A Tale of Rice Bags, Pellet Stoves, and a Finished Birthday Present

To start off...LESLIE IS STILL MISSING....if you know anything at all please call 1-800-the-lost. Thank you.

I started seeing an acupuncturist a couple of weeks ago. He is experienced in both acupuncture and massage therapy which is exactly what I needed. Fortunately for me, he has a patient near me that he sees in her home, so he is willing to come to my home if I book my appointments right after hers ( for all you acupuncture/massage therapists - this is a great idea). Yesterday he came over and when I told him of my hand problems he suggested I use a rice bag on them as moist heat is what I need, and the heating pad is a dry heat. So I started thinking, why put a rice bag on your hand when you could put your hand IN a rice bag? Good idea eh? So I spent most of yesterday working this idea out between naps and such, and I am just about finished. I will post a pic when I have finished the masterpiece.

Before acupuncture, I finally finished brother's pillow cases. Yeah! Something off my plate of must dos. So now there is a pair of them and I am happy I finished with many days to spare...almost feel like I need to make something else so I can be frantic at the last minute as usual, but that was the old me. Now, I am the go slow, don't over do it (ha, Jan just keep your mouth closed and the fabric won't be harmed...) ok, most of the time don't over do it! I am the new 'take care of myself first' me, the relax and try to be as pain-free as possible me.

So the non-family members out there are probably wondering what the heck am I talking about? Well, I am setting up a new blog (my new blog) to chronicle it, but to give you all a brief overview of my fabulous self...I have fibromyalgia, I have a herniated-touching-the-nerve-disk at C5/6 which is at the base of your neck for the non-initiated lucky ones. I also am suffering from some sort of neuropathy which is a major pain (haha) tingly, burning, lighting bolt type of pain. My finger tips are all numb except for right index and most of right thumb. Makes typing correctly an adventure. So, check out my new blog for more on my fabulous self.

Back to the actual title and reason for this post. We're getting a pellet stove. For those not in the know, it is like a wood stove except it burns pellets which are "Pellet fuel is a renewable, clean-burning and cost stable home heating alternative currently used throughout North America. It is a biomass product made of renewable substances – generally recycled wood waste." from pelletheat.org. Very excited about it as our 47 year old (yes, you read it right 47!!) furnace is not even 50% efficient and is heating us out of house and home! The three pallets of pellets arrived today, but the stove will be installed next week. Dad is building a hearth for it and we picked out fabulous travertine tiles for it at Home Depot. I'll post a pic when it's all done.