March Already

My cute little star magnolia bush is blooming, it starts even before the forsythia.

I gave up some medicine I have been taking long term for years to help with insomnia and depression.  I tapered off in December.  I had read that this medication may contribute to weight gain, thinking if I went off of it, maybe it would help me lose a few pounds.

I think it did help a little but I was worried about the insomnia.  It came back worse than I ever remember it being before I started taking this medicine years ago.  Perhaps that is a function of aging also.

Well, one of my hiking friends the other day said try melatonin, which I have, but not 10 mg try 5 mg.  I think it might be helping, or I am just getting used to being without the other medication finally.  I feel my sleep slowly improving this past week.  Then it will be time for the time change anyway and once it gets hot outside, I can't sleep then either.  Oh well.  

I went on a couple nice hikes that past few weeks.  I have been in my current job position for about a year and a half now and I am finally feeling more comfortable with the workload and technology and feeling more comfortable to take a day off here and there to get a hike in once in a while.  

First hike I did after my New Years hike was more like a walk on a concrete path through the woods and a couple of fields to the Illinois River done by the Walton family.  It goes to WOKA whitewater park in Oklahoma on the Arkansas border near Siloam Springs.  I did not even take a photo until the end, but it is a pretty area.  You can kayak down the Illinois River and detour through this whitewater park and learn skills and they have events there to teach kayaking.  Its a great feature for that little section of the state/s.

After our "walk" we had lunch at a quaint little cafe in downtown Siloam and it was worth taking a day off.  

The next hike was on super bowl Sunday, it is an area called Smith Creek Preserve.  It is a really beautiful valley with a pretty stream and some pretty water falls.  The impression I always get from this area is the beautiful vibrant green moss everywhere.  There was not as much water this time, depends on the time of year.  

We also just did Alum Cove (again - did it in November) and  Glory Holy Waterfall.  Two of our friends had not been here, so that was fun sharing these cool features with them.  The Alum Cove is a natural bridge rock formation and Glory Hole Waterfall is a giant hole formed on top of a karst rock formation that channels water down a rock stream and into this hole and down.  You can climb down around the huge opening of the karst/cave-type rock formation and see it from underneath as well as on top.  It is a real geologic marvel.  Since it was a Saturday (my friends regularly do Sat hikes so I can go more often) there was a lot of people there.  Including a woman carrying her baby in a pack on her chest - she was getting a workout!

Well, hope you all have a wonderful spring weekend!  It feels like spring today so I am going to do some plant moving and raking.  

I haven't done a look-what-i-have-sold post lately, so show and tell time!  My sister and I every couple of months check out the thrift stores.  I found a pair of Sorel boots for $20 and sole them for $80 on Poshmark!  Score.

Here are a couple of my most recent afgans.  I have about 12 or 14 listed on my ebay page now.  Haven't sold one yet.  Maybe I have them too high.  I wish people realized how expensive yarn is now!

Here is a funny meme bringing my love for the Chiefs with my love for yarn.  

Have a great day!