National Peach Pie Day!

Mood:

One of my fave types of pies!I love peaches in general, but putting it in a pie takes it to another level! Haven't had it in a while...Thursday was Lemonade Day, and National Radio Day. Lemonade can be so simple to make, and it's pretty tasty. I just put a little sweetener or sugar in a glass, add some lemon juice, fill the glass up with water, and then mix. Much easier than squeezing the lemon yourself, and it's relatively fresh still.I sometimes experiment with the amount of each thing to see how much better I can get it compared to the last time I made it. Haven't made it in a long time, though. Used to do it all the time during the summer. Radio's important, and great that there's a day devoted to it. 

Weather's been a bit weird.Temperature-wise it hasn't been all that bad. Mid-70s to low-80s. But, since our state has so many fires going on, for the last few days it's been pretty smoky here. Air quality is not that great. (I can feel it more after walking a while in it.) At least I'm not on the eastern side of the state where most of the fires are happening. It must be brutal there right now.It's particularly bad because of the drought. Makes it incredibly easy to start a fire if everything's dried out. The college I went to started classes today, and they're on that side of the state. I hope it's not that bad out for their first day. Although, I remember things like terrible dust storms, enough of a bug infestation that it blotted out the sun (and occasionally looked like snow, but was really dying bugs), smells from the farms, people burning stuff on the farms, crazy snow storms, bone chillingly cold at times during the winter, etc.Lots of the 'normal' stuff can be difficult. It's a great place though, besides that stuff.

I decided a couple of days ago that I'd get back to doing my makeup.Doesn't have to be all the time, but I want to do it a lot more often than I have been. I started today with doing foundation, a little blush (not that I really need it...), eye shadow, mascara, and lipstick. I'm not going to do a lot every time, just try to have something on. When I did it more often, I mostly just used eye shadow and lipstick/lip gloss. I've been told by some that I look like I wear mascara when I don't have it on. But, it's still interesting to see. I used to hate foundation.Especially the liquid kind. Just the way it feels... I have a semi-wet powder foundation that's still rather new. It feels pretty good so far. Sometimes foundation feels cakey, no matter how little of it you use. I'm also trying a different way of doing my eye shadow that I've seen on some Youtube videos and Pinterest. Turned out interesting today. I like my fairly new lipstick, too. They're interesting colors. I like colors that aren't the 'norm'. I'm that way with nail polish, too. I want something fun, but not too crazy.I found out a while ago that I don't like eyeliner. It seemed to make my eyes look smaller, and didn't like the overall effect. It feels nice to put makeup on occasionally. Rosie wants to eat it, though...

Went through my facebook friend list. I hadn't done so in a long time. Found out 3 people had deactivated their accounts, so I had to drop them. (Funny how facebook doesn't get rid of them naturally if they deactivate...) 1 friend became increasingly malicious sounding over time. It was never about me, but I don't like when a 'friend' talks about their friends that way. Or, about other groups of people in general. It just makes me feel slightly sick to my stomach when I start to see stuff like that. Makes me feel worse when I see it over and over again.So, goodbye to that friend. (I knew her sinse high school, so it was a bit of a difficult decision to make.) There were 2 others that I dropped. 1 of them never responded to anything I posted, and essentially seemed to ignore me...Even though she's cool in person, it just seemed pointless on facebook. 

Another person I changed to 'unfollow'. They were constantly posting some strange things. I 'met' him and his wife through yahoo messenger years ago. They're an Orthodox Jewish couple. They both are very nice to me. Just weird.The husband runs a radio station online, and posts everything they feature each time it broadcasts. He changes his profile pic all the time, but it's never anything new. And, half of them are creepy looking ones of himself. He also acts like he's personal friends with celebrities. And, I can't tell if it's true or all made up...But, he does some nice things, too. He'll do special birthday posts every year to his friends' walls. Sometimes High Holiday stuff. I think that last one I dropped was actually his wife. She was a bit strange too, and didn't do much. I kept him as a friend mainly because he does something like the birthday stuff.

So, cutting a lot of these people out of my list should make for a better feed, too. I don't need toxic people.But, I didn't drop too many people, which is great. Started with 161 friends, and am now down to 155 of them. Not too bad. I only friend or accept an invitation if I know that person somehow. Most I've seen face to face. Some I've met online through other sites.

Went through the hanging stuff in my closet. Most of it seemed to be Mom's. Her old blouses, jackets, dresses, etc. She put them in there partly as storage, and partly thinking I'd grow into them and like them. Most were larger sizes than I ever was, even at my heaviest. And, practically all of them were never my style. They still smelled like her, too. That felt really weird to me.

I still had some of the things I wore when I was 12 and 13. I was quite slim back then, plus my hips were narrower, too. So, even though I still liked most of those things, I had to toss them. There was one shirt, I think it looks like a black long sleeved camisole (Dad said it must have been just a stretchy shirt), that still fits me, though. 

