so sorry haven't been online much to respond to your wonderful suggestions that i never even thought of!!!!! have been working extra fill-in and so tired!

vertebrae, first, i wondered about the story behind your name. lol never thought of those being letters typed with the left hand...how clever of you! i thought maybe it was 'cause it's the "backbone" and yours is strong.

the library in this little town has a whole rack of books on tape that i remembered seeing when i had to use their computers there when mine "died" in 2009 before getting a new one. so they are there and i look forward to checking them out, literally!

Perna, i can't crochet but i can knit and actually have some skeins in a box in the basement may dig out and try. was knitting a baby blanket, they are easy to do. so another good idea. thank you so very much.

the reading is getting worse, now having to skip over the spaces between words real quick to make it to the next word "safely". hmmmm maybe a clue? don't know yet. now also have to "trace" around most capital letters, guess that's why i don't use them here in typing. <sigh> always something eh? lol

anyway, thank you both again for two excellent ideas that i will try.