps soon I’ll be brave enough to share photos with the world wide web.


This post has 15 notes and tag: # vacation # Door County # Wisconsin # Lake Michigan # Mavericks # sewing .

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June
01
Vacation Eve

Today is vacation eve. We’re leaving tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. The weather forecast looks great in Door County—highs in the low-to-mid-70s w/ occasional scattered showers. I’ll take a teeny bit of rain if there’s also sun.

I decided to bring my bike. Two days ago I “walked” on an elliptical trainer at the rec center. Felt great and still feels great. Four days ago I was at my parents’ house and played in the pool (read: treaded water in the deep end playing catch with a nerf ball) for half an hour. That was also a good workout. My lungs very much appreciated both activities. I think maybe I’m ready to bike…in moderation.

This past Friday my little brother got confirmed at church. I was his sponsor. I was very proud of him and he looked so handsome in his new suit. Matt had his last day of school on Friday but had a work day on Saturday, so I went solo. I stayed until Sunday morning and had a good time visiting with my parents, little brother, big brother, niece, nephews, cousin and his wife (and two children). We had a hotdog and shrimp boil lunch party on Saturday to celebrate my brother’s confirmation and swam all afternoon.

I spent Sunday and Monday (holiday) at home with Matt. I sewed a blouse that turned out 90% as I’d hoped. I learned how to sew buttons and button holes with my sewing machine also and I’m quite proud of the results. I fixed another that I made last week that fit funny and added buttons to it as well. And then I turned some really wide-legged pants I hate into a more acceptable leg width, turned a pajama top from what looked like what Matt terms “maternity” to something more flattering/acceptable, and hemmed Matt’s dress pants 5 inches. FIVE inches!! He’s been wearing his pants 5 inches too long for a couple of years apparently.

Matt now deems me a useful wife. I’ve got the trifecta: vacuuming, ironing and now altering his clothes. I used to have the ability to tell him when meat was no longer raw when he cooks (he’s SEVERELY colorblind), but he replaced me with a meat thermometer.

Today I will: 1) go to work; 2) ride my bike a little; 3) pack for vacation (minus vest/nebulizers/medication I must use tomorrow morning); 4) attempt to sew a striped stretchy shirt from fabric I bought yesterday; 5) eat Mexican food and watch Dr. Who with Matt; and 6) go to bed early.


This post has 0 notes and tag: # cystic fibrosis # vacation # exercise # sewing .

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May
26
Dear tumblr blog, This is why I’ve been ignoring you the last 2 weeks. I got a sewing machine. And also life has been busy. Briefly: 1) I’m having fun with my super-easy-to-use sewing machine. But let’s be honest—if I can figure out how to use a delicate/finicky Raman microscope worth a few hundred k at work that has no user manual, surely reading the sewing machine instructions will serve me well. It has and I think I’m invincible at sewing (as long as I have a seam ripper). I’m also enjoying creating things and trying to visualize how the pieces fit together in 3D. Dare I say my PhD in solid state chemistry (more 3D symmetry involved than you want to know) is helping me easily transition into sewing? I’ve already made 5 skirts (2 with pockets and 2 with zippers) and almost have a blouse finished. 2) Work is likely to get less stressful/crazy within the next month. We’ve been running at two-fifths to three-fifths staff for 9 months. In the last 5 months, it’s been worse because there are only 2 scientists doing the jobs of 4. I’m ready for a break and we should have two new scientists starting soon. 3) We are going on vacation to Door County, Wisconsin next week. We’re leaving in 7 days and I’m very excited. Never mind that in June the weather won’t be very warm and lake Michigan will be freezing. A vacation is a vacation and I’m just hoping it will be sunny. Forecast is mid-60s during the day and high-40s/low-50s at night. As a Texas girl, that’s a bit cool for my taste, but it beats the high-90s as of late. 4) I have not been exercising at all the last 3 weeks. I know this sounds like an awful idea for my lungs (and I can feel that it is), but it has been miraculous for my back pain. I think biking was keeping things tight/inflamed and it wasn’t fully healing. Since stopping riding, I have cut my advil/aleve consumption in half and could probably do away with it altogether during the day. I’ve also stopped having pain with excessive standing/walking and have been able to wear 1-1.5” wedge sandals vs. only flats for the first time in 8 months. I’m hoping to be able to enjoy walking on the beach in Wisconsin with no pain and then maybe build up slowly from there with exercising when we return. 5) My lungs are kind of “eh” lately. The rib pain I think snuck away without my notice (hooray), but the mucus is gross since I’ve stopped biking and I dread the first few coughs of the morning. My dog seems concerned with the morning coughs as well. I don’t know what the answer is besides try to get back to exercising. As for treating infection, I guess I can always ask to do more oral antibiotics again. My microbes are kind of in a weird situation: not susceptible to inhaled antibiotics, not severe enough to warrant the only IV ones used on staph, but my go-to oral one doesn’t keep it at bay for long after I stop taking it. Kind of frustrating. 6) I switched most of my prescriptions recently to my insurance’s mail order pharmacy to save money. I can get 3 months of medication for 2 months of copays. Happy stroke of luck—on one of them either my doctor miswrote the prescription or the pharmacist misread it because I got 6 months of medicine for the price of 2. Score! The end. This update was not brief. I promise to update on vacation frequently. We’re taking a different route driving up to Door County to avoid the mess all the Oklahoma/Missouri tornados have caused and it is not mapped out according to Chipotle locations like last year. There is one planned Chipotle stop though. We’re traveling with Matt’s sister and her husband and while they’re Chipotle fans, they are not quite of the caliber that like to eat it for lunch and dinner for 2 straight days while driving.

