Yankee-Chick

NEW BLOG~I'VE MOVED!

2011-07-09T16:07:00.000-05:00

It seems like a good time to make some changes and start a fresh new blog! Hopefully I will remain inspired to get back to my blogging and make a go of this! You can find me (Mama Monroe), here "Mama Monroe"

Alaskan Adventure Post #1

2011-05-04T20:58:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been here for a few days now and figured that I better take the time to update. We've been having a wonderful time together and I have much to report on.

I'll start with my trip up here and get that crap out of the way. My flight was a disaster from the very beginning! When I went to check in to leave Arkansas, I found out that my flight out was delayed. This was caused by the bad storms south of us causing an incoming flight delay and that was the particular flight that was to start me on my journey. Sooooo.......I spent over an hour {quite literally} while the gal at the American Airlines counter tried to reroute me and still get me to Alaska.

First, let me explain that I made this reservation in January. I spent hours finding the best flights, with the fewest stops and shortest layovers, while still managing to get into Fairbanks at a decent time for a change. (I was supposed to arrive at 4;15 in the afternoon, which is unheard of. I usually have to arrive and depart around the midnight hour). I also was attempting to stick with Alaska Airlines so that when I did have to change planes, it would be in the same concourse. And of course, I had my seats all selected. I prefer window seats as I don't have to be scrunched between 2 people. Well, all that careful planning got all shot to hell! I ended up with a 6 1/2 hour lay-over in Seattle and didn't get into Fairbanks until about 11:00 PM.

AND.....even tho' I had arranged for 'assistance' off the plane and from gate to gate.....it didn't happen. I have a serious beef with the American Airline personnel at the Chicago Airport and they WILL hear about it! I actually didn't have much better luck with Alaska Airlines in Seattle; got pissed off and took it upon myself to attempt to make my way to my next gate. It wasn't too horribly far, as airports go, and would have been a piece of cake for a person with no walking issues. I managed because, #1) I was pissed off!! #2) Sheer determination and stupidity. #3)There were lots of places to sit every few yards or so and I had lots of time.

All of my seats on this revised trip, were center seats and one was in the bulkhead row. To say I was uncomfortable the whole time is a gross understatement. My legs ached so badly on the last segment from Seattle to Fairbanks.....I just wanted to scream! No way to get comfortable or even have room to stretch my legs out. I was never so glad to get off a plane in my life!! The absolute best thing to happen was seeing Riley's face from the top of the stairs as she was watching for my familiar suitcases to appear, out of one eye and watching for me out of the other eye! We grabbed each other and it was just OMG!! I made it!!

In view of the discomfort of my trip up, I called today to see about upgrading my seats to 1st Class for the trip home. Well......good thing I did, cuz guess what?? My return reservation had been cancelled because I had never been checked in on the outgoing flight. I can just imagine arriving at the airport on May 28th and not being able to go home! But, I got it all squared away today, except for the 1st Class thing. I have to upgrade when I check in, if seats are available. I don't get that, but will make the best of it and hope there are seats available.

I think that's all for now. I have lots more to tell you and will update later today or tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Ready to FLY!

2011-04-27T08:51:00.000-05:00

In 23 hours I will finally be boarding the plane for my month long visit to Terri & The kids! Yay! I'm nervous about the trip and how well I'll fair, but I did suck it up and made arrangements for a wheelchair to get me from the plane to my next gate and each segment of my flight.

As for my need for a wheelchair, I'll update you on my recent medical issues. My back surgeon finally sent me for X-Rays and finally looked at them and deemed my spinal fusion a total success. All had healed completely and properly and he doesn't feel that my leg pain/issues are connected to my back surgery at all. He has forwarded me to an Orthopedic specialist. Of course, the back surgeon's office screwed around for so long that I can't see the new DR until I get back from Alaska. So walking will continue to be a major issue for my entire visit, but we will all deal with it! AND! My GP, bless his heart, gave me some Vicodin to make the trip a little easier.

And so, I start all over with a new set of issues to deal with. sigh.....I swear that someone (or several someones) out there has a voodoo doll with my name on it and is busy sticking pins in it!!

I do still have some back pain but it all blends in with the leg issues and I often find myself wondering WTF I even had the surgery for to begin with! My GP feels that I had what is referred to as a "Failed Fusion" and that the surgeon (of course) wants me to think that his work was no less than perfect. We shall see, I guess. If the Orthopedic guy can't help me. or thinks I need more surgery, I will put that off as long as possible by going the Pain Management route. All speculation, at this point. I'll have to wait and see what June brings.

On top of all of that, my Cobra insurance ends July 31st and my Medicare won't start until the following March so in all reality, it may be another year before I can really accomplish much of anything. Lovely....just f&%$ing lovely!

Around here it has been raining for 40 days and 40 nights with much flooding of the area. Roads washed out, gigantic hail storms, tornados zipping around our heads, touching down NEAR us, but luckily not too close. And so, I shall leave the mess in Arkansas and go to 'break up' in Alaska, where there is much mud, many pot holes and melting of snow, layer by layer. The awakening of Spring in the Great Land is really lovely to behold. In a couple of weeks, it will be beautiful beyond measure.
But for me, the faces I see tomorrow afternoon will REALLY be what is beautiful beyond measure!!

I will sink into that welcoming home, full of love and comfort and enjoy and absorb every snippet of it! And there will be much celebrating while I am there! My birthday, Mother's Day, Terri's birthday and Riley's graduation!!! So much fun to be had! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Fusion Anniversary

2011-04-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

Well, Wednesday was the 1 year anniversary of my spinal fusion surgery. I went Thursday for my X-Rays and will see the DR next week. I spoke with his nurse Tuesday about some issues I've been having and they are of some concern, so I need to be checked out. I actually thought he needed to see me at then end of a year anyway, but she told me that he had 'released' me because my healing was so well progressed on my 6 month X-rays. I think I missed that, but I'm glad I called because my legs are giving me trouble that can, apparently, occur when a 3 or 4 level fusion is done. {Mine was a 4 level}

So anyway, I still have trouble walking. As a rule, on a daily basis, it just starts bothering me when I walk too far {which isn't far at all} or stand too long. My legs get achy and just don't want to 'go' and my lower back starts getting achy. Some days I can get a lot accomplished, other days, I just can't do it.

Personally, from my research, I have an idea it might be nerve damage. I'll just have to wait and see what he says next week and go from there. I have to learn to accept my limitations and make the best of what ever cards I've been dealt! But I'm not done looking for help, either.

Something just caught my eye, out of my front window, and I got looking and realized that it was my neighbors 2 cats running across the roof of their trailer house. How funny! I know how it sounds to have a squirrel playing around on the roof of our motorhome, so I can imagine the noise 2 big old cats make on their roof!

Gads. I've been blogging so irregularly and yet my head is always full of little tid bits I wanna blog about. I really should make notes, cuz I open up a page to write a new post and they all escape me. Doh! I wish I could be like our dear Poolie and have something fun and interesting to write about everyday.

I have been trying to remember to take my Nikon with me and get some pictures of various "Spring Things" around here, so I'll share some baby cows from down the road with you. They're so cute (and clean-lol)

A couple of babies.

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"Hey, Lady. Whatcha doin'?"

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"OMG! RUN!! She's got a camera!!!!!"

The Blessings of Life ♥

2011-03-21T21:24:00.002-05:00

And this, my friends, is a collage of my greatest treasures. The true blessings of my life. Timmy♥Emily♥Xander♥Riley♥Terri♥Maggie♥

37 DAYS!!!!!!!!

2011-03-21T10:44:00.000-05:00

It seems like I made my reservations eons ago, but it's down to 37 days until my trip to Alaska to visit my babies and see my Riley graduate! Weeeeeeeeeee........... The next month will go ever so fast!

I sure haven't been here for awhile and just when I was getting sorta regular about blogging. Damn. And I am ever so behind on reading blogs, as well. I've got a lot of catching up to do. My excitement about signing up with WildBlue for satellite internet service was a big farce. Long story short, I spent most of the last month running on dial-up speeds and it would take forever just to leave a comment or 2 on FaceBook, so I didn't even bother trying to do much else. We are taking it in the shorts big time to get out of our contract {almost $300} but in the long run, we will actually save a lot more. The phone company gave us a great deal for signing back up for DSL, so in the end it will all be good.

I spent much of that time going through my photos {of which there were like 4,900 plus}. I sorted, organized, deleted and am down to about 3700. Still need to go thru and delete a bunch more, but at least now they are all categorized in my Adobe Photoshop and it will be easier to do all the now. I also got some old, old files cleaned out. I mean really, just because I have room doesn't mean I have to keep every little thing!

Another sore subject.....Next week will be the 1 year 'anniversary' of my back surgery. I am not even CLOSE to being where I thought I would be at this point. The good news is that I am not in almost constant excruciating pain, as I was prior to the surgery. The bad news is, I DO still have a lot of pain and the promises of being able to do things after 8-12 months had passed, was all just a dream. Even tho I try to keep exercising, I can't get to the point where I can walk very far or for very long at all.....depending on what day it is, of course. I sure as hell know there is no sense even attempting to ride Susie. At this point, I am working as hard as I can and praying for the fortitude to just get my sorry butt through the airports so I can make this trip to Alaska! Hopefully the electric carts will be in the vicinity when I need them, because NO.....I am way too obstinate to request a freaking wheel chair to transport me from gate to gate! Nope. Nada. No way.

The last year has been such an emotional and physical roller coaster. There are some things, little things that actually continue to improve, but the fact of the matter is, I have been left with limitations that I never expected and I'm having a hard time accepting. Never in my wildest dreams, did I expect to be a 'crippled old lady' at 58! And most days That is my worst struggle. So I lapse into this funk of "why did this have to happen to me", for awhile. Then I pull myself up and tell myself to just deal with the cards I've been dealt and make the best of it! And I do...........for awhile......then I fall again. Yeah, sometimes literally, because when I least expect it a leg will give out on me....but usually I fall figuratively, into the funk. I know it could be worse. Doesn't matter what anyone's situation is, it could always be worse. Some days it's just hard to see past my own current situation. Selfish

I am praying that this month in Alaska with my sweet Terri and Mike and the kids will be just what I need to help turn me around. I mean, the best part of this past year was when Riley and Timmy were here. It was magical and I'm so anxious to soak up some more of that magic from ALL of them!!

And that's it for this dreary entry.......yawn.....

Another Revolting Development

2011-03-07T10:10:00.000-06:00

The world of computers can be SO complicated and confusing sometimes. Why is it that some people just go thru their life never having to give their computer, or what they do on it, a second thought and yet it seems that I am always in a jam, of sorts?

A month ago, I was delighted to be changing over from DSL with my phone company to WildBlue Satellite Internet service. It was a package deal with DirectTV and the end result is that we are saving $50 a month. The part about replacing Dish Network with Direct has been awesome. The thing with WildBlue?? Not so much.

Now, trust me when I say, I research the living crap out of things before I make any changes or decisions or buy much of ANYthing. So......yes, I read that WildBlue has limited bandwidth usage {due to fed regs regarding satellite usage..blah, blah} but I was getting the Pro Plan, which has the highest speeds and usage, so surely little ol me wasn't gonna come close to the limits and certainly not exceed them, right?? Wrong! Oh, I was so very wrong. I hit my download limit in a week! They gave me a one time courtesy reset back to 40%. I watched my usage like a hawk and it mysteriously creeps back up daily. As we speak, I am at 99% which means that before the day is over, I will be on "dial-up speed" until my usage drops. *Sigh* A lot "should" drop off today, or tonight, or whenever. It's on a 30 day roll over thingy. At the end of your 1st 30 days, they take an average of your usage for the last 30 days and adjust your totals accordingly....every day. So, 30 days ago today I downloaded {in my ignorant wisdom} 2,997,738 KB which is 2,927.47 MBs. My limit for MB downloading is 17,000 MB {which I NOW know is freaking unbelievable!}so at some point, in the next 24 hours, my level will drop and free up some space.

Most of that 3 GBs was from downloading a trial of PhotoShop Elements 9. I was, at that time, totally ignorant of the 'rules'. I download programs all the time. No big deal, right? Order a disc for 'just in case' and go on about my business. Won't be doing that much anymore! I love the new version of PS 9, tho' and can't wait until I have enough bandwidth so I can watch the tutorial videos....ahem.

The 1st thing I found that I can no longer use, is my beloved Carbonite for online backup. I love Carbonite and it has been a God send on 3 or 4 occasions! But, my last back up was 41 GBs. SO....even tho my daily backups of whatever pictures and documents I might have would still be doable, there's no way I would ever be able to restore my backup! Had to go buy an external hard drive for backing up everything and I don't trust those. I had a defective one once and lost everything, which is when I switched to Carbonite. And of course, I just paid my annual membership a couple months ago :(.

So I am now suffering from BSD {Bandwidth Stress Disorder}. Not reading emails, not reading blogs (there are 233 unread blogs in my Google Reader....eeeep), not looking things up at random, not doing much of ANY thing! I'm afraid that every little thing is going to put me over the edge!

I guess I can't even watch the TV shows on my computer that I have recorded on our new DVR from Direct! But I'm not SURE because I don't wanna waste the usage to research it!! I know I could call, but I feel really stupid asking. Not sure why. I am thinking that since it is all tied together via my router, that it wouldn't actually be 'downloading' and therefore not using any bandwidth, but if it counts as 'file sharing', then it will. AGHHHHHHHHH.

So, Chuck saves $50 a month and is pleased as hell with his TV and I am totally screwed with my computer! And, no, I haven't told him about all this yet. I'm pretty sure his head would explode if I tried to explain it and the explosion would be followed by a reprimand for not checking it out more carefully. {Like I haven't beat myself up enough over it!}

Oh, yes.....one more thing. Please DO beware of contracting BSD {Bandwidth Stress Disorder}. It seems that it causes an unnatural craving for Skittles, which leads to a serious addiction. It's BAD, people. Very, very bad!!

Life is Too Short

2011-03-07T08:39:00.000-06:00

A dear friend lost his brother in a tragic accident last Thursday. He was cutting trees at their parents house, when one bounced back and pinned him under it. Their 86 year old father stood helplessly by and watched his youngest son slowly die before the EMTs could get there. Big brother arrived at the same time as the EMTs; they were all too late to help him. He was non-responsive at that point and pronounced dead at the hospital.

He was only 52 years old. Actually, he would have been 52 yesterday. His family couldn't have his funeral on his birthday, so it is today. After a couple of failed marriages, he finally met his perfect match about 6 years ago and they have been married about 5 years. Thankfully, his last few years were happy ones and spent with someone that he could enjoy a rich full life with.

My heart aches for my friend, to have lost his only sibling. Sadly, I have 1st hand experience. They were very close and involved in so many things together. But even more, my heart aches for their parents. To lose a child is the greatest pain and loss a person can experience. To witness it and be helpless to do anything? Even worse.

It's a grave reminder that life is too short, and can be even shorter when least expected.

And all I can do is pray for all of them. How I wish I could do so much more...........

Holy Crap!

2011-02-09T16:47:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since my last bloggage! And I was doing so well, too, damn it all. I've certainly had a lot of stuff whirling around in my wee little brain to write about. And I've got a lot of new blogs to read, too, and haven't done that!

A couple of the highlights of the past 2 weeks have been a couple of snow storms, one of which we are in the midst of as I write; the switch over from Dish TV to Direct TV, which keeps getting postponed because of the weather; switching over from DSL with our phone company to WildBlue Satellite internet, which barely made installation between storms; my legs pretty much quit working for about a week.....let's see....what else. 3 people I know had babies.....awwwww. My cheap ass router that is 5 years old took a dump, so I got a NICE new one so that if we EVer get Direct TV set up (which will include a DVR...yes, I've been living in a DVR/TIVO-less world) I can watch stuff on my computer whilst HE watches reruns on the Western channel.