There were some that were from when I was at my heaviest. They were incredibly big on me when I tried them on. Odd to see how much I've lost that way. There was a sleeveless dress that the armpit holes were so big, you could easily see part of where my ribs start. It's supposed to be a clingy type dress. It still clung, but in weird areas. I tried on its matching jacket, but it was too big for me, too. I kind of was swimming in it. Not used to that feeling.The jacket was missing a button, and since it and the dress are a set, I had to throw them both out. 

I'm also keeping a few things as keepsakes. I have my graduation gown with the stole. A traditional Chinese styled shirt I got one year from the NW Women's Show. That happens once a year. There are tons of free stuff, people selling things, demos, food, etc. I remember thinking the person who was running the Chinese clothing shop wouldn't be able to find something that fit me. It fit me to a T back then. It doesn't anymore, and I don't think it ever well. I'm bigger on top than I was back then for one thing...I remember everything she was selling actually came from China. There were some nice looking dresses, but most of it was super expensive. This shirt wasn't too bad. It'd be cool if I could find a similar one that fits me now. But, I highly doubt I would. Putting it on is interesting, too. Lots of buttons and hooks. 

There's also a dress I wore to a big dance for our high school band in New York City. I loved it, but I don't think it'll fit me in the future...Never know with this one.

All in all, I filled 5 garbage bags. An additional bag had another jacket and dress set that I'm donating to Goodwill. It was only used once or twice. I hated it, and it's too big for me now. Hopefully, someone else will like it.I think it's the only thing I'm donating so far from my closet. The other stuff was just too far gone. Sad. I think I've filled at least 16 large garbage bags in total for stuff from my closet. (The first several were about a year ago.) That's a lot of bags.I didn't realize I had so many things to get rid of. It's actually roomy in there, and I can walk in. The hangar rod goes just over my head, so I could stand without bending in there. 

Now, I just have to go through the storage area on top. It's kind of a mishmash of things. I have a big white stuffed bear that has winter hat on, and a scarf that has reindeer on it. Not sure how I got it. I think one of my geography projects is up there, too. We had to create our own island with topography and such. I came up with a crescent shaped one. And, I think I remember liking the results. There's a box of papers and stuff that looks pretty full. Several more shoe boxes that might hold the possibility of more shoes I can use. I know one of them was actually a part of my science fair project. It shows the phases of the moon when you look inside, with a builtin flashlight, at different angles. I think I placed 1st with that one. There are a few sweaters. Not sure if they fit. So, there might be a few pieces of clothing left that I can keep. It'd be cool if there were more shoes in decent shape up there, too. Another adventure. It feels like the closet as a whole has an endless amount of stuff to go through.

I'm thinking of looking for more clothes and such online, as well as occasionally at the mall. I usually don't see too many things I like at our local mall. There's one quite a ways from us that has a much better selection, though. I've noticed most online sites have approx. measurements for their sizes. So, you can measure yourself, and figure out which one of their sizes you are. That can vary even with actual physical stores. So, it might be more handy that way. Plus, a lot of places online have better deals. Dad found a site that the clothes are actually customizable. So, you give them more detailed measurements, you can choose what kind of style some things are (like what kind of neck style: Scoop, V, etc.), the length, etc. Really interesting. 

Had a phone appointment with my gastroenterologist last Friday. She asked how I was. I'm getting better slowly (ever so slowly) each day. I brought up that I'm starting to get worried about my hair loss. Luckily right now it just looks a bit thinner. She said she did notice my protein levels were really low the first time they tested for it (during the worst of it), and it's slowly getting better over time with each new test. Also, the new med can have a side effect of losing hair. She wants me to continue eating more protein than I used to, and to just see what the next result will be for it. She asked about how my weight is doing. I'm still losing it, but I personally don't think it's going at too quick of a pace. She said I have to continue monitoring it, and if I lose it too quickly, to tell her immediately. Once I hit the 1-month mark with the newest med, I could cut to 2 doses instead of 3 of balsalazide. (Balsalazide was prescribed to me right after my colonoscopy.) So I'll go from 9 pills of it to 6. I feel like I'm eating a bunch of plastic every day with it, and it's incredibly filling.Eventually, I'll go off of it. At the beginning of next month I'll get another blood draw. She said eventually I might just have to do it every 3 months. She didn't mention about narrowing the type of IBD I have down. It's kind of frustrating to me not knowing which one I have. I like that she seems to really be listening to my concerns, though. For some reason I thought she wouldn't.

I have been noticing today that I'm feeling very sore lately. Some of that soreness is in my joints, and the rest feels like it's in my muscles around them. I especially feel it after sitting for just a few minutes, and standing up. Doesn't feel right.I'll email her eventually about it. It can be another thing the disease is affecting. It's kind of hard for me to remember to eat more protein, too. I'll do my best, though. Trying to get back into my sit-ups. Restarting with this week at 10 sit-ups twice a day. Didn't go very well last week. Hopefully, I can get back to doing my walks. Although, right now the smokiness is affecting me. I have to be smart about this stuff, too.