I'm very tired. But it's a specific flavor of tired. I'm both allergic to something (causing hives on my torso for the past month) and having a psoriasis flare which is eating away at the bottom of both of my feet. I've seen physicians for both complaints, and so far there's no consensus as to what is causing or influencing either. My belief is that I am producing antibodies to a biologic medication I am on, and am in the pool of the 1% of folks who express a very specific form of psoriasis in response to the medication. I'm not sure where to go from here. My next action will be to seek a physician who knows my condition, and can create a schedule for figuring out how to live in harmony with my treatments. As much as I personally like my doctors, they're not effective any longer. I felt very lucky, as the psoriasis expression seemed mild. However it started with small bumps (6 months ago), and now is spreading all over... at a very slow but consistent rate.

I am dependent on the biologic for intestinal lesions, and so I either have to learn to live with this inconvenient side-effect, or I will have to seek out a new treatment for the primary condition. Them's the breaks. What does this have to do with Gripping Yarn and spindles? Well, if it affects me... it's going to influence the business and my availability. I'm usually quite punctual, outgoing, and have contributed endless hours visiting on Ravelry. But these past two months have been an understandable challenge.

ALSO we're at the tail end of purchasing the house, which has been full of stress and hangs ups. At the moment we're waiting on a re-inspection by an FHA appraiser (his second visit). The first one did not go well, and he requested $3K worth of repairs before he would pass us for financing. The sellers felt they had done their part by buying us a new roof and extending more money towards closing. So, we either had to walk away or assume responsibility for repairs on a home we did not yet own. We corralled a great team of friends and family, and were able to get the majority of those requests addressed within only a week at a cost of about $1.5K out of pocket and a few hundred dollars worth of favors. My husband took an entire week off of work to assist the crew and direct things. 

In my current condition, it was impossible for me to be on site and be helpful. So I maintained my regular schedule and worked through my second to last week of orders in what will hopefully be my former workshop by the end of this month. A friend had a good suggestion - save a bit of sawdust from the last spindle I turn and toss it in the outdoor stove as a finalizing gesture. I liked the sound of that, so I plan to do so.

Saturday was my 36th birthday. We planned to visit another friend's outdoor party for some BBQ and outdoor music. Since I only knew a few of the attendants as acquaintances, I was told I could bring a small group of people to help me celebrate my own birthday and we were welcome to camp out. At the last minute, my bestest local friend called to let me know her whole household was sick with some kind of flu. The larger party ended up being sparsely attended as well, the overall vibe was a bit weird, and I ended up becoming even more exhausted than I had already been. However, the host is and remains one of my most appreciated friends. So we got up early the next day, helped clean up his property, packed up camp and took him out to a nice pancake breakfast.

I managed some nice photos of the BBQ too!

You'll have to take my word when I tell you that I've spun every day of Tour de Fleece, photographed my progress, and had my heart in the race. I simply have not been able to upload photos or felt up to blogging. Occasionally, I have been able to check in on the team groups on Ravelry. But the volume of posts is so huge that if I neglect a day, I feel hopelessly lost and haven't found the inspiration to post much of my own just yet. I sincerely hope I find more energy in the near future to be more present.