I guess the best part of all this stormy weather is that Hubby didn't work for several days and we both survived him wandering aimlessly around the house with his mouth running like a whippoorwill's ass in chokecherry season. There was a day, many years ago {seems like a life time ago} that I would have loved to have been snowed in with him! But....unless you live way out in the bush, Alaskans simply don't get snowed in! In fact the schools are out for weather only when it hits 40 below. The schools are still open, but your kids don't have to go. As for me, I would take Terri to school myself rather than take a chance on the bus breaking down at those temps. Anyway, Chuck has been to work the last couple of days and now he's home....doing that aimless thing again! AGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Or he stands for {what seems like} hours, in front of my computer desk, staring out the window at the horses or whatever. I'm sorry, but it totally messes with my concentration when someone is hovering. How the hell can I write a blog or read anything?! I did just ask him if he was going to stand there all day and he got all huffy, put on his coat and boots and is outside shoveling! Hahahaha. Worked for awhile, as long as he isn't in a pissy mood when he comes back in. Then I'll be sorry I opened my big mouth!

Poolie wanted some pictures of Gus in the snow, so here are a couple I took of him and some others I snapped today of the snow.

CAN WE GO HOME NOW????

2011-01-26T09:38:00.000-06:00

I have mentioned on previous posts that I have been working on Hubby's tax info. As background for some of you, he has his own small construction company. His original plan, when we came to Arkansas 7 1/2 years ago (eeep) was to start a construction company, build it up, sell it and we would return HOME to Alaska. At that time he figured it would take about 2 years. So, we packed up all his tools and equipment on his flat bed truck, loaded the motorhome and headed for Arkansas in August of 2003. {side note....Morg@n Stanley had lost most of our retirement funds for us and this was his "fix" for that)

He did really well, but things took a bit of a different turn than I expected. Anyways, after a year and a half of living in the motorhome I finally told him that he had to "shit or get off the pot". It was my hope that he would 'get off the pot' and we would just go home! But NoOoOoO.......He decided to take a dump! Told me to start looking for a house. The one time in allllll these years I stand up to him and it back fired!

After searching and searching and spending all my spare time driving around the country side looking at houses (wish I'd had my iPhone with the GPS then!)I finally found this one and it was perfect!Out of town, but not too far. 5 acres, with lots of room for the horses he has always wanted. And a nice, well built, well laid out home......so. Here we are. Sold our dream home in Alaska (that we planned and waited so many years to build....sigh) and bought this place. Am I happy? Not usually, but most days I try to make the best of it. I miss my Terri and the kids SOOOO much! And I miss Alaska and the unique and awesome lifestyle. And I miss my friends. {Don't even need to get into missing the 70 degree summers and how I hate 100 plus with dripping humidity} Don't get me wrong. Chuck misses Terri and the kids, too. A lot. Alaska, not so much (the dork), but he calls himself a "realist" and this is the way it has to be. What he thinks is the right thing for us. OK.

Anyway, Hubby is happy. Doing what he loves and he is very successful and has a great business and a terrific reputation. He's all hands on but has 2 people working full time and a couple of part timers come and go. We are surviving nicely, in these bad economic times and are VERY fortunate!

So, back to our tax info. I was totaling up everything and when I was done, I turned to him and said, "OMG! You grossed over $237,000. last year!!" He said, "Holy crap! That's almost a 1/4 of a million dollars!". I got up, walked over to him, put my arms around his neck, looked into his eyes and quietly asked........."can we go home now?". The SOB laughed. But only until I wapped him upside the head!

I tried. What can I say? Never hurts to ask.

I do have to say that he is pretty amazing. He is 70, going on 50, I'd say. High energy,{pain in the ass}, hard working,{superior attitude} ambitious,{BIG ego}, healthy, generous {show off}......we are very fortunate, indeed. Gotta take the bad with the good and just let it go.........LOL

But seriously. 1/4 of a million dollars! The 1st year {2004} he did about $89,000. I think. It's been growing ever since, but then so does the overhead. Hell, just his materials this year came to almost $100,000., sub-contractors were $80,000, payroll, equipment, maintenance, vehicles, hay and horse feed! There's no end to it! So, yes....while we are pretty comfortable, his gross is NOT what we live on! I wish!! I'd be flying to Alaska every month!!

We've had some rough times since coming here. Things that put a huge wedge between us, when for over 30 years we had what I thought was the "perfect relationship". Things that made me resent him.....that I may or may not be 'over'. My Mom died in a damn Assisted Living home before I could get her down here (if she could have even made the trip). He put me in a precarious situation that turned around and bit him squarely in the ass, but I'm the one that suffered for it. Went thru the whole I filed for divorce thing and survived that, but the aftermath has been rough. I think my surgery was a big turning point for us and although our relationship is very different than it was, it's pretty darn good right now! Guess that's a story for another day......maybe.

PURPLE HAIR

2011-01-24T21:55:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by YankeeChick

There was some mention of purple hair over at K-Lo's blog today and a couple people seem to think "why would anyone want purple hair?" This is why! It's purty. And it's fun and I get compliments everyday! Probably because I have balls enough to do it, more than anything. Hahahaha

That's all..............just wanted to share my purple chunks :). Carry on!

BOONDOCK SAINTS DAY

2011-01-23T13:30:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh.....the Boondock Saints! Where to start...

First, I will say right up front that some of you dear friends of mine will be appalled that I love these movies, these boys and what they are all about. There are serious guns involved and some very creative and down right delightful killings that go on in these movies. The MacManus Brothers are Irish Vigilantes and they kill incredibly vile and perverted and disgusting sinners, of the most horrendous kind!

My very own sweet little Irish Lass, Riley, introduced me to these movies while she was here this past summer. She had been telling me about them for AGES and couldn't wait to share them with me. One of the best things about getting together with my Riley is that we always stay up after everyone else has gone to bed, and she shares her favorite movies with me. We stay up into the wee hours eating chocolates and popcorn and chips, drinking coffee or Pepsi and Diet Vanilla Coke, curled up under a cozy afghan together sharing her beloved movies. She prepares me for the ultimate scenes, so that I don't blink and miss something! And she recites lines right along with the characters. I love it more than I can tell you! It has become our ritual and main plan of events in planning our visits with each other. The most amazing thing to me is that my 18 year old grand-daughter still considers me her best friend and likes to cuddle on the couch and watch movies and do fun stuff together. And we can also sit and drool over the same guys! Weeeeeeee!!!!

Okay, so back to Boondock Saints! Riley and Terri bestowed upon me the most awesome of Christmas gifts by sending me the movies. The Boondock Saints and Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. And tonight I am going to officially introduce Chuck to these awesome movies! Riley and I watched each of them about 4 or 5 times, but I haven't seen enough. They are on my list of movies that I could watch over and over and over (along with all the Die Hard movies and Indian Jones, to mention a couple from my rather short list).

The movies are full of amazing music and I have put my favorite on my side bar, along with the "Prayer" they recite prior to shooting their victim. I love to have this playing when I am doing certain things at my computer and the best part is, it makes me feel like my Muffin Girl (Riley) is right here with me. The fun part is, Murphy LOVES it! When ever I play it, she comes running from where ever in the house she is; jumps up onto my computer desk and enjoys it with me. And well she should, since I named her for my favorite MacManus brother :)

This COULD lead me into how terribly I miss her....and Terri and Maggie, Emily, Timmy and Xander-Man. How my heart aches for them sometimes......most times. The light in my heart flickers so low, so often. It literally pains me to not be a daily part of their lives, as I once was. But things change. That is life. Shit happens, blah blah, yada, yada. I hate it.

BUT! Little things like the love of movies and music shared, fan the flicker into a flame and make it okay....for awhile.

DOUBLE DAMN THE GEEK SQUAD

2011-01-21T22:27:00.000-06:00

The continuing saga with my PC is not pretty. I took it back in to the Geek Squad on Tuesday. They plugged it in, got one of their techs to come out and look at it. He fiddled around for a few seconds and it was up and running! So, I loaded it up and brought it home, got it all set up and turned it on. Of course I was expecting to have to reinstall all of my software and restore my backed up stuff, but strangely enough, it was all there! I was confused. How could they have gotten rid of my Corrupted OS without doing a complete system restore?! I proceeded to tend to the things that had been changed, and got online and so forth. I was rolling merrily along when after about 2 hours.....it froze. I waited. and waited. and waited. After about 1/2 an hour it took off again only to freeze up about 15 minutes later. Needless to say, I was not happy....AT all!

Wednesday I was back on the phone to the Ol' Geeks to find out WTF was up. This time I was told that, yes my paperwork said that my OS was corrupted and that they had called me and I had given the approval to do a system restore. It did not indicate that it was actually done, however. BUT....if I brought it right back in, they would put me at the front of the line and it would get taken care of right away. I was NOT at all pleased at the thought of once again unhooking everything and lugging this big old thing in a 3rd time! So I stewed on it for the rest of the day and decided that I would just go ahead and do the damn restore myself! And I did and I'm still working on getting things reinstalled and all that jazz, but it's coming along nicely. I sure as hell didn't need them to do that! I've done it a few times through the years and it's easy enough to do.....just a lot of work afterward, but hey! I got nothing but time.

I do believe I will be writing a letter to the Head Geek, however, and letting them know how much I appreciate their great service. (insert severe sarcastic tone)

We did get a nice little storm, starting our with a base coat of freezing rain, covered shortly thereafter with 4-5 inches of snow. Schools and many, many businesses closed yesterday and today, but I'm sure all will be back to quasi normal tomorrow.

My sweet Susie had her 21st birthday yesterday. Extra carrots and oats for everyone!! She's one amazing horse for her age :)

And that's all for tonight. Bitching one last time about the Geeks has tired me all out so I'm gonna drag my sorry butt to bed. TTFN

GEEK SQUAD, BE DAMNED

2011-01-17T10:20:00.000-06:00

So, I went to Best Buy Saturday afternoon to pick up my PC. I was all excited to get it and start reinstalling stuff and ready to Rock n Roll!! That wasn't to be the case, however. Got it home, lugged it in the house, got it all hooked up, turned it on and got zilch. I mean, it went thru some of the gibberish that flashes on the screen before it finally takes off and opens Windows, but then it stopped. On a foreign black screen that said "Starting Windows" at the bottom of the screen. But it wasn't starting Windows. It really wasn't doing anything. It just sat there. I was patient for awhile. At least for ME, I was patient. I typically reserve what little patience I possess for my Grandbabies and the elderly, but I mustered up some for my beloved PC. I seriously waited about 30 minutes and then I was on the phone. The Geek Gal had me shut it down and restart it. Same thing. She then pulled all my paperwork and checked it out, telling me that it 'should be working fine'. I asked her if they even reinstalled the OS and she said they 'should have'. She then told me I needed to bring it back in. sigh..... I decided I'd take it back the next day..Sunday...yesterday, but yesterday I wasn't feeling too good and it didn't happen. Today, I don't have my 'Ho, so it won't happen until tomorrow. UGH! Someone better look at it while I'm there and it better be a quick 'fix' cuz if I can't bring it back home with me, things might get ugly! Just sayin'.

My Tahoe is in the shop getting a spiffy new windshield today. Chuck drove it last Saturday when we had our little snow storm and while he was out and about, a stone hit the windshield and before he got home, it just went ahead and cracked all the way across. In Alaska, cracked windshields are a way of life, for various reasons, and they usually have to get pretty bad before anyone bothers replacing them. It doesn't take much to make me homesick, as most of you know, so the cracked windshield was guilty of invoking those feelings. Chuck's reaction to that was to get an appointment right away to get it replaced. LOL

So, here I am. Sitting home. No truck. No errands. Perfect day to be putzing around with my PC, but noOoOoOOO. Ah, well. Plenty of other stuff to do.

A Whole Week!

2011-01-14T19:52:00.000-06:00

My, how time does fly! Can't believe it's been a week since my last post, and I was doing so good!

I have been quite busy and actually productive this week, however. I found a very user friendly bookkeeping program to use and have been setting that up and entering all the payroll data for 2010 in it so that I could have accurate reports to give the Accountant for the W-2s. And since Data Entry is my middle name, I enjoyed putting it all in and it went very quickly. You see, I do everything 'by hand', or have up until now. Payroll was no sweat when he just had one employee, but this year he had several, because some didn't work out and because he has needed more than one man to keep up with all the work he's had.

Luckily, he uses his checking account for EVERYthing and in the past I could just upload his bank statements to Quicken, go thru and categorize everything and be done with it. But what with my surgery and all, I fell off the wagon with that so I am now going thru the check registers and making lists. I don't mind. I'm just really excited that I have something in place for 2011 that I will enjoy doing, rather than dreading it {thereby grossly procrastinating!} As soon as I get my PC back, I'll get started importing our bank info and get that puppy rolling!

And speaking of my PC, the Geek Squad called yesterday. Told me that my problem was that my Operating System was corrupt. So, #1, my warranty doesn't cover it and #2 it'll be $130 to repair, but it's like a $1200 unit that I've only had 1 1/2 years, so that's worth it. So....most likely a virus got thru somehow, and I'm pretty sure it was one that was in a message that I opened in FaceBook. Even the best anti-virus program can't catch everything. In fact this happened to me about 9 or 10 years ago and apparently that virus was sophisticated enough to turn off my anti-virus and let itself right in! Anyway, it's ready and I'll get that back tomorrow. One good thing about taking it in is that at least it got a good cleaning and a thorough diagnostic check on everything. Of course I DO still have the daunting task of spending hours re-installing software and restoring all my backed up data. hours and days..........groan.....

My most recent "Murphy Report" is not a good one. I sat right here and watched as the crazy critter tried to leap over top of a 4' tall plant stand, which is home to 4 African Violets, in an attempt to get to the upper window sill right behind it! 2 replacement pots and 4 repottings later, she is still on my shitlist! For all of her crazy antics, she really hasn't done much damage...yet....and although my Violets are not looking very chipper, I'm sure they'll survive.

I guess that's all the excitement I have to report for today. Maybe I'll do better tomorrow :)

What'll She Get Into Next???

2011-01-07T15:25:00.000-06:00

Okay.....so Murphy likes to carry stuff around. I first noticed it when I saw her jump down from my sewing machine table and a minute later heard a 'clunk' from the dining room. Upon investigation, I found that she had picked up and carried off a small pair of scissors. Since then, she has graduated to my big sewing scissors, plucked a ring off my dresser, carried off post it notes and memo pads, as well as envelopes (the kind with important stuff inside!). She dragged a tote bag (with candles in it) from the sewing room, down the steps to the living room! She even managed to turn on the faucet at the kitchen sink one day. I rather suspect that was an 'accident', as it hasn't happened since and considering how much she loves water, she would do it again if she truly knew how.

So, I ask you......how does one 'cat proof' such items?? Yes, yes, Chuck! I know!! Put my scissors away, jewelry in my jewelry boxes, etc, etc. But what's next? Can't put everything away! This cat just gets more interesting {and challenging} every day. But her entertainment value is priceless!!

My PC is finally in the hands of the Geek Squad. I sure hope it's an easy fix and doesn't take them too long! Actually, I don't care what the problem is, as long as it's covered by my warranty :).

It was really hard to walk into Best Buy with it today and leave without looking around. So many toys and toy accessories! Too much fun stuff under one roof. I didn't dare avert my eyes from the front door as I was making my way back out.

