a little more snow

We were graced with another small snowstorm last night. Not too much, maybe a couple of inches, though it's supposed to really come down in the next day or two. Thankfully it's nothing like last year! Before we know it , the growing season with be here and hopefully we won't get caught off guard. There's a random seed catalog that Dawn came across that has portable greenhouses for around $500 that are 8'x8'x6'. Might be a smart investment considering we used a windowsill and a 1'x3'x4' indoor greenhouse the last two years. It worked, but was crowded and awkward and all the starts had to compete for the little bit of light coming in through the window. We will not fail his year! Off to the oatmeal and then work.

Back to work

It really doesn't feel like I've been out for a week. It actually feels like it's just been a 3 day weekend. Oh well, back to it. New coffees to roast and plenty to catch up on. I've got 15 roast today and a cupping at 2pm. My body seems to have adjusted to the caffeine-less state fairly well after only a few days. I still feel a little tense, but the deep breathing exercises seem to be helping a little. The new BURZUM was sent to me in an email last night(my friends are right in not paying for this due to Varg's personal politics), so I'm giving it a listen before work. It's not blowing me away by any means, but in all fairness I am listening to the news at the same time. Didn't really know what to expect from a racist douche who has spent the last 16 years in prison. Anyway, gotta make some oatmeal, take a shower and get to work.

winding down

Well, my vacation is just about over, and it was nice to be around the house for a change. I didn't do all the little things that I thought I would, but I got a chance to relax and clear my head. I made the mistake of having a couple of cups of black tea yesterday to ease the lack-of-caffeine-headache and coupled that with some stressful email. All the tension that had left my body was instantly back and I woke up in a tense ball. I feel like I'm at ground zero again.

It figures

Lately I've been more than a bit nervous that something was going horribly wrong in my body. Between the split second headaches that felt similar to what I would imagine getting hit with a hammer would feel like, near crippling panic attacks(sometimes while driving) and odd numbing in different parts of my body. Not being the type to rush to a doctor, I used the handy internet to see if I could figure out what all this meant which lead to a couple of theories including diabetes, cirrhosis and stroke. Any of which seemed likely considering the way I've pushed myself the last 15 years. Finally I'd had enough and decided to see a doctor. Unfortunately I the only appointment I could get would have me waiting a week long than I was comfortable with, so I went to the ER. Weird. First came the questions. Fine. Then the blood pressure test. Oops, pretty high, but totally expected. Then the blood sugar test. Normal. Normal? Sweet, looks like I can take diabetes of the table. The Doc listens to my heart. Murmurs? No murmurs this time. Check the eyes. Seems fine. Now they decided it's time to take half my blood. Off it goes. Now this is the part that made me nervous. They want chest x-rays and CT scans. Crap. Off I go to get zapped. Now I'm a bit freaked out. The nurse tells me they're looking for tumors. I HATE the T word. I still have that one in my arm that showed up when I was about 19 and I don't need any more. Okay, the radiation is done and I'm back in the ER with Dawn waiting for results. After a Doctors' 10 minutes(that's 20 to the real world) the results are back. Nothing is wrong. Really? Really. All the test came back normal. Hmm. Okay, so I ask about the punching bag. Yep, liver works just fine. I'll take it. So, I ask about all the weird symptoms that I've been having and they tell me it's more or less stress. I need to relax, because it's manifesting itself physically. I was told to rest, drink clear liquids and avoid booze(okay), cigarettes(sure) and caffeine. Caffeine? I roast coffee for a living and I've been drinking coffee since I was five! This is going to prove to be a challenge. At least it's just stress, right?

Day one

Today is the first day of the first official vacation I've ever taken. Woke up before 6am as usual, but that's fine. I'm not really one for sleeping in, because it makes me feel like I've wasted part of the day. We've decided not to go anywhere and just get the house organized, getting rid of things we haven't used in a long time. We've pulled out the seeds that we want to plant this year and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring. Hopefully the seeds still have life in them as they are leftover from last year and we aren't experienced is storage techniques. Live and learn, live and learn. This Winter has been quite mild compared to last year. For us anyway, Philly and D.C. got absolutely hammered, effectively shutting down the government for a week. There's still time for us too get some of that snow, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't happen. It's becoming more apparent that we are going to need an AWD car or truck living up here. Last week I had trouble again getting up the "mountain" and had to drive 12 miles around the other side and still had a little trouble. I'm still getting used to living like this.