have been wanting to do more frequent blogging – i realized that there are several blogs i read daily and while i enjoy them, none have earth shattering news each day – but i enjoy the daily life they let me see… and also instead of reading maybe i could write too so am going to start with a lot of little items to catch up.

the saints game on Sunday – wow, first, i never watch pro football (actually never watch football) and yet how could i not with NO being a big part of my life (i am from South Louisiana) and Katrina (sister and cousins live/d in NO) and well, its a great story – to win the first one after 43 years and with the fifth year anniversary coming up.  it was actually an exciting game – i thought each team played very well – too bad for favre with that intercepted pass which put the Saints in possession and that was it.. after that it was a tidal wave to the end with that amazing field goal !  who dat? indeed!

knitting – still working on finishing up xmas and dec/jan bday presents.  unfortunately between the beg of dec to the mid of jan i have a BIL bday, Channukah for two nephews, Christmas (four sisters, two bil, one parent, one nephew), a sister bday, and three nephews bdays (dec, and jan – one day apart)  WHEW – next year i really need to start planning and knitting earlier – or maybe i will have more money and can buy presents.  however this year that was not an option as cash is scarce right now.

so the current WIPs include hats for three nephews (one done, one almost done, one to do), scarf for BIL (about 1/4 done), hat for one sister (not started), bday/xmas present for another sister (90 percent done) and two bday sweaters for two nephews and a bday vest for the third nephew

and then there is valentine’s day coming up..  yikes!

not to mention my own projects (a couple of sweaters) which are stewing away.

health – of course last week i was thinking how great it had been that i had not been sick for months – and wham!  i think i picked up a cold at a pizza/games place where my nephew’s bday party was held – all those games and all those hands including little ones handling everything.. even tho i am religious about washing my hands.  but by the weekend a full blown cold had settled in – and then something really weird happened on Sunday – i was cooking some sausages in one of my small cast iron skillets – and didn’t pay attention to the fact that they were almost done – so the drippings started to smoke really badly. 

now i have to backtrack to add that about two weeks ago i sealed (with caulk and insulating tape) all the ancient drafty double-hung full-of-cracks windows in the apt (except the bathroom window which is newish and efficient) and while i could tell the difference i hadn’t realized that it was that airtight… until all the smoke from the pan started filling up the kitchen – i quickly opened the bathroom window (its next to the kitchen – the apt is a converted cold water flat) and then the back door – but it must have permeated the apt much faster than i thought – in about an hour or two i had the worst asthma attack i have had in years.  (there is NO vent over the stove, its an old apt).

i kept going outside to get clean air (it was a bit chilly and felt good but i couldn’t stay out for long as it was rainy, drizzly and chilly) and took bronchaid (my go to for helping with attacks) i ended up taking a second dose four hours later .  however this attack went on thru the night until 6 am the next morning.  i eventually had to open the bathroom window all the way and turn on the fan in the den and sleep on the sofa with the fan blowing. 

i found an article on the web that talks about cooking fumes and asthma:

When it comes to cooking with asthma, the key is to keep cooking fumes at low levels. “Any kind of combustion produces gases and particles that can provoke respiratory disease, including asthma,” says Gregory Diette, MD, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology, Center for Global Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Md. “Cooking is just one of many forms of combustion. The particles that are small enough to make it down into the airways and into the lungs and some of the gases, such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), can also trigger asthma symptoms.”

Cooking With Asthma Control in Mind

and then on Monday, i woke up with a deep hacking cough and that is still with me – along with a bit of sinus infection.  i am hoping it is not turning into bronchitis… yuck.   needed a nap yesterday and today .

(Roger Federer just changed shirts after a bathroom break after losing the first set – oh that was a nice shot!)

well, off to try to sleep with this hacking and will watch the rest of the match later (don’t tell me who wins!) and then next post will share about my poor cat and his accident (and no, its not Emil).