Well, that's about it for today. I AM feeling some better today, which means I've had to start working on Chuck's paperwork for the business to get to the Accountant. I hate this stuff and if any of you knew what sort of bookkeeping system I have (as in NONE) you would groan at the stupidity of it all. Once I get my PC back, all that will change, because there has to be an easy peasy way to do all of this that even I can do, with out the aid of megabucks software!

Revolting Development #2

2011-01-06T08:31:00.000-06:00

This isn't exactly what I had in mind for my RD entries, but it's pretty revolting, none the less.

I, once again, have another bout of Bronchitis and a sinus infection. It hit me hard on Sunday as we were taking down the X-Mas tree and decorations. Considering my allergies to all things green and outdoorsy, I assumed it was my allergies flaring up from rustling around in the X-Mas tree, but by Monday I knew better and Tuesday, it was off to the DR. So I have caught it quicker this time than I did in October, when I spent 2 weeks convinced that it was allergies before I gave in and went to see the DR. I've been pretty miserable the last 2 days, but I just know that today will be better.....damn it!!

And my poor sick PC is still sitting in the back seat of my Tahoe {buckled in, of course} waiting to go visit DR. Geek Squad. I have spent about a week screwing around with that, trying to get it running right when Tuesday AM I finally got on line with the Geek Squad (with whom I have a Protection Plan). The guy did the old 'remote access' thing, found a couple of things that 'concerned' him and told me to take it in. I had planned to do that before or after my DR appt, but that didn't happen. Maybe today.

So there, in a nut shell, are my 2 RDs.

On a lighter note, my kitty, Murphy, squeaks in her sleep

I'm not sure if that means she is dreaming of chasing mice in the garage or if she has a little kitty tummy ache. I guess I'll never know.

Revolting Developments

2011-01-03T10:15:00.000-06:00

One of my Mom's favorite expressions that was suitable for numerous and a wide variety of occurrences, was "Now isn't that a revolting development!?" or some similar context of the phrase. Having grown up, hearing that all of my life, it often slips into my vocabulary as well. I was just thinking of something that happened New Years Eve that fell into that category and have decided to make it a regular theme in my blog. The occasional Revolting Development! Yeah.... I like it :)

The way things go for me, they will all most likely be more of a series of Unfortunate Events, but I'll stick with "RD" {revolting Developments} in honor of my Mom. Even tho' I'm pretty sure that she thought blogging could be a life threatening past time {and on occasion, I would have to agree with her}, I still think it would tickle her that I am using it.

The 1st RD that I shall write about will actually be my last RD of 2010, since it occurred on New Years Eve.

In all of our 40 plus years together, Chuck and I have only gone out on New Years Eve once. And that was about......40 years ago! This year my BFF, Victoria, ~~conned us~~ really wanted us to attend the New Years Eve party at the Elks Club {she is the Exalted Ruler, BTW}. So Chuck bought tickets and that included a catered diner and hors d'oeuvres, 2 champagne toasts, a band and breakfast. We hadn't planned on staying until midnight, but we did. The evening went fairly quickly.

The band was a really good one. They mostly play Blues, of which I am not a big fan but they were good. I found myself wanting to dance. Alot of the members dance and it was fun to watch, but I wanted to play, too! Chuck and I used to dance all the time, but it's been years. Chuck really is a good dancer and slow dancing with him isn't necessarily "slow". Anyway, most of you know that I still have my limitations since my surgery, as far as the use of my legs under certain circumstances, so I wasn't sure I could do it, but I wanted to try!

I need to interject that another "first" of the evening was the wearing of heels, which I haven't worn for well over 2 years (but used to all the time). So, here we are on the dance floor and I'm not doing so well. There was just enough of a twisting motion that it bothered my lower back and legs. I figured I'd kick my shoes off and see if that helped because, quite honestly, I never ever used to dance at all with my shoes on. {panty hosed feet slide much more easily on a dance floor, LOL}. So I ran over to our table, kicked my shoes off and went back to Chuck to resume my position.........and that's when it hit me! My final Revolting Development of 2010!! When he took me in his arms, I was looking directly into his shoulder. Not OVER his shoulder, like I used. Not with my cheek resting on his shoulder, like I used to.....but rather right into his shoulder! I almost had a melt down, but managed to get a grip.

You see, Chuck is 5'10" and I USED to be 5'8". Because of the deterioration and surgery on my back, I am now 5'4 1/2". I tend to forget that on the average day but has a very rude reminder that night!! Now THAT'S what I call a Revolting Development!!!

Once I got over the shock of my new dancing position, I tried to become accustomed to it and we actually danced several times. I was hurting a bit after the 1st time, but was determined to keep trying. I was pretty much using muscles in areas and ways that I have not used for awhile, so I kept dancing. And yeah, I could barely walk the next day and yesterday but I've GOT to do this stuff! As long as I can make myself do it and can keep doing it, then I will! It's just what I need to do!

I also need to get going back to the Wellness Center and exercising on the machines I was using there because I am not using the muscles or strengthening my legs if I don't.

So, there you have it. The 1st in a series of Revolting Developments :)

START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT!

2011-01-01T22:50:00.000-06:00

I'm going to start the New Year off right......by being ME. I have had a few people tell me that they miss the way I used to write in my blog. Well, so do I! I used to love blogging. Writing and reading the blogs of others. During the past couple of years, there have been some incidents that have severely changed all that for me.

At one time, I had quite a few pretty darn good blog buddies and I enjoyed them all immensely. That list has seriously dwindled and there are so many reasons for it. Wrong reasons, and that's just sad.

Some have just quit blogging and I really miss the interaction and daily happenings in their lives. Out of those folks, some of us stay in touch on FaceBook and via email and texting. That's a good thing.

Some of them have been judgmental (even tho' they deny it) and have simply dropped me because they don't like the way I 'tell it like I see it'. I typically tend to be pretty outspoken when I feel strongly about something. That's just me and if someone doesn't like it, they have only to turn away. It's not necessary to send me scathing emails or to tear me to shreds in their own blog. Just go away and maybe ASK me to do the same. I will respect that.

Back before I had met any bloggers in person, I let myself get sucked in by some folks that led me to believe that we were 'real friends'. I have no idea what their agenda was at the time, but I am gullible enough to let that happen from time to time and as a result, I got involved in a major "rescue/flame war" that cost me many friends in the blogging community. But at the time, I thought I was doing the right thing and I thought I was being a good friend to someone that needed me. What a joke THAT all turned out to be. And how quickly they forget. A very dear friend and I BOTH got our feathers burned over that ridiculous scenario, but hey! We did what we thought was right at the time and it sadly turned around and bit us in the ass.

Another time, I had the opportunity to meet some folks in 3D. I found out that one can NOT always tell what a person is really like from reading a daily blog for several years. When you meet some people in person, you can find yourself thinking "holy crap! If I had to work with this person, I'd have to find another job! I couldn't do it." Or, "man, if this person was my neighbor, I'd have to put up a 10 foot privacy fence and hope it would be enough to keep them out cuz they drive me batty!". And I am well aware and well informed that I, myself, had a similar effect on other people. Heh. I have to laugh because the whole time, I thought all was well with a couple of these people, when in fact I was apparently getting on their nerves. Hahahahaha. That pleases me NOW. Right down to my rotten core.

It takes me awhile to get to know someone well enough to be 'comfortable' with them. Either online or in person. But when you think you are at that comfort level from an online relationship, but find 'warning signals' going off when you meet in person.....just don't bother wasting your time trying too hard to make it 'work', cuz the joke will be on you!

BUT!! The fact of the matter IS, we are all adults and as amazing as it may seen to some people.......it's okay if we meet and just can not be best friends to the end! It's okay. I don't like you after all, so let's just get on with it and get over it. No need to be nasty, just walk away. Kinda like a blind date, ya know?

BUT!!!! It's TOTALLY awesome when you DO meet someone that you have been blog buddies with for years and they ARE all that and a bag of chips!!! They are out there, people and I have met a couple that have warmed my heart and changed my life and I wouldn't trade them for the world! From the time we first met, it was like we had always known each other and from there it only got better!

One of them is so different from me in so many ways, I was afraid I would be grossly intimidated when I met her. Wondrously, there are so many levels to so many people, that we immediately found our niche; blended and settled in for one of those 'forever' friend relationships that will only get better as time goes by. My word! We disagree SO vehemently on some things, it is simply amazing. But we have so much respect for each other and so much other great stuff to share, that it matters not one little bit!! That's a real friend, folks!

Boy, there is one out there that I used to adore! I thought she was the greatest and bravest most out going, honest and true person I had ever encountered! Through the years I came to find out that if you don't walk like her, talk like her and wipe your ass like her......well then, you are just wrong, Wrong, WRONG! She has gotten in my face a few times because of my opinions and 'outspoken-ness'....ahem...and we mended fences, but the last time I set her off, she went balls to the wall ballistic on me and I decided (with the help of another one of her victims) to just leave it alone. To her I say, 'what ever blows your shirt up, bitch. go for it'.

Sometimes it seems like there is no end to it. Sometimes it's just that some people can't let go. Me??? I am trying to just let it go. There are more important things for me to stress over. Now if some of these other people would get a life, quit visiting my blog whilst blocking their IP (like who gives a flying f%$#) and just leave us folks alone they might find that they too have more important things to stress over.

I am hoping that as the New Year rolls in, I will find my blogging Mojo once again and begin to once again write more things of interest! Goodnight all y'all!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-01-01T14:36:00.000-06:00

Original title, eh? LOL I do hope you all have a wonderful 2011. I had fully intended to get one more post in for last year, but as my luck would have it my PC is having issues. Even tho' I have my trusty laptop, I have been spending countless hours installing, uninstalling, researching, chatting with tech support and generally trying not to pull my lovely purple hair out over it all!

Hopefully TODAY I can get finished with it. I'm pretty sure that a virus or something got past my Best of the Best that Norton has to offer software. At least that's what it acts like. Norton did detect some serious stuff and fixed it, but even after that and multiple full system scans, the PC is still 'freezing' up and acting FUNky! I actually decided to just forget the fact that I had only a month ago, spent about $100 renewing my Norton subscriptions for the 100dth time (as I've used Norton for years) and uninstalled it all and am trying Kaspersky on my PC and AVG on my laptop. So far the laptop is finding AVG agreeable, but since I'm still working on the PC I can't really say about Kaspersky yet except that it did find some stuff that Norton apparently missed. But, as we speak I am running Kaspersky's Virus Removal Tool and am anxious to see if that does the trick!! Wish me luck.

Man, I had all sorts of things I was gonna write about and I'll probably forget half of it. Let's see.......

Oh yes! Murphy is a water kitty. I did post pictures of her playing in the trickle of water at the kitchen sink, but it has gotten worse than that! We have to be sure to keep the toilet seat lid down and that's all I'm gonna say about that! But now she will actually get IN the shower with us to drink and play in the water and has NO problem getting all soaking wet! Up until a week ago, she would just get in and play in the water after one of us would get out, but now.......she just gets in with us! Funniest damn cat I ever had! Puss Puss wouldn't even walk on the porch after it rained. If she got one little paw wet, she had a little kitty panic attack! Hahaha. That was pretty damn cute, too!

AND.........Murphy is an awesome mouser! She loves to go out into the garage and into the crawl space under the house (which is accessed from the garage) and every time she does, she brings us a prize. GOOD kitty!! :)

OMG!!!!!! I am forgetting that I haven't posted since X-Mas and have not gotten to show off my gift from Chuck! He finally got me something that I have been wanting since about 1984! Just guessing....it's been a long ass time I've been wanting a RUBY RING!!!!!!!!!

It is SOOOO beautious! Rubys and Diamonds......yum! So, I have myself a new wedding ring and will be having my original one resized to wear on my middle finger next to the Ruby. My friend, Debbie, was instrumental in orchestrating the whole thing and I owe her my eternal gratitude. Hee hee.

MY GIRL'S ARE LOOKIN' GOOD!

2010-12-22T08:45:00.000-06:00

Well, here's a "Horse Post" for a change. It's been all about Murphy for awhile and no talk about my girls. So unfair! Chuck had some trouble with his van yesterday and we had to drop it off at the shop. When I picked him up and brought him home, he decided to let Dixie into the outer pasture to play with her Mama, Susie.

If you recall, Dixie has Laminitis in her hooves and the poor thing has been 'quarantined' in the barn yard, on a diet of only hay and water {and her morning carrots} since July. Partly so her hooves could heal and partly so she could lose a few hundred pounds. We figure she's lost about 200-250 lbs and she sure is looking good!

I showed this picture to Chuck and he said that Susie was "giving me the tail"! How funny!! LOL

The did have a great time running and playing and I got a few more shots of them with my trusty iPhone before I headed to town.

It's actually quite nice to have some pictures of them with the barn and OUR house in the background! Usually I'm snapping shots from the yard near the house and our neighbor's house/trailers/dead vehicles, etc are the backdrop. Ewww. This is much better :)

It doesn't look like Chuck's X-Mas gift is going to make it in time for the big day and I'll have to wrap a picture of it for him, instead. He won't mind, but I'd rather have it get here in time. Mayhaps it will. I ordered him a horse weathervane for the barn and he'll love it! Anything to do with the horses and he's good to go. I used to dazzle him with new tools or guns, but at this age...he's pretty much got everything in those departments! As for ME, there are no strange gifts under the tree with my name on them, but I do know that he and Deb have had their heads together a couple times the past couple weeks. Although she and I have never had a "what do you want for X-Mas conversation", it'll be interesting to see what they came up with. Hee hee. We're giving Deb {Casino} money and getting her lovable Redneck Hubby a carton of smokes and a case of beer. Neither one of them would like anything better!

And we are also giving them a night off, so to speak. Their boys (grandsons that they are raising) Corbin and Noah are going to spend the night with us tomorrow night. Corbin (9) is looking forward to baking X-Mas cookies with me and Noah just wants to "hang out" with Chuckie (as the 5 year old calls him :) ) and watch westerns. It'll be interesting. I adore them both and Corbin often comes down to help me do stuff or to just hang out.....just the 2 of us. He thrives on the one on one time and the attention. Poor Deb works long hours and their time is limited. HOWEVER....when the 2 of them are together, they are a force to reckon with, so I repeat. It will be interesting......sigh......

This and That

2010-12-19T11:51:00.001-06:00

I want to write an entry, but I have no fodder! Nothing exciting to write about. I've had this Blog Funk going for so long! I hate it. My brain is 'dead'. I could write about............

How I ran 3 stop signs when I was driving Deb and I to the casino in Oklahoma on Thursday night. {brain dead? yeah!}

How I need to teach Murphy to not walk across my keyboard and rub her whiskers on my mouse!

How I should be baking Christmas cookies and making fudge and peanut brittle {because my body really needs the calories!}

How I should be sewing and embroidering and knitting more.

How it's 39 degrees here and 31 below in North Pole and I would rather be there with my Terri and my kiddos.

OR, I know!! I haven't told you the exciting news that the knuckle on my ring finger on my right hand has had MAJOR arthritis set in and my knuckle is now so HUGE that my 100 plus rings that I have in my 'original' ring size of 9 won't fit and they all need to be resized to size 11 to either fit that damn finger or to be worn on my middle finger! Now THAT really hacks me off. I happened so quickly, too. Just weird. I went to the Doc because I thought it might be {just possibly} something else. A cyst or an alien baby or something growing in my knuckle. No such luck. And so, I am left with a jewelry box FULL of rings that I can no longer wear! It makes me sick. I love jewelry, especially rings and they are all gold and sterling and gemstone....not costume jewelry mind you. Some of them can't be resized that much because of the settings of the stones. We just decided to start with my favorites and do them one at a time. Yesterday I took my favorite Sterling and Turquoise ring to a local jeweler and it will be about $100 to resize it. But it's special Turquoise and a beautiful setting. About a $300 ring that I paid about $150 for, so it's worth it to me. The Turquoise is what they call "spider web" and has gold flecks in it and dark lines. Just gorgeous, with flowers on the shank. Ah, well. It's a start

I had thought once of having my wedding ring resized and wearing it on my right hand, leaving my left hand free to wear all of my other rings, but that idea didn't go over so well with the Hubs. sigh. It would save alot of $$, IMHO, but ........