Dear tumblr blog,

This is why I’ve been ignoring you the last 2 weeks. I got a sewing machine. And also life has been busy.

Briefly:

1) I’m having fun with my super-easy-to-use sewing machine. But let’s be honest—if I can figure out how to use a delicate/finicky Raman microscope worth a few hundred k at work that has no user manual, surely reading the sewing machine instructions will serve me well. It has and I think I’m invincible at sewing (as long as I have a seam ripper). I’m also enjoying creating things and trying to visualize how the pieces fit together in 3D. Dare I say my PhD in solid state chemistry (more 3D symmetry involved than you want to know) is helping me easily transition into sewing? I’ve already made 5 skirts (2 with pockets and 2 with zippers) and almost have a blouse finished.

2) Work is likely to get less stressful/crazy within the next month. We’ve been running at two-fifths to three-fifths staff for 9 months. In the last 5 months, it’s been worse because there are only 2 scientists doing the jobs of 4. I’m ready for a break and we should have two new scientists starting soon.

3) We are going on vacation to Door County, Wisconsin next week. We’re leaving in 7 days and I’m very excited. Never mind that in June the weather won’t be very warm and lake Michigan will be freezing. A vacation is a vacation and I’m just hoping it will be sunny. Forecast is mid-60s during the day and high-40s/low-50s at night. As a Texas girl, that’s a bit cool for my taste, but it beats the high-90s as of late.

4) I have not been exercising at all the last 3 weeks. I know this sounds like an awful idea for my lungs (and I can feel that it is), but it has been miraculous for my back pain. I think biking was keeping things tight/inflamed and it wasn’t fully healing. Since stopping riding, I have cut my advil/aleve consumption in half and could probably do away with it altogether during the day. I’ve also stopped having pain with excessive standing/walking and have been able to wear 1-1.5” wedge sandals vs. only flats for the first time in 8 months. I’m hoping to be able to enjoy walking on the beach in Wisconsin with no pain and then maybe build up slowly from there with exercising when we return.

5) My lungs are kind of “eh” lately. The rib pain I think snuck away without my notice (hooray), but the mucus is gross since I’ve stopped biking and I dread the first few coughs of the morning. My dog seems concerned with the morning coughs as well. I don’t know what the answer is besides try to get back to exercising. As for treating infection, I guess I can always ask to do more oral antibiotics again. My microbes are kind of in a weird situation: not susceptible to inhaled antibiotics, not severe enough to warrant the only IV ones used on staph, but my go-to oral one doesn’t keep it at bay for long after I stop taking it. Kind of frustrating.

6) I switched most of my prescriptions recently to my insurance’s mail order pharmacy to save money. I can get 3 months of medication for 2 months of copays. Happy stroke of luck—on one of them either my doctor miswrote the prescription or the pharmacist misread it because I got 6 months of medicine for the price of 2. Score!

The end. This update was not brief.

I promise to update on vacation frequently. We’re taking a different route driving up to Door County to avoid the mess all the Oklahoma/Missouri tornados have caused and it is not mapped out according to Chipotle locations like last year. There is one planned Chipotle stop though. We’re traveling with Matt’s sister and her husband and while they’re Chipotle fans, they are not quite of the caliber that like to eat it for lunch and dinner for 2 straight days while driving.


This post has 1 note and tag: # sewing # vacation # cystic fibrosis .

Comments