Well, I'm off to see what trouble I can get into in the kitchen. I think I'll start with fudge!! Yum!!

SUPER MURPHY!

2010-12-15T16:22:00.001-06:00

I am here to tell you that my new kitty is amazing! Getting through this holiday season will be a breeze, with her around. I mean....check it out....

She kept an eye on me at the computer and supervised the making of a bunch of Christmas cards.

She helped decorate the tree.

She LOVES to help with the dishes!

And she was a huge help with sending out the Christmas cards!!

I simply can not believe that I was ready to take her back! I guess she tuned in to my frustration and decided to pitch in and make up for all the biting and terrorizing. Quite honestly, I still think she has an invisible friend that she tears around the house with, but I'm cool with that.

As for the tree, she has only broken 2 ornaments. The 1st one was no big deal. The second one was from a set of 4 that I had bought for our 1st Christmas tree, at Bresee's Department Store about 100 years ago. But, hey....it's only an ornament. Besides, the really treasured ones that were my Mom's from her and Dad's early days are safely at the top of the tree!

Hubs has not made the Holiday Season nearly as pleasant as Murphy has! He has been cranky to the max. Part of his crankiness is due to the amount of $$ I spend on Christmas gifts. But there are 10 grandkids! {Our lovely 5 in Alaska that you always hear about and the 5 resulting from his 1st marriage that I rarely speak about because there just isn't that much interaction}. Anyway, even tho' I have cut down considerably the past couple of years, it's still a reason for him to be pi$$y. And yet! He wants to make sure they have what they want, etc. He just has no clue as to what things cost, unless it's sold at Lowe's or the lumber company. Hee hee.

Needless to say, since he's been on my case about the fact that I am out of $$ and need some, I have YET to scream at him that I spent my last $200 on a gift for HIM!! And I have to wait 10 more days until I get the satisfaction of him feeling like a total jerk. Damn. But if he gets much worse, I just might take it back. Buwahahahaha.

PROGRESS IS BEING MADE

2010-12-05T12:42:00.000-06:00

She is still spazzy and she is still investigating EVERYthing.....again and again. She is coming around tho', a little bit at a time. I've been working with her and trying to "train" her to come when called and also to let me hold her longer and pet her without launching an attack on my hand. I keep her favorite treats nearby and the only time I give her one is when she responds 'properly' :). Seems to be working.

Chuck picked up a Christmas tree yesterday and when we were setting it up last night, she had what was her first {and hopefully last} adventure with the tree. Chuck got it all anchored in the base while I was holding it, then he stood up to hold it while I stepped away to make sure it was straight. Up she went, quick as a flash! Right up the trunk and inner branches, while Chuck was holding it!! Well, he shook the hell outta that tree and she flew out of there and ran upstairs like a shot! Hopefully that did the trick and she'll stay out of it. Only time will tell. It's a very heavy and dense, thick branches tree with a big trunk. I don't think she'll be tipping it over, so I won't worry about that. I just put the lights on it a few minutes ago and she is quite fascinated by the twinkling. It might behoove me to turn the twinkle off, but I sure hate to. My lights MUST twinkle, damn it!!

It's been kinda nice this year, to feel up to going out and about and do some Christmas shopping. I did manage to screw it up, tho'. I went on Thursday and got several things accomplished, then went to the Casino with Deb Thursday PM. Went out on Friday to finish up my shopping and even after all the activity of the day before, by Friday PM I was still doing good and my back wasn't bothering me! Saturday I thought of a few more things and off I went, but before I was finished.....bam! My back started hurting sooo bad. But I did manage to finish my last stop before I had to head home. Still pretty bad today, but I am trying to decorate. Chuck and I got all our goodies out last night and he went off to work for a few hours today and I'm supposed to be decorating. I got the lights on the tree so far and that's it. I better get cracking and get some more stuff on the tree, at least, before he gets home! Oh, crap! Here he comes now.........see ya!

Murphy is a Terrorist!

2010-12-01T17:24:00.000-06:00

This beautiful little girl kitty i brought home to 'Save' will be the death of me!! She is a terrorist kitty, from the butt crack of dawn to lights out time. THAT is one thing for which I am very thankful. She's quiet at night. We all sleep well.

Actually, she is quiet during the day......but totally full of some sort of 'energy' that has her quite literally climbing the walls; sniffing, biting and licking EVERYthing in her path (and out of her path). The only time, during the day, that she is not on the go at top turbo speed, is when she is by one of the sliding glass doors watching leaves blow by or birds at the feeders. And that only lasts for about 10-15 minutes at a time.

Now that she is 'settled in' and 'used to us', there is no picking up or holding allowed. She will flip over and bite me while applying the use of all claws on all paws! My hands are mincemeat.....and my nose has a bit of a scab on it :(. She acts like she is eating an endless supply of catnip, but it's all hidden away and she sure as hell isn't gonna get any. You can't play with her. She won't interact with us or any of her toys, and believe me...I've tried everything I can think of.

I've been doing a lot of research, as is my habit with all things that cross my path or my mind, and I am convinced that she is/was a Feral cat. If that be the case, we can be pretty sure that she will never change. She is constantly on alert and full of nervous energy. Sometimes while I am sitting at the computer, she will come and lay at my feet. Very sweet...but if I reach down to pet her, she attacks my hand and bolts! And, no, I'm not scaring her. She sees my hand coming and I am talking to her the whole time.

Luckily, she has not been destructive. Nothing has been broken or shredded....yet. She is just incredibly hyper and very unfriendly. Not at ALL what I had in mind for a cat. Chuck says to give her time. We shall see what he says after we put up our Christmas tree that I am afraid to put up, but he insists that we must! Let's see how much time he wants to give her after the tree comes down and half of my 'family heirloom' ornaments are broken. Sigh.........

I have been trying to work on calming her, by keeping her favorite treats nearby and if she lets me pick her up and hold her for 5 seconds (heh) and pet her a bit, I try to give her a treat before she 'attacks'. Today she got 3 treats out of 6 attempts. I imagine that another cat may help, but I seriously doubt Chuck would ever go for having 2 cats. I'm really not sure how this will play out. She just might become.....a Barn Cat!

Wow, I just realized that it has been forever since my last post! I totally missed Thanksgiving and posting about sweet Emily's birthday! She turned 12 on the 27th and is so incredibly grown up!

Here she is with her Hufflepuff scarf that she wanted ever so badly and I happily obliged :). Xander is so cute peering over her shoulder!

Well, I'm off to start writing X-Mas cards. Need to get some gifts wrapped and in the mail, too. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..............

Introducing Murphy

2010-11-21T11:52:00.000-06:00

Since bringing Murphy home on Friday afternoon, she has spent most of her time on the top bunk of the bunk beds in one of our spare bedrooms. Saturday AM we could not find her anywhere! We both searched for a couple of hours and every place you can imagine! And I mean, EVERY place! I'm sure she was hiding right in front of us and laughing as we walked by a bazillion times. About 9:00 Chuck and Gus left for work. At 10:00 or so, I heard the jingle of her collar and was so pleased to finally see her make an appearance! We spent about 1/2 an hour playing and having kitty treats and then she needed a nap, of course.

Later in the day, Chuck & I both went up to visit her and give her some treats. I attempted to take some pictures of her, but I didn't get very good ones. I will share them here, however, so y'all can get an idea of what this new kitty is all about.

This 1st one I am posting so you can see how long her tail is. I haven't measured it yet, but Chuck figures it's about 16" long, but I'm going for 18"! I have never seen a cat with such a long tail! Hee hee.

This one isn't a great shot, but I'm posting it cuz it shows the cool markings on the top of her pretty leedle head. Chuck was about to give her some treats.

And this last one? Yep....she knocked the treat off the bed and they're both looking for it. It does give you a good look at her pretty colors. From the picture I saw of her online, I thought she was gray, but gray she's not! She is what they call a Tabico color. Combination Tabby and Calico. Whatever it is, she sure is pretty!

Someone along the line thought that she was about 2 years old, but I'm guess that she is about a year old. She had a litter of kittens 2 months ago and since they come into heat their 1st time at 6 months of age, and their gestation period is approximately 65 days....I'm pretty sure she's only about a year old. She's still just a kitten herself! I haven't weighed her yet, but I'm thinking that she's only about 8 or 9 pounds. Very skinny, probably from recently nursing and sharing food at the foster home with several other cats. She has eaten a ton of food since she's been here! {all in secret, of course}

My other Maine Coon cat was about 10 months old when I got him and he certainly kept growing after that! He got up to about 18-20 lbs. Typically they average about 13-15 lbs. She also doesn't have her Maine Coon coat of hair yet. Their coat is shorter towards the front and longer down their backs and rear half. Of course, it is possible that she is mixed with something else and that she won't change much and that works for me, too! So far, she seems to be a keeper!!

Last night while we were watching TV she decided to honor us with her presence and explored every inch, nook and cranny of the living room! She would hop up and visit us during her investigation, but had no time for cuddles. Hopefully that will change once she gets used to this big ol' house. For right now, she is simply way too busy!

Kitty Visitation and Casinos

2010-11-19T09:20:00.000-06:00

Well, this morning I get to go to Fayetteville and meet "Rosey", my potential new kitty! If she and I hit it off, and if the foster mom approves of me, I may have a fun new friend this weekend! WooHoo!! I'm not sure exactly how this adoption thing works. I'm meeting them at Petsmart and really don't know if I will be bringing her home with me or what. I'll find out in a couple of hours!

My friend, Deb, conned me into going to a Casino in Oklahoma last night to play.........are you ready for this???? Bingo. yep. Bingo. I haven't played Bingo since I was 8 years old and used to go with my Great-Grandmother at the fire station on Friday nights. Wow!! Has the world of Bingo changed big time over the years!! I muddled through, with much help from Deb. She LOVES to play, LOVES the slots and is usually very lucky at it. She did win $200 at Bingo last night. I did not win anything :(. I did get a Player Club card from the Casino and since it was my 1st time there, it had $10 loaded on it. I used that and got up to $18 on the slot machines, but then went thru that pretty quickly. So I put in one dollar of my own money and won $29. Played $2 of that and quit and cashed it in. The Bingo pack was $27.50, so I broke even. Not very exciting, let me tell ya. Deb was disappointed because I didn't have a very good time {as in, win anything}, but it was cool. She loves to go and used to go once a week, back when times were a bit better for them. It's been a very long time since she has felt she could splurge and she wanted me to go so badly, that I couldn't refuse!

Truthfully, I would have rather stayed home and watched Big Bang Theory, but don't tell her that! LMAO

Kitty Rescue in the Works!

2010-11-16T08:36:00.000-06:00

Meet Rosie. She is a 2 year old Maine Coon cat that is in a foster home in Fayetteville. The organization that rescued her, requires you to fill out a rather extensive application and submit it for their approval. I think that's pretty cool.....unless I'm not approved, of course! LOL I should know later today. Hopefully their information online is current and she is still available! If not, I will continue the search as 'my kitty' is out there somewhere :)

I was hoping to find a male, but she looks so sweet! I will be changing her name, if I get her! Rosie simply won't do.....although it does seem to suit her, from her photo. It's one of those things....like when we got Susie, our 1st horse. Chuck's ex-wife is named Sue, so I was all about changing her name (yeah, after 42 years I still didn't want a horse named Sue! LOL) but, heck, Susie was 16 years old at the time and who am I to up and change her name? It does suit her, so she is still Susie.

My first Maine Coon cat was a male that I had rescued from the animal shelter in Fairbanks. He was about 10 months old when I got him and he had been named Mittens. I kept the name, but it always seemed silly. He became this 20 lb totally macho, great hunter kitty and had such a wimpy name! What an awesome cat he was tho'. Great hunter by day and a great cuddle kitty by night. And he was EVER so smart! Chuck used to pick on him a lot and one day, Mittens had finally had enough. On this particular day, Chuck was outside doing yard work and happened to spot Mittens in one of my empty flower tubs. He was digging away and had just honkered down to take a little kitty dump for himself, when Chuck snuck up behind him with a shovel and banged it down on the ground behind him! Mittens flew off that flower pot like a shot!! Chuck got such a big laugh out of that. BUT......come bed time, Mittens and I were laughing louder. I went in that night to get ready for bed and couldn't believe my eyes. I called Chuck to come in the bedroom as there was a present for him. What he found was a nice big pile of cat poop, right in the middle of HIS pillow!!! Can you believe it?!?!?! I literally rolled on the floor laughing!! AND.....Chuck never messed with Mittens again. Hee hee.

On another positive note for the day, my change in dosage on my meds is definitely a good thing! What a difference in the way I feel and my attitude in general. Now if I could just do something about the back and leg pain. At least it seems to be "only" nerves and muscles and rarely as bad as it was pre-surgery, but at least once or twice a week I would KILL for a Vicodin! Oh, well. I must simply deal with it and smile, damn it! Weeeeeeeeeee...........

Cleaning Up My Act

2010-11-14T22:34:00.000-06:00

So did I tell you that my good friend {and neighbor}, Deb, came and helped me clean my house? A couple of weeks ago, this amazing lady came by every afternoon at 4:00 after working all day, and worked for about 3 hours a night for 3 nights. My house looks amazing. She has been offering to help me since before my surgery and I always declined. Chuck offered to hire her to do some of the heavy and difficult stuff for me and I told him that, no way was I gonna have my friend clean my house. {As a side note, she works for Chuck cleaning houses that he remodels and repairs for a local bank after they have to repo them}

Anyway, since we have all tile and hardwood floors thru the whole house, it requires sweeping and mopping. Vacuuming would be easier for me. Sweeping is difficult because of the twisting motion of my body as I do it. But between Chuck, Gus and daily visits from Deb's grandsons, there is much dirt, hay, leaves, etc, etc tracked in and so I do sweep fairly often. It's a daunting task, but I suck it up. But Deb comes in one night after work, sat down and said I'm gonna smoke a cigarette with you and then I'm gonna mop your floor and I won't take no for an answer. And she did! She moved the table and chairs and stools and everything else and "mopped" the floor on her hands and knees! I busied myself putting all the odd things away that end up out of place and just sitting around. When she was done with that, she scrubbed all of my kitchen cabinets and oiled them. And that was just the 1st night! She was an inspiration, for sure. The next night, she did the laundry room and downstairs bathroom, while I oiled the coffee table and end tables. During the day, I managed to get all of my curtains down and washed and got the windows washed, as well as washing up all of my 'treasures' that have been sitting collecting dust on my shelves in my sewing/computer room.
My house looks wonderful, and it's surprising how easy it is to keep it that way now.

Chuck unearthed my Dirt Devil that I totally forgot I had, and I've been using that instead of sweeping {easier on my back doing the forward motion thing} and using my wet Swiffer mop afterward. It was just too easy to let some things go undone, because I knew I would be hurting before I was finished. But....I'm afraid that it's time to admit that I might not get much further than I already am and I just need to suck it up and do it! It'll be a hell of a lot easier now.

Chuck was so insistent about paying her, that they got into a big old fight and she wouldn't speak to him for 3 days! God knows, they could use the money, but she wouldn't take it! It was pretty comical, actually. But she wanted to do it for ME. She knew how badly I wanted the house to look nice for Terri and RH's visit and had been watching me struggle trying to get things accomplished and she had just had enough of me refusing her help! She is an awesome friend, indeed.

Now if I could just get Gus to quit leaving his toys all over the house! LOL

I'm still trying to get used to wearing one contact lens. It's been a week and a half and it's not happening yet. I know some people that got used to it that quickly, but it can take several weeks for others. I'm not sure I'll have that much patience! But I will give it a bit longer. It sure is nice under many circumstances, but not for everything.

Here's to a Better Me.

2010-11-11T09:33:00.000-06:00

It's been a pretty good week so far. I'm adjusting fairly well to my new contact lens, I got my new glasses and love them and had a terrifically enlightening appointment with my regular Doctor.

The problem with my new glasses is that I like them so well, I didn't wear my contact for 2 days! Heh. So that 'set me back' on my adjustment period a bit. I went with Chuck yesterday for his eye exam (to make sure he didn't leave with dorky new glasses, LOL) and I talked to her about the difficulty with reading the computer. She said she could adjust the prescription, but that she set it for regular reading and I decided I would leave it as is. I'll just do most of my computing in the AM before I put in my contact, and in the evening after I take it out. Or, maybe I'll simply adjust. For all other applications, it's totally awesome! Now I just have to break the habit of grabbing my chest every time I go to read something {since I've worn my glasses on a chain around my neck for the last 4 or 5 years!}.

As for my Doctor appointment....I went to see him thinking that I maybe needed to go back on Premarin (HRT). I haven't written about it.....but, hell, I haven't written much of anything in so long it's ridiculous. Part of the reason is the old "snoopy reader/prying eyes" thing, but I don't think there's anyone reading me anymore that I don't want here, and if there is.......tough noogies.

I think I wrote about going OFF Premarin many months ago, in my old blog {the one that got swallowed up into the blogoshere), but that did happen not long before my surgery (which was March 30th). He figured that since I had been on it for 10 years, he wanted me to think about going off it and see what resulted. I joked at the time that if I grew a mustache I was going right back on it, but that never happened so I didn't give anything else much thought.

Shortly thereafter, I was caught up in the whirlwind of preparing for, having and recovering from my Spinal Fusion Surgery. Between the various and severe pain involved, the emotional drama induced by being slapped in the face with limitations that I couldn't have fathomed and the whole process in general......let's suffice to say that I have been a train wreck for a very long time! Now that I am 7 months post-op and am {sorta} feeling a bit like my old self {sometimes}, even tho' it is too soon to know exactly what my permanent limitations will be.....I'm just not happy with where I am right now. Here's a peek into a Day in the Life of Yankeechick.

Well, mayhaps I won't do that. Let me just say that I have been having horrendous mood swings and have been SO emotional that I have been making myself crazy, as well as a couple of my dear friends that have to deal with me on a daily basis....neither of whom I will talk to about what my problem is, because most of the time I don't even know myself. Or, even worse....I DO know, and it's so ridiculous and petty that I'm ashamed to admit it. {which of course makes me more emotional}. My anxiety levels are off the charts, partially due to putting so much energy into trying to suppress and hide my feelings. I spend so much time doing that, even when I'm by myself, that I can't make myself do anything else. I don't even call my babies or lovely daughter, because I know I'll hang up the phone and literally cry for hours. All I do is cry. When I'm not crying, I am pissed off at the world. And I mean PISSED. One of my friends is like my own personal little punching bags and why this person puts up with me, I have no idea.

In addition to all that, there have been mini hot flashes {more like 'flushes'}, night sweats, not sleeping and the worst thing (along with the uncontrollable emotions) is not wanting to do ANYthing. No quilting, no knitting, no reading. I can't stand sitting in the house, so I drive into town with a list of several things to do....and then don't wanna do them. So I drive. Driving helps. I like to drive. One day I just kept driving and found myself halfway across Missouri before I snapped out of it.

Do I sound totally crazy or what? "Unstable" is the word that keeps popping into my head. Not so, says Dr. H. He began to analyze my history with my anti-depressants. He had switched me from Zoloft to Cymbalta about a year ago or more. The transition went well, but it still wasn't cutting it. The usual dose of Cymbalta is 30 or 60 mg. He had me on 60, which is pretty much the max. I knew someone that was taking 90, however and it was extremely helpful, so he agreed to give me 90 and try that. It was a huge success! Until the samples he gave me ran out. You see, my insurance doesn't cover Cymbalta and it runs about $350 for 30 pills. I found a Discount RX place on line that I joined and I can get my 60mg at Walgreens for $135. BUT the price for 30 of the 30mg to add to the 60mg is $335.00. That didn't fly with a certain person in this house.....so after going thru hell for a few days after the 2 times I did get it filled, I finally just dropped back to taking 60mg and figured it would be better than nothing.

Anyway, Dr. H was thinking that I had been doing better on Zoloft than on the 90mg of Cymbalta and maybe I should switch back. So, I confessed my story about the Cymbalta and it all became very clear to him, because he was amazed that it wasn't helping me more. He also said that all of my symptoms went along with the depression and he really didn't think my hormones were involved here at all. He left the room and came back in with a bag full of samples of the 30mg. 3 months worth to be exact. Of course, I started crying....and he started laughing! He said, "I'll take care of you. You've been going thru too much for too long and it's high time you got feeling better.". So I thanked him profusely, but then asked him what would I do at the end of 3 months. He said, you come back and see me to check your progress and we do this again. Simple.

What a guy. And so.....I am well on my way to getting my life back and to being ME again. Being a better mother, grandmother, friend and wife (even if I'm not worth an extra $350 a month, LOL.) I shouldn't say that because I'm sure if I wasn't so emotional (which he hates) I could explain it and make him understand that it's not "all in my head". But now I don't have to :).

Now.....if I can find a Maine Coon cat, life will be good!

Visitors and Birthdays

2010-11-07T09:11:00.001-06:00

Friday was a big day! In fact my whole week, plus, has been a world wind of activity and although I intended to blog as I went, as usual I neglected writing and reading.

The first big news is that my teeny beautiful first grandbaby, Riley, turned 18 on Friday!

Such a beautiful teeny baby has grown into a gorgeous, wonderful young woman! And absolutely NO ONE could be more proud of or full of love for their grandchild!

The other BIG news is that I had company!! One of my very dearest friends, Terri T {aka MySeniorMoments, aka My5Cents} and her hubby, RH, came to visit!! They were only here for the day, as they were on their way to visit a couple of Terri's sisters, but we had a terrific afternoon and evening together. The day went by so incredibly fast, though. Why does that always have to happen?? It was their first time to visit my home and to meet Chuck and Gus and The Girls. RH loves horses and he really enjoyed getting a little one on one time with them. Hopefully next visit, Dixie will be fully recovered and the boys can go riding, and Terri and I can do some Girl Stuff :).

One of the other 'adventurous' happenings of the week was my visit to the Eye Doctor. It has only been 9 months, but for some reason my prescription had changed quite a bit. I could tell it had and I also was interested in finally pursuing the use of Mono-Vision contact lenses. I should say 'lens', as I am only wearing one, in my right eye, for reading. My distance vision is fine....at least it has been for the past few years. Oddly enough, I used to have to wear glasses to drive, but could read just fine. Ahhh....the changes that come with age. Anyway, when I was at my last appt with her, the Doc has suggested that I was a perfect candidate for this Mono-Vision contact lens thing, but I really had to think about it. I never thought I would be able to insert and remove something onto my eyeball! LOL But it really is a piece o' cake :). It can take a week or two for your eyes to adjust and I'm still at the 'blurry stage', but only for distance. For reading, it is amazing!! And so far, it really sucks for the computer, but time will tell. I also got an awesome new pair of glasses that I LOVE, so mayhaps I will just have to resort to early mornings and late evenings for doing most of my computer stuff. Time will tell.

My other big thing this week is that I am really REALLY wanting a cat. I miss my Princess terribly and there is no replacing her, that's for sure. But I have been wanting another cat for ages anyway and especially now. Kittens are cute, that's for sure, but I really want to 'rescue' an adult cat. But it has to be just the right cat, know what I mean?? I had a wonderful Maine Coon cat years ago and would dearly love to have another. Hopefully there is one out there just 'waiting' for me :)

Equine Escape Artist

2010-10-24T11:28:00.000-05:00

Guided by the light of the full moon, Dixie and Susie had quite a night for themselves last night. At least if the hoof prints and 'skid marks' in the lawn are any clue as to their activities!

The 'naughty one' has learned to open the latch on one of the gates. In fact she escaped several days ago as Puss Puss and I were sitting out back reading. THIS story goes, that Puss Puss wanted to go out with me and as was her habit of the last couple of weeks, she liked to wander far away from the house. As weak as she was, off she would go. It has been suggested to me that she was looking for a 'special place' for her last days {or day}, but I won't get into that right now. She had made it about half way down the path to the barn, but there was some interesting noises coming from the barn, so she stopped and lay down. Chuck, for some reason had left the front door to the barn {that leads down the hall to Dixie's stall, and also to the back door} open. There is a dual gate that serves as the door to Dixie's stall, but when opened up the other way, it blocks the way out the back door of the barn. Without this story getting too complicated, I will simply say that Dixie managed to injure an ankle bad enough a couple days previous, so that Chuck had to apply liniment and wrap her leg and she was walking pretty stiff legged. When I heard all the noise and rattling around coming from the barn, I was afraid that she had lain down and couldn't get up. By the time I went into the house and got my 'barn sneakers', I came out to find her outside, behind the barn eating grass! {and Puss Puss was no where in sight}. Since poor Dixie is still on her diet of Hay and Water, she didn't move from the grass she was eating, as I approached, and I was able to lead her back through the barn to the barn yard. That was when I had discovered that she had "picked the lock", so to speak and unlatched the gate.

Chuck didn't seem to think it would be an issue, since he seldom leaves the front barn door open anyway, so he didn't change the latch. Sooooo, last night when he let them out after their evening meal, he decided to leave them both in the barn yard, rather than turning Susie out to the outer pasture, as we were having a big old thunder storm. He also left the front barn doors open so that they could get into their stalls out of the weather if they wanted.

Well, at some point during the night, Dixie unlatched the gate and she and her Mama escaped and spent the night munching the fresh green grass of the lawn. When Chuck and Gus went out the back door this AM to give them their carrots on their way to get the morning paper, they sorta met him at the back door! LOL I think it is just hysterical that they were roaming the neighborhood in the middle of the night. Now we just have to hope that Dixie doesn't get sick from eating grass all night. Not a good thing, after having only hay to eat for several weeks. She's a bit subdued, but so far seems fine. Little sneak!

As for the whereabouts of Puss Puss the other day, when she disappeared while I captured Dixie.....for the second time in a few days, she had gone over to the neighbors place and was hiding out in his work shop. These darling critters are always up to something....especially the 'naughty one'. Hee hee.

Moving On

2010-10-23T16:13:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, the vet's office called to tell me that my dear kitty's cremains were back and ready for me to pick up. It made for a sad start to my day, as I headed to their office, but it was also rewarding in some way. I took the special little cedar chest with me that contains Max's cremains, so that I could place hers in it with him. They were such good buddies, it seemed like the natural thing to do.
I miss her terribly, but I also do not have to worry about what she is feeling. She is free from all that and for that I am grateful.

We have been having some beautiful fall weather and the roses in my new flower bed are regular blooming idiots!

There is an orange and yellow one that is about to bloom and a lavender one and the yellow one has a ton of buds. Soon they will be gone, along with the perfect weather :(. One person is telling me that I need to cut them back before the first frost and someone else is telling me not to cut them back until spring. An article I read online, re: roses in Arkansas, said to prune them in February.....WTH??? I think I'll wait til spring, as that advice comes from Victoria and she has been growing beautiful roses in Arkansas for several years.

Farewell My Little Friend

2010-10-19T19:33:00.000-05:00

Today was the day. My sweet little Princess Esmeralda and I said our farewells and she passed over, in my arms, with a little help from my favorite vet.

The past few days were rough....for all of us. She was deteriorating rapidly and I could see that she had become very uncomfortable. I needed to help her along before she began to really suffer. My heart really isn't into writing any more tonight, but I'm sure I'll have a lot to tell you about my girl in the days to come.

Tough Little Girl

2010-10-15T11:11:00.000-05:00

I need to update on my sweet little Puss Puss. She is still failing by the day.

I last weighed her On Wednesday AM and she is down to 4.2 lbs. It is beginning to show in her teeny little flat Persian face. I can see what little flesh was on her face is gone and she is showing signs of what I believe to be dehydration. She makes many trips to the water fountain that she and Gus share, but just bobs her little head, sniffing and does not drink. I tend to follow her around to where ever she is currently curled up and napping, to place tiny bowls of water near her so she will have a fresh drink, if and when she wants it. Occasionally, she drinks a bit, but not enough.

She still hadn't eaten anything, or taken in any more of the Nutr-Cal since my last post. But when I got home Wednesday, after getting my hair done, Chuck had already arrived home and while waiting for me he decided to try force feeding her. He used one of the syringes that the vet had given me and managed to get some chicken baby food into her wee little mouth and she actually swallowed it. I think he said he got about 4 mouthfuls down her, and then put some of the Nutri-Cal in the syringe, but THAT she did spit out.

As much as Chuck loves our little Puss Girl, his manner of being "gentle" is pretty rough on such a fragile little thing and the ordeal seemed to really take it's toll on her. She did come to me to cuddle, after dinner, which is her habit these past weeks, but she looked terrible and seemed so tired out that she didn't stay long and very soon, she ambled upstairs to her spot on our bedroom and stayed there for the rest of the night.

She was a bit perkier yesterday AM and I took the opportunity to wash her little face with a warm wash cloth. She hasn't been grooming herself at all and Dear Old Dad made a bit of a mess with the baby food. Plus, Persian cats have runny eyes and I usually wipe them with a tissue, but the wash cloth worked much better on all of it. That was when I got a really good close look at her poor little face and could see the changes. Yesterday she would drink no water or milk all day, but when Chuck got home, we did the baby food thing again and she ate 3 mouthfuls before she had clearly had enough. It went much better with me holding her with her head over my shoulder, but when she had had enough, and spewed the 4th mouthful out onto my shirt, she got down and went into hiding again, until after dinner.

We can see her weakness when she walks and she no longer even attempts to jump up to my chair or the kitchen stool, instead 'asking' to be picked up and placed there. And I began to realize yesterday, that it is beginning to uncomfortable for her to have me pet her very much. As I said, she has been wanting a lot of cuddle time lately, which is usually me holding her over my shoulder. She burrows her head into my hair as I stroke her, often for an hour or two at a time, but yesterday she would stop purring and start moving around a bit as I was petting her, so I stopped and she snuggled back in and went back to purring. This is her 1st sign of any discomfort since all this began and it's tearing me up. I'm afraid of what will be next and pray that she not suffer at all before the end comes. I'm pretty sure that if she doesn't go quietly in her sleep by Monday or so, I will have to decide the best way to help her.

Grasshopper Delight

2010-10-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

As I reported yesterday, Puss Puss was having a 'good' day. She wanted to be outside a lot and that's a good thing.

At one point yesterday afternoon, shortly after Chuck got home from riding Susie, he decided to let Dixie out into the pasture with Susie and let her have some play time with Mom.

Yes~Dixie is still in solitary confinement in the barn yard.
Yes~Dixie is still on her crash diet.
Yes~It is working and we estimate that she has lost about 300 lbs :).
Yes~Her laminitous is improving and she ran and played with her Mama yesterday in an almost "normal" manner!

The even better part of that scenario was when I had come back in the house and plopped at my computer for a bit, only to look out the window and see Puss Puss making a mad dash for the horse pasture. Here she was, crouched down low to the ground, moving as fast as her little paws would carry her, in hot pursuit of some unseen object. My first thought was that she was about to be trampled by a thundering hoof, but I barely had time to complete that thought when I saw her fly up into the air and twirl around swiping at a still unseen object, both paws just a flailing!! She hit the ground and took off in hot pursuit again, only to stop short and dart off in another direction and leap into the air again! She looked like a ballerina kitty!

I surely wish someone had been shooting video, because it was a rather chaotic few moments. The horses were tearing up the turf, Gus was running along side of the horses barking his fool head off, the cat was doing pirouettes in the midst of it all and Chuck & I were both running to save the cat!! As we got closer, we realized that the pasture was FULL of grasshoppers and the horses had certainly stirred them up and Puss Puss was trying to catch every one of them!

She was having a ball! I felt like I was watching my poor sick, dying kitty having her last 'hurrah' or something! Where in God's name she found that little burst of energy is beyond me, but it was quite delightful to see! I think we all forgot, for a few moments at least, that she was so ill and so fragile. There was no sign of that for a little while, anyway.

Last night and so far today, she is not so inspired. Not by her Valium or a bowl of milk or the Nutri-Cal. She wants only cuddles and lots of sleep. And so I wait.....

Think Positive

2010-10-10T10:21:00.000-05:00

Allll righty then........this AM I shall write a more positive post, because I really can't expect you to come here and read negative stuff, time after time after time.........How dreary of me of to only post about the bad shit. I must dig deeper and pull some more upbeat shit out of my ~~ass~~ hat!

My rose garden is going {growing} great! They survived the transplant and are thriving and blooming. All 9 plants have lots of new growth and they all are in bloom and/or loaded with buds! I'm pretty sure I owe it all to Martha Stewart and her Epsom Salts tip. Plus I've been watering, spraying and fertilizing right on schedule, like a good little rose gardener.

Here's a yellow one that Chuck picked for me this AM

Isn't my vase cute?? I collect Wymsiclay Cats for my mantle and have a couple of vases that are like the kitties. Too cute!

Chuck is getting ready to go riding with a friend. ARG!! I wanna go SOOOOO bad. It's a beautiful sunny 61 degrees. Perfect for most anything, but particularly for riding my Sweet Susie. Fall riding is the best and I am so tempted to try, but that would be a huge mistake. I might not be real smart, but I am smarter than that. It's already been over 2 years. I guess another 6 months won't kill me.

In Puss Puss news, she finally took some more Nutri-Cal this AM {actually, Chuck forced a finger full into her wee little mouth} and shortly there-after she drank some milk. Awhile later, I found her IN the kitchen sink drinking water out of a rinsed out bowl I had set in there. Very strange, but all good. I weighed her yesterday and she is down to 4.8 lbs, from 5.4 eight days ago. She has been a steady 8 lbs all of her adult life, so you can imagine what a little skeleton kitty she is under all that hair. And this is a lousy picture, but it is her in her 'new favorite spot'.

She used to like to lay on my printer tray, which is beside me and between me and a window. That way she could keep tabs on everything. LOL I just gotta keep lovin' her while I can and keep her purring and comfortable.

Brave Little Kitty

2010-10-09T09:20:00.001-05:00

Well, things are not going so well for my kitty. She still won't eat much at all and I have tried almost everything I can think of. She ate some cat food Monday PM, but nothing at all Tuesday or Wednesday. Thursday AM I went and spoke to the vet and she gave me a couple of more suggestions. One was to give me a syringe to try force feeding her some baby food. She also told me to try doubling the Valium. The other idea was chicken broth, since she is a least drinking water. The vet felt that if I didn't get her to eat by Friday afternoon, I would have to make a decision.

She has refused the chicken broth. My friend Deb asked me Thursday PM if she liked milk. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of that! I poured her a tiny bowl of milk and she went for it, big time! Well....I say big time....she probably drank about 3 Tablespoons, but we were excited! Deb also told me about a product called Nutri-Cal. It's a gel like substance that is concentrated nutrition and often reported to help stimulate a pet's appetite. I picked some of that up yesterday and she loved it! Gave her the allotted amount about noon, but sadly she wouldn't take any more last evening. Not that, or milk or any form of cat food or people food. Tonight Chuck and I will try the force feeding with some chicken baby food.

If this doesn't work, then we have to decide if we want to take her in to the vet and have her put on IVs. For nourishment as well as her Kidney failure. At this point, having gone this long without eating and without starting the meds she is quickly deteriorating. I hate to talk money in regards to something like this, but I have had a wretched week over this and am, at this moment, fairly 'stable' enough to talk about it. It will cost approximately $100 a day to put her on IVs, with only minimal hope that it will help her and no way of knowing how long she will have to be on them.....IF it helps. The vet very honestly told me that she has seen many instances of people spending 2 or 3 thousand dollars and sometimes it works and it helps their cats and sometimes (most times) it really doesn't. And even if it does, we are only 'buying' a few months. This disease can not be stopped or corrected. The damage is done and all we can do is to slow the progression.

Chuck is willing to indulge me if I choose to go the IV route. He loves her as much as I do. I have decided I will not put her, or us through that. But I also can't sit by and let her starve to death. So far, she is still happy, but then I'm sure the Valium twice a day helps with that. She still wants to go outside and wander the yard and sit in the sun watching me water my flowers. She still comes for cuddles and her purr box is going non stop. But every time I pick her up, it breaks my heart to feel her little boniness under all that hair, as she wastes away.

I don't want to euthanize her. I wish for her to curl up and fall asleep in one of her favorite spots and simply not wake up.

Sad Sick Kitties

2010-10-04T17:02:00.000-05:00

My poor little kitty is not doing so well these days. I hadn't wanted to post about it earlier, until I knew what her problem was. I didn't want Riley to read it and have her and the other kids be upset about their fuzzy little buddy. They kept her at the Vet Clinic for 3 days before they were finally able to determine that she is in the early stages of Kidney failure. It wasn't showing up in the initial tests they did.....in fact, nothing showed up. The Doctor was afraid that perhaps she had cancer of some sort. I was pretty upset.

She still isn't eating, which was the initial problem. She hadn't been quite herself for a few days before we left to go camping for a long weekend and we got home to find that she hadn't eaten a bite of food! When I picked her up, I could feel every bone in her teeny body. She'd really a petite little Persian and barely hit 8 lbs even with all that hair of hers. I weighed her on Monday and she was 5.7. By the time I could get her to the vet Wednesday AM at 7, she was 5.4. She's been a little quieter and more subdued than usual, but other than that she seemed fine. And she continued to be that way while at the vet clinic. She was showing no other symptoms, other than the lack of appetite. Her blood work all came back good, so then they had to wait for a urine sample to do more tests and when they finally got that, they then found the indication of kidney failure. Apparently, at certain levels, it won't show up in the blood work.

Anyway, there is medicine she can take but she can't start on that until she starts eating again. Then it will be daily meds and a special diet. I have been giving her every sort of cat food under the sun, trying to get her to eat. They gave me teeny tiny doses of Valium to give her twice a day, as that is supposed to be a super appetite stimulant for cats. Mostly, she staggers around with dilated pupils, meowing and purring a lot. She did finally take a couple bites of food this AM and just now she ate a bit more, but not enough. Sigh....

They want to start this medicine as soon as possible, before her condition deteriorates. I can't seem to make her understand that she MUST EAT!! She is functioning at about 70%.....if it drops any more, she's in trouble. Years back that happened to the cat of some friends of ours and they went through a long and difficult year of IV's and all sorts of awful things. I will not put the Princess through all that. Not her. Not us.

She has been our little companion for almost 12 years. She traveled with us on the dash of our motor home for many years, navigating our travels. From Alaska to Key West to New York to Texas. You name it. And she raised several dogs while she was at it! Max and Nugget, Lily and now Gus. Gus wouldn't miss her much. They don't interact a lot. I think by the time he came along, she had had her fill of pups. But her and Max were great buddies for years and one of these days her little remains will share Max's little cedar chest.

I just hope it's not for a long while yet........

Doctors, Roses and Tahoes

2010-10-01T22:13:00.003-05:00

Most things were going halfway decent this week. Got home from an interesting weekend of camping to become besieged with outrageous allergies, mostly due to the entire countryside being covered with a plethora of yellow 'flowers', AKA, Ragweed. The Ragweed and grass pollen counts are off the charts here and I've got it bad. Head and chest congestion, coughing up "pollen balls" (sounds better than phlegm) and much blowing. Yuck. It is very {unusually} dry and the lack of humidity and low dewpoint makes it worse. I pray for a break in the weather SOON!

While we were camping, we had a call that our friends son was in a motor cycle accident so they hopped in their truck and headed for the hospital, but did come back later, as he was 'fine'. Totaled the bike, but he escaped with only a broken collarbone and 3 staples in his head along with an abundance of 'road rash'. They guy that got hurt was Roy, that used to work for Chuck. He was riding the "Crotch Rocket" that belongs to the guy that currently works for Chuck. No insurance on the bike. Crazy people.

I had an appointment scheduled for my X-rays and visit with the Neurosurgeon on Wednesday. It was to be my long awaited and anxiously anticipated 6 month check up. The hospital lost my order for the X-Rays, causing a long enough of a delay that I couldn't see the surgeon afterward. That got rescheduled for today. MY surgeon was out of town, so I had to see another one. I was NOT happy about that, especially since I couldn't get any straight answers or information out of him. I did at least find out that my X-rays showed that all of my hardware is still in place and the bone grafts appear to be healing quite nicely. That is very good news, and my main concern, but......I had many questions about a few issues I have been having and some limitations I am still experiencing. Didn't get any satisfaction out of this guy! In a nut shell, he told me that I should be happy that I am not in as much pain as I was prior to the surgery; that I need to remember that I am no longer 20 years old {WTF?}; that where I am at might be as good as it gets but I should continue to see improvement over the next 6 months. Crap on a cracker. That was so not how I wanted this appointment to turn out.

I did finally get my Tahoe back on Wednesday after being without it for almost 3 weeks while Chuck's van was awaiting the arrival of a new engine. But then the water pump went out on the Tahoe, so I was without it for most of yesterday. Good grief. I think our vehicle situation should be back to 'normal' now and it sure feels good to have my 'Ho back!

The rose garden we put in last month seems to be a success! The gal we bought the roses from had trimmed them all back...a LOT, and after the trauma of the transplant I wasn't sure they would fare well, but they all have a lot of new growth and we have had a bloom here and there, but now they are suddenly growing like crazy! Here's a shot I took of one bloom and some buds on Monday,

And here they are today!

yep! These are all those little buds, all opened up and quite fragrant! The other plants are getting lots of buds, as well. Very encouraging, indeed. Now if we can just get them to survive the winter :)

Here We Go Again...........

2010-09-22T20:52:00.001-05:00

Packing up the motorhome and headed camping with Roy, Deb and the boys. This time, I am not wearing myself out cooking all day to prepare stuff to take. And I am not going to carry heavy stuff out to the motorhome and make 152 trips doing it. (Chuck already has) And I have already packed all of my 'just in case' meds for my leg spasms and sleeping :). It should be much more enjoyable this time. All I have to do tomorrow is make a big batch of salsa (that everyone seems to love) and take a few things from the fridge out and I'll be ready to go.

I've still been without my truck for the second week. The new engine for Chuck's van didn't come in until today and it 'should' be ready Friday. Hopefully I will have my wheels back on Monday. YAY! I am just used to being able to come and go as I please and being stranded hasn't been too painful, but it's been a bit inconvenient. My purple hair is fading and the silver roots are WAY over-exposed. I am desperately in need of a fresh set of nails and a pedicure. I haven't been able to go the the fitness center to do my back and leg strengthening exercises (boo hoo). Mostly I miss my weekly lunches with Victoria. We talk almost everyday, but we have the most fun when we get together.

Here are a couple of pictures I took the other day. Even tho I didn't dare get close enough to miss part of the house, thereby screwing up the composition, I am still pleased that the splashing of the little Mama Bluebird shows up so well.

There! All clean!! So cute to watch. I love my bird bath :)

Attacked Again!

2010-09-19T20:57:00.001-05:00

Three weeks ago, I was ruthlessly attacked by a horrendous hoard of Seed Ticks, left to suffer for many days from my allergic reaction to their teeny tiny little bites. Yesterday, it was poor Chuck's turn. The Chiggers got to him yesterday apparently, and he has been in misery ALL over his body.....and I mean ALL over! I got out the Cortisone Plus and gave him an antihistamine and he is doing much better....for now. But it will be an ongoing battle for awhile. It's amazing he hasn't gotten into them long before now. He's been very fortunate :)

Here it is almost the end of September and everyone is yapping about it being "Fall". It is currently 7:30 PM and 88 degrees! That is NOT Fall weather to this Yankee. Talk to me again in November. Real Fall hits here around Thanksgiving. LOL I'm sure we will get a couple of ice storms in January or so, but I will thoroughly embrace the 40ish temperatures before and after!!

Oh, and when I changed my template I lost my comments....which has something to do with my need to uninstall and reinstall the comment thingy I was using. I'll work on that another day.

A Video and Some Photos~Horse Stuff, Of Course!

2010-09-18T10:40:00.002-05:00

Dixie Drinking Video
Originally uploaded by YankeeChick
Dixie just loves drinking from the hose {following a good shower from it, of course!}. Here's a short little video I took with my phone :)

She also is an "itchy" girl and you can find her scratching various body parts on the fence or tree or whatever else is handy. I REALLY need to get one of her scratching her butt on the fence. It's hysterical!

And I wouldn't wanna leave Puss Puss out (AKA Princess Esmerelda)She seldom gets published!

Brand New Day

2010-09-16T12:54:00.000-05:00

Since my big ol' Pity Party the other day, I have received some awesome comments, emails and a couple of heart warming phone calls. Friendship and caring......does a body good!

I also had an incredibly funny Googler reach my blog that day by Googling "butt fusion". Thought I would die laughing. Wondering if mayhaps it is someone about to go to prison and is afraid....oh, never mind. Who knew it wasn't safe to talk about my spinal fusion in the same post as mentioning my horse being on her knees with her butt in the air??? When tracing the link back, this is what I found that the person had clicked on. I must admit, it could pique one's couriosity....

Yankee-Chick
It was Dixie's butt, up in the air. She was on her knees, in the fresh mud, ... At that point I will know, most importantly, if the fusion has 'taken' and ...
yankee-chick.blogspot.com/

The 'thing' with my legs seemed to go away yesterday and so far today it hasn't afflicted me. That has the potential of being a good thing because there is the possibility that it won't happen again....any more....never! Or, it could be like other things and will pop up when I least expect it. I'll pretend it's gone for good and go on about my business :)

Of course, it's rather hard to get on about my business when my Tahoe has been abducted by that Man and his dog! Sadly Chuck's van died Friday and he has been having to use my Tahoe. Originally, our mechanic thought he could have it fixed by yesterday or today (Thursday) to the tune of about $1000. Gulp. But, as of yesterday, after further investigation he found out that the van needs a new engine. SO....that won't be done until NEXT Wed or Thurs and will cost more like $3500! BIG gulp!! He did toy with the idea of getting a new van, but figured that he'd have to shell out more than that for a down payment and then we would have another monthly payment to make. Besides, he and that van have logged over 160,000 miles together and he seems to have some strange sentimental attachment to it.

One good thing about it is that it keeps me from going to town and buying fabric and yarn and stuff. Of course, it also keeps me from buying groceries and running errands for HIM but it works out okay. I have started knitting. Not sure if I mentioned that here or not, but I have and I am working on a couple of projects, but always think of more and want to get the yarn for it now! So, I'm finishing up a couple and getting a couple of sewing projects out and will be getting into them real serious here in the next few days. Providing, of course, that I don't find myself in the midst of another Pity Party. Those are very detrimental to the accomplishment of any projects :(. But I shall think positive and remain optimistic. I insist!

For now, I shall go play with uploading some photos and will probably bore you with those later.

I Need A Pep Talk

2010-09-13T13:50:00.000-05:00

I really do, but I don't suppose any of you can help me.

Today I am feeling extremely negative about a multitude of things. Mainly involving my defective body. I'm tired. Tired of feeling like a mere shadow of my former self. The self that used to always be so physically active; riding my King Quad 4-wheeler across the tundra, up mountains, down mountains, thru mud flats for hours on end. The self that helped pour concrete, build trusses, hang sheet rock and whatever else it took to help build houses. The self that used to run and play with her grandchildren, swinging them thru the air, piggy back rides, riding bikes, running thru the rain. The self that was just getting comfortable enough with her sweet Susie to ride across a field with wild abandon, giving Susie her head and letting my own head be blown free of all thoughts except the delightful freedom one can only experience with a trusted and loyal friend such as she.

Some days I sit here and wish I had never had my surgery. Other days, I write how glad I am that I did and today I look back on that entry and wonder WTF was I thinking that day. Days like today, I want my freakin life back! I do not feel grateful for anything. It has been almost 6 months and just when things seem to be getting better and just when I realize that I can do something that I haven't been able to do for a long time, something 'new' develops that just throws me for a loop.

I started out pretty good today. At least I was up until about an hour ago. We had just had a serious rain shower, which we are in desperate need of. It had about stopped when I went to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. I had just finished scrubbing one of the bathrooms, fresh and clean with just me and my bucket of bleach water. I was feeling pleased that I had accomplished that for the first time in eons. I scrubbed the tile floor, the door, the tile on the walls (it runs half way up and there is wall paper on the top half) and the vanity. The muscles in my back protested a bit, but I'm okay with that. THAT is to be expected, especially because I'm still not supposed to be doing things quite so exuberantly. So.....while getting my coffee, I looked out the kitchen window and saw the most hysterical sight! It was Dixie's butt, up in the air. She was on her knees, in the fresh mud, stretching her neck under the fence trying to get to some weeds on the other side. I grabbed my camera and away I went. She heard me, and of course got up. Didn't matter. Halfway to the fence, my left leg suddenly went out from under me and down I went. Thankfully, I kept the Nikon tucked safely under my arm and it didn't go flying thru the mud and grass! Well, I landed on my knees....cursed myself for not staying focused on my walking and got back up. Stood there for a minute and looked at Dixie as she peered sheepishly at me over the fence. OMG! Her whole face, from her ears to down under her chin, was covered with mud! As were her legs from her knees down. Lucky me, I took a couple steps before pulling my camera out from the safety of my underarm, because down I went again. Then I was pissed. Came back in the house, wiped myself off and here I am.

This has been going on for.....oh, about 3 weeks or so. Much leg pain in general, but also this crap of having one or both legs just go out from under me. I will feel a sharp pain in the front of my leg, like someone stuck a big ass hat pin in the front of the joint and boom....the old leg wants to give out! Sometimes it only happens once; sometimes it is only one leg; sometimes it is both and sometimes it just keeps on keeping on! Since the first part of my Physical Therapy involved me learning how to walk properly again, I have been 'trained' to remain pretty well focused on every step I take, so I really haven't 'gone down' until today. Before I started this entry, I Googled "leg problems post lumbar fusion". During the past 6 months I have Googled many things relating to my surgery and each time it amazes me at what I find. There is always good and bad. And you all know how it is when you Google something. One page leads to another and another, until you've actually covered several different issues different from, but still related to, your original Google. Today I read a lot about 'nerves healing' and 'nerve damage'........again. But I did find out that a lot of people have similar issues after this surgery. I also found out that sometimes it is due to "failed" surgery and they have to have it redone. It is also sometimes due to permanent nerve damage occurring at the time of surgery. But, hey! They have pills for that! Fuck me. Some people have it and as they continue to heal {which we must remember, boys and girls...this will take up to 12 months!} it does go away. And on and on the possibilities go.......beCAUSE........everyone is different!!!!

I don't wanna be different! I don't wanna live with pain any more!! I WANT TO BE ABLE TO MOVE FREELY ABOUT THE CABIN OF LIFE LIKE I USED TO!!!!!!!!!!

So many times I have started to write a post like this and either deleted it or just never started it. I think of some of my friends that have gone through so much worse. SO much worse! Like our dear K-Lo and sweet Purple Chai. I think of them and then I look at myself and wonder who the hell am I to complain about what trivial shit I am going through?!?! But....today, I am complaining. And I am in no way undermining what these brave and courageous, beautiful women have dealt (and are dealing) with. I guess I just need to have my stinking pity party, once and for all. I sit too long, and I hurt. I walk too long, and I hurt. I stand too long (like 30 seconds) and I hurt. WTF?????? I will get up out of my chair after sitting here writing this and my back will hurt and I will have to walk probably 20 or 30 feet before I can straighten up....maybe. Maybe not. I never know. I'm already getting achy from sitting this long, so I'll finish up and go put a load of laundry in the dryer and load the dishwasher and then I'll need to sit again....only in a different chair.

Good God! That is certainly quite enough whining for one day, what say? All I can do is muddle along until the 29th when I finally have my 6 month check up with the Surgeon. At that point I will know, most importantly, if the fusion has 'taken' and if all is healing properly.........or not. And if these leg problems will go away.....or not. If not, just shoot me, because I will NOT have another surgery!!!! NEVER!!

Camping Trip and Me, Me, Me,Me, Me

2010-09-07T08:58:00.000-05:00

We took our motorhome out of moth balls and went on a camping trip with our neighbors and good buds, Roy & Debbie for the long holiday weekend. We left Thursday afternoon and came home yesterday {Monday} early afternoon. We only went about 30 mile from home, but it was a great campground on Table Rock River and our sites were right on the sandy 'beach' of the river. Sweet!

Their 2 grandsons, Corbin and Noah were along {as they live with Roy and Deb} and Saturday was Corbin's 9th birthday so we had a party for him. Their daughter & her hubby and youngest daughter {5} also came. It really was lots of fun.

In my last post I was sounding off about how well I am doing post-surgery. Well, that changed in a big-ass hurry. After helping the farrier with the horses Wed. AM, I proceeded to spend the rest of the day gathering stuff up for the motorhome, doing laundry and shopping for the trip. Thursday I spent the day cooking for the trip and trying to load stuff. I made potato salad, brisket, salsa, birthday cake, beans, guacamole and other dips. The motorhome has actually been at an RV place, as we have been trying to sell it, so it was EMPTY. Not set up with all the basics like it always used to be, so gathering and loading was a major chore. Needless to say, by Thursday PM I was wiped out and spent Friday and Saturday in quite a bit of pain. Did I remember to take my meds for my leg spasms? NO. Did I remember my Tylenol PM so I could sleep at night even tho I couldn't get comfortable?? NO. What an idiot. Deb found some Tylenol PM, so that I did get some decent sleep Saturday PM. I should have driven home for the other meds, but it {like everything else at that point} seemed like too much effort. But that's enough bitching.

Well, maybe not. Wednesday PM, after having helped the farrier for about an hour and a half that AM, Chuck and I pulled over 40 Seed Ticks off me. They were everywhere. The big ticks don't bother me, but the Seed Tick bites itch and fester like fire ant bites and those have been driving me nuts. We treat our yard, but in thinking back, the farrier set up his stuff off to the other side of the pasture, where no one ever really goes and apparently Chuck doesn't treat. After he was done helping me "tick pick", he went right out and sprayed the horses. If I got so many, imagine what they had going on!!! Poor girls :(

Putting my 'discomfort' aside, it was a great weekend! We're gonna go again a time or 2 before it gets to be too cold for these Southerners. LOL I'll just do things a bit different and be better prepared. That, and leave more stuff for Chuck to do, like he told me to, to begin with. Just gotta learn to listen!

I Am So Confused.........

2010-08-30T20:11:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have days when it seems like nothing at ALL makes any sense? I'm so confused right now, I don't even know where to begin. My mind is reeling with questions.

Am I a bad friend?
Do I not know how to read anybody?
How well can you really know another person?
Can you trust anyone to be totally honest with you?
Do you just keep to yourself and not get close to anyone?
Are you supposed to feel that you have to be on your guard with everyone?
Should a person just flit thru life having fun with people and keep the serious crap locked away?
Is it supposed to be okay to have people come and go so easily in and out of your life?

Should a person just pull back into their safe little shell, stay away from their computer so as not to be so damn confused by the conflicts?

Two very special people in my 3D world are constantly telling me that I over think things and take too much, too seriously. I think it's time I listened. I need to lighten up-blow stuff off-step away from the drama and above all else, refrain from getting involved in any way, shape or manner.

I know this doesn't make any sense, but I guess it's not supposed to.....on account of I'm so confused! I think I'll go talk to my horses. They'll help me noodle this out!

The Rose Garden and A Happy Horse

2010-08-29T20:19:00.002-05:00

Well, the rose garden is officially finished and hopefully they will actually live and grow up to be somebody!

Chuck worked SO hard on such a hot day to lay this out and get the stone set just right! I love stone, always wanted a stone wall and he has given me the next best thing. He bought a huge truckload of these great stones back when we first bought the house and has made me several flower beds from them. These pictures aren't the best, but you get the general idea. Hopefully when the roses take off again and are bursting with green leaves and blossoms, I will get some better pictures to show off. You can sure see how dry and 'crunchy' our lawn is from the lack of rain! We've even got a couple of tress that are dying... :(

I sound pretty optimistic for someone with 2 brown thumbs, don't I?? But I insist that I should be able to grow roses since it seems that everyone and their brother has roses growing in their yard. The garden is in direct line of my view to the horse pasture from the window by my computer. It will sure be pretty WHEN it takes off and they grow nice and pretty. The lady we bought them from pruned them a LOT....almost like they need to be pruned back about in February, at least in this part of the country. Ah, well. Time will tell. We got 9 bushes for $60, which is a great deal and not so expensive that we would be out a whole lot if they don't make it.

For my Dixie update, I am SO happy to report that she is doing quite a bit better already! She seems to be losing some weight on her "crash diet", which helps and she is also getting back to being her frisky self, so we know she is feeling better! Yesterday, we let her out into the pasture with Susie and they ran and played and Dixie even kicked up her heels a bit! I was elated!! The farrier will be here again Wednesday to trim her hooves again, which is great cuz they are sure growing fast with no shoes on, as well as her limited exercise. But she's up to getting a bit more of that, now, from the looks of it and that will aid in the weight loss tremendously!

Southern Fried Yankee

2010-08-22T13:39:00.000-05:00

The heat wave and dry spell continue, here in Arkansas. All sorts of records are being broken as temps stay above 100 with heat index up to 115 most days. In fact the days have turned to weeks and we have had no rain. Everything is dry and crunchy...especially our lawn. I have thrown away 1/2 of my plants because even after being watered twice daily, they are still dying. It's really sad. And everyday I light a candle and send up a prayer of thanks to the person that invented A/C! LOL

Yesterday was a very fun day, in spite of the heat. My dear friend, Victoria and I went to a nearby town to check out what was reputed to be an awesome quilt and yarn shop. We left there, not only empty handed but very disappointed, as well. It is unheard of for me to go to a fabric store and leave empty handed, but nothing inspired me. I was mostly focused on checking out their yarn because nice yarn shops are far and few between in these parts, but I have more yarn just in my sewing room than they had in their entire shop!

The town we went to, Siloam Springs, is right on the Oklahoma border and about a 38 mile drive from Rogers. It has some great older homes and fun little shops, so we did drive around and check them out. Sure wish I had taken one of my cameras, but with yarn on the brain, I wasn't thinking about taking pictures. It was very interesting to both of us {having both been raised hard core Catholics} to see that a couple of churches were being turned into homes! We weren't even 'allowed' to enter a non-Catholic church, so the idea of living in a church, at first, made us both gasp! But then, of course, we laughed at our silliness. Times have sure changed!

All of our traipsing around the various Antique shops and such, did us both in, though. V had knee surgery a few months before I had my back surgery and it bothers her to over-do it, as well. I fared better with my shopping trips with Riley than I did yesterday, for some reason. It was great fun, but we were wiped out and actually cut the day a bit shorter than originally planned. The heat didn't help any!

As for my progress, my physical therapy ended about 3 weeks ago, and I must admit that I have not been doing my exercises as diligently as I should be and I need to work on that. It's been almost 5 months and I'm pretty discouraged about the potential 'quality of life' that I will be left with. BUT, he said that it would take a year, so I try to be patient. I finally have my 6 month check up scheduled, for Sept 29th and I am SO anxious to go and see if I am healing properly and how things look on the inside, as well as to get the surgeons input on my progress. Most days I try to make myself do more than I really feel up to doing, just because I feel that I NEED to. Sometimes it works out okay and other times I am sorry. I'm beginning to feel that that will always be the way it is. I sure hope not, but I really don't know. I can safely say that I am glad I had the surgery. In spite of the ordeal, I am much better off the way I am now, as opposed to pre-surgery. There is no question about that! I do know that alot of what I am experiencing now, is due to nerve damage that took place during the surgery. Not necessarily "damage", but simply the moving and repositioning of the nerves to accommodate the changes that took place in there. That still affects my legs a great deal. Bah. Enough of that.

Chuck is outside building my rose garden bed. Time to go supervise the planting :). Pictures tomorrow and a Dixie update. Stay tuned!!

Roses and Horses and Finches....Oh My!

2010-08-17T09:54:00.000-05:00

My lovely daughter, Terri, has a faboo friend that is quite the gardener. She has gotten Terri into it big time. So much so that M constructed Terri a greenhouse and built wonderful garden beds for her! Anyway, Shany {Terri's friend} created a rose garden as a memorial to her mother. Shany lost her mother to cancer a few short years ago and seeing as how her mother loved roses she planted a lovely plot and even had a nice sign made. That got me thinking. My Mom loved roses.....yellow roses. AND....roses seem to grow really well here in BF Arkansas. Everyone seems to have thriving rose bushes, except me of course, because I always thought they would be terribly complicated and I would kill them for sure! Anyway, after seeing Shany's rose garden, I decided to give it a go. I also had some influence from our dear Poolie, as she has some incredible roses under her care!

My plan was to have my Timmy help me build a rose garden while he and Riley were visiting. He has really gotten into helping Terri and Shany with their gardens and we had a plan!! Alas, time ran short and Chuck didn't have time to do HIS part in all of this, so Tim and I didn't get to build my rose garden together :(. HOWEVER! As luck would have it, the lady at the end of our road {who used to work for a nursery~and who's house was surrounded by gorgeous plants and flowers, including many roses} is moving! Last night on his way home, Chuck stopped to see her and came home with 9 rose bushes and 2 HUGE SunPatiens plants (a form if Impatiens only HUGE)! What a surprise!!

The plan is to build a big bed out of some rock we have that he made me a couple other flower beds out of. And since the bed he made me for my Hydrangeas has taken off and done so well.....and since roses allegedly like the same conditions as Hydrangeas, he will make the bed for me in the same area of the yard. Which, BTW, just happens to be near the pasture fence and in direct line of my view to said pasture, from my computer and sewing machine! If they live, it will be prefect!! She seriously pruned them, as you can see, but I suspect she knew what she was doing. Her only advice was to water in the morning and again in the early afternoon and give them rose food once a week. She said they don't like to "go to bed wet". LOL So....I think I can handle that. I think I can, I think I can.......Of course I will be researching online and will greatly appreciate any and all input from any of you that are successful rose growers!!

And, in other news.......I was quite envious of Poolie's daily gathering of finches at her feeders! I often see finches out on the fence and flitting by the window, but only after her influence did I finally decide to acquire some finch feeders. Well, they went undetected for so long....5 or 6 days.....I was about to move them one morning, when lo and behold, I had a visitor! That was about 2 weeks ago....and all this time I only ever saw just the one. But 2 days ago, there were 3! And this AM there were 5! I am thrilled. I love having birds around, just outside my windows and although I do miss my favorites in Alaska, there are so many down here that don't live up there! The gold finches (only visit Alaska briefly), Cardinals, Indigo Buntings, Blue birds, House Finches, and I musn't forget the Hummingbirds!! I'm still working on pictures. For some reason, they seem to take flight when I quietly open the door, with camera in hand and a rambunctious Cocker Spaniel comes out of no where and goes bursting thru the door! I just need to remember to camp out on the back deck, while Gus is at work with Chuck, and quietly wait for them!

And Dixie is doing a little better everyday. Although I wish we had a horse size scale so we could weigh her and see if her "water and hay" diet is helping yet. Can't see any difference yet, but with horses it does show fairly quickly. She had to come over and investigate while I was watering the roses this AM.

Actually, her appetite hasn't been that great and she hasn't even finished all of her hay until yesterday. Apparently it is improving, as she appears to be liking the taste of the fence......better keep an eye on her that she doesn't start eating it LOL And I just noticed the ripples in the water trough! Susie was taking a drink, just out of sight of the camera/phone. :)

Dixie's Sad Story

2010-08-15T19:34:00.000-05:00

Some of you already know about my poor sick horse, Dixie, as you have read about it on FaceBook, but my poor darling is still suffering and it it so heart wrenching to watch and be able to do so little!

She is 'Foundering", or in more current medical jargon, she has Laminitis. The bones above her front hooves have shifted position and it causes the bone to press down on the 'inside' of the hoof. This results in inflammation and much pain. Apparently she has had the condition for quite sometime, as it doesn't just happen overnight. However, we saw the 1st signs of a real problem last Sunday night and by Tuesday afternoon, it was apparent that she had a serious problem! Wed AM we were off to the vet with her and after much examination and some X-Rays, we got the bad news. This is not an fast or easy fix, but it can become manageable.

While researching her symptoms, I was afraid that she had West Nile Virus. They were about a month over due for their shots, because of Chuck's mother passing away and his trip to New York and then to Florida to deal with all of that.

As for her symptoms....she was walking very gingerly and it was apparent that something was hurting her, but we couldn't figure out what. We both checked her legs and hooves thoroughly and couldn't find anything. As the days progressed, it was becoming more and more difficult for her to walk, she wasn't eating and she would just stand in a corner hanging her head, or she would lie down on her side, panting heavily. On Tuesday afternoon, no amount of coaxing would get her to get up. I was in a panic! Called Chuck, he came right home and by that time she had managed to get up, but we had to help her to the barn. It was pretty scary. And Susie knew something was wrong with her youngin', cuz she would stand over her or right beside her, nickering the whole time.

Thankfully she trailered up okay, so that the vet didn't have to come to the house. When it was becoming clear to him what her problem was, he even showed us the area right above her front hooves was actually pulsating from the inflammation! I was in tears...and so wishing that she didn't weigh quite so much, so that I could take her in my lap and comfort her!

Pretty much all we could do for her was to get the farrier here and get her shoes off and get her hooves trimmed down as short as possible to give her some relief that way. We were starting out with a new farrier, so we were a bit concerned but this guy has done it for years and it's all he does. He was very familiar with the situation and was even more informative than the vet! Where the vet wasn't concerned about her weight so much, Rusty (new farrier) was. As I had pointed out a post or 2 ago, she is a bit plump and although not considered obese by horse standards, Rusty said that losing weight will be a big factor for her. So.....she is on a crash diet! No grain, no grass. She is gated up in the barnyard and on hay and water only. So far she doesn't mind. And although she is moving around a little better, she still is a far cry from 'being herself'.

Our other farrier always complained about her feet being so small that it was difficult to shoe her. Well, apparently 'bad shoeing' is a majorly contributing factor in her condition. Not a good thing for as much as she is ridden and the trail ride must have been very difficult for her! But, bless her heart, she is a 'pleaser' and will do anything for us and that includes keeping on going even when the going gets tough...with no complaints. The vet said she is one tough little girl! Anyway....the poor shoeing caused her to walk on her tip toes, so to speak, and after a time, caused the shifting of the bone. I can relate to that. It's like my back problems and pain for a couple years, made me walk to try to compensate, and gave me bad hip problems. As with me, 4 months post-surgery and I am still dealing with much hip pain, Dixie will take many months to heal as well. And the vet can't give her anything for the pain. He said that if he took the pain away, it would allow her to overdo it and she wouldn't heal. Makes sense, but breaks my heart!

And now, for more info than you probably ever wanted, here is the X-Ray of one of Dixie's hooves {on the top, of course} and on the bottom is a picture of what it should look like, as well as one that shows how much worse hers could be!

And so, we hope for quick weight loss and we keep her hooves trimmed about every 2 weeks to keep the pressure off the front and we do what we can to make her comfortable. I was quite concerned about her lethargy, but as the vet pointed out....between the high temps we've been having and the pain she is in, it's no wonder. It's been over 100 for a couple weeks with the heat index up to 115 most days. Since she loves to be hosed down, I have been going out and walking her over to the hose and trying to cool her down a couple times a day. I sure hope it comforts her. There's not much else we can do, except that she is loving all the petting and hugging and kisses. She's such a baby girl!

And Susie has been amazing! Talk about a good mother....she has stayed right by Dixie's side and when ever Dixie starts walking somewhere, Susie gets up behind her and sort of nudges her along. Encouraging her and helping her. Can you stand it??? I learn something new and amazing about these horses everyday. For everything I hate about having to live in Arkansas, the blessing of having these horses in my life is something that I am grateful for.

Birthday's!!

2010-08-03T22:52:00.001-05:00

First, allow me to wish my dear Timothy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! He is 10 today and ever so confident that as of today, he will {automatically :)} be more grown up and not so spazzy. He is so funny! He really is quite the comedian, not falling far from his father's "tree", so to speak. LOL

AND.....the day after tomorrow, on the 5th it will be XANDER'S birthday!! And he will be 5! Big day for this handsome man as well!

There are cupcakes for breakfast to be had, picnics and much swimming at the lake and special birthday cakes with a few gifts tossed in on the horizon! I suppose they will have fun even if I can't be there, sniff sniff...

I Have Totally Lost My MInd

2010-07-29T08:18:00.000-05:00

But! Whilst looking for it, I came across these photos I would like to share.

Jenny Craig for Horses, anyone?? LMAO Granted the first picture {which is one of my ALL time favorite shots of the Girls} was taken May 12, 2007. Granted, at that time Dixie {Blonde Butt} was only 2 years old and not yet full grown but almost as tall as her Mama, Susie. However, as you can see in this photo shot a month ago, she not only is a bit taller (perhaps half a hand) BUTT she is much rounder! Dixie has definately become one chunk of horse!!

The second photo was shot during the trail ride we went on while Riley and Timmy were here. I never did get to blog about it, mostly because I spent an entire week driving from there to here and back to there and here again! The scoop on that is.....every year there is this John Shaddox Memorial Wagon Train that starts out in Harrison, Arkansas a week before the Rodeo of the Ozarks which takes place in Springdale {just a few miles from us}. It's a pretty neat adventure and there are about 200 participants. Some ride horses, like Chuck and Riley did, while others drive wagons and buggies and such. It's quite a big deal.

Anyway, it's about 83 miles from Harrison to Springdale and each day they would ride 12-16 miles or so. The day would start at about 6:30 AM, at which time everyone would drive their horse trailers, campers, etc. to the campsite for that evening, and a shuttle would take them back to the camp from the previous night where the horses would be waiting. They would then ride to the new camp site, wash, rinse, repeat. There were some really nice campsites. Farmers and ranchers along the trail would make a field available with plenty of grazing and there would always be a stream nearby. It would have been a lot nicer if they did it at a cooler time of year, but then it wouldn't coincide with the rodeo, which was the original intent. It is, however, a long HOT ride. For the riders and for the horses.

Riley had a great time riding Dixie while Chuck rode Susie {once she got over her case of 'saddle butt' LOL} And Chuck was bust fending off all the young cowboys that had a tendency to meander over Riley's way. Hee hee.

My day consisted of driving the Tahoe pulling the horse trailer to the next camp site and then heading back home with Timmy and Chuck's sister to gather 'supplies' or do laundry, shower, tend the garden, etc.. Then late in the afternoon we would drive back to horse camp and all spend the night and the next AM, wash, rinse, repeat. It was an interesting week!

Remember Me???

2010-07-22T09:19:00.000-05:00

Well, here I am, all set to post an entry (after ALLLLLLL this time) and find out that there will be changes made to the blog background that I am using. It's all easy to 'fix', I just have to be able to access the website of the blog hosting place to make the necessary changes to keep my template and it has been horrendously busy for the past 2 days! Not sure what you'll see if you do venture over here. Probably just "words on a page". Who knows!

Anyway, it will be 2 weeks tomorrow since Riley and Timmy left and I had fully expected to lapse into a coma of complete and utter grief at their departure. I just knew I was going to be lost in a sea of loneliness, surviving only on Pepsi and very large helping of self pity! Boy, was I ever wrong to think I was gonna have time to indulge myself in THAT particular party!

I don't even know where to begin to tell the tale of what happened these past 2 weeks. I guess with the fact that Chuck had to fly out to upstate New York for his Mother's funeral, just a few days after the kids left. As some of you may or may not know, he has his own construction company. Small but very busy and has 2 full time guys and a couple of part timers going most of the time. His "Main Man" has worked for him for almost 3 years. He has been like family. His FAMILY is like family! His parents live down the road from us and we have been good friends with them for quite some time. He has 2 little boys that his mother is raising because his ex-wife is a no-good druggie, apparently more interested in cooking meth than meals. Whatever. Main Man, himself, is more interested in how many girls he can lure in than he is his kids or work or anything else to do with responsibility!

We have tried and tried to help him in every way possible. By setting a good example, by giving him chance after chance when he has left Chuck in the lurch at work. Doing things with his kids. Financially bailing him out on endless occasions, and yes......that eve includes jail. Cuz he's a good ol' boy and can NOT stay out of trouble. I think Chuck saw him as a "project". Someone that had great potential and that if he could just work with him long enough, he'd make something out of him. He blew that for the last time while Chuck was in New York.

There is SOOOO much background to all of this, but I haven't the ambition to write it all and you'd get bored of reading it, I'm sure. Main Man pulled the boner of a lifetime on the day of MIL's service and the phone calls began! Long story short, Chuck fired him over the phone and here I sat to clean up the mess! Sure kept me busy for a few days!!

I had a constant stream of people at my house and calling me, either defending him or condemning him. I tried to fend them all off and tried to tell them that Chuck would deal with it all upon his return, but everyone figured I could "help" and influence Chuck. Actually, that day......my main objective was to keep his other employee working and for us to find Chuck's van, which Main Man had taken. Once we got that, there were tools missing. Most of which were pertinent to the particular job they were working on. Gads!!!! Then I was busy getting Main Man off all the accounts Chuck has around town before he charged a bunch of stuff. I was too late on a couple of them, but got most of them squared away in time.

I think that gives you the general idea of what's been going on around here and why I didn't have a chance to indulge in my pity party! When the dust settled, which it pretty much has.....it was all a good thing.

1. No pity party. That's good
2. Main Man was a lost cause anyway.
3. Chuck now has 2 full timers that will work out much better anyway.
4. So far, much less stress being taken out on me at the end of a long day of dealing with Main Man and his shit at work.

I might go into more later, but for now this is it. Have a great day and I'll be back!

Just Sharing Some Photos Today

2010-06-20T18:17:00.000-05:00

Riley and Dixie. I took this when they were done riding, which is why Dixie looks like she's about to fall asleep :)

Riley and Dixie/ Chuck and Susie. Riley and Dixie hit it off right away and as for riding?? Riley is a 'natural'! She sits a horse like she's been riding forever.

Timmy and Poppy moving some 'recycled hay'. LOL

Take the Good With the Bad

2010-06-19T16:19:00.000-05:00

Riley and Tim arrived just fine yesterday morning. Their trip was pretty uneventful and they had no problems at all. We had a great day yesterday. Didn't really do anything special, but it was sure nice having them both here without too much other company or too many 'interruptions' :)

On a sadder note, my MIL passed away today. Things were looking pretty grim yesterday and this morning and Chuck had been on the phone with his sister several times regarding her condition and changing plans we all had for next week and such. His sister called back at noon, however, and MIL was gone. Chuck has a very hard time dealing with death and expressing his emotions at times like this. Even after 42 years I can't break thru that barrier.

So, next week, rather than the Wagon Train Trail Ride with his sister and the kids, he will be heading to upstate NY for her funeral, then possibly back to Florida to help take care of her home and possessions. Sadly, he will lose out on spending several days with the kids, but it is what it is.

MIL would have been 95 in August and has a full life. Always been pretty healthy and able to live on her own right up until about 8 months ago or so, when she did have to finally be placed in an Assisted Living Facility. It was no specific illness that took her, but rather just that she was worn out. And her time had come. She didn't suffer; simply went to sleep.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a better post about the kids and some pictures to share. For today, this is it.

Never Fails to Amaze Me

2010-06-15T17:34:00.001-05:00

My dear sweet Maggie is going to be 13 on the 17th....this Thursday. I have purchased several things and sent them on their way, but you only turn 13 once and it IS a big deal, so I wanted to send her flowers as well. OMG! Last time I sent flowers was to Riley for her Sweet 16 and have the prices ever gone up since then!! But I found this and thought it would be so cute and perfect.

It was only $29.99. A bit pricey for what you get, but within my 'budget' considering I had already gone over budget. Heh. Well, let me tell you. Add to that $9.99 handling fee and $29.95 delivery charge= Grammy changed her mind! Is that unreal or what?!?! Gads, they're going to North Pole, Alaska.....not "THE" North Pole! Oh well......Maybe another time, my sweet Maggie.

Let's see......on my list of exciting things that happened today is my Tahoe (affectionately known as my Big Black 'Ho) rolled over to 100,004 miles when I rolled into my driveway today. Even when I've had older vehicles, I've never had one roll over 100,000. Quit a milestone, and she's still purrs like a tiger. Nothing like a good ol' Chevy truck to go the extra mile(s) for ya! Hubby's van is close to 180,000 at last report and it's still running great.

Another exciting thing that happened to me today was to find out that my Surgeon won't give me any more Vicodin. He says that Tylenol should be all I need at this point and if I still need something stronger, he needs to see me. F*$#! Most of the pain I have now is located in my lower back/upper hip area on my right side. J, my PT gal says that it is my muscles and it's from over-doing it or doing things I shouldn't be doing. She can give me a massage in that area and I'm good for a couple of days, then .....boom. It's back. Hurts to walk, mostly, but aches all the time. In between massages, that is. Unless I take Vicodin.....I've tried Tylenol and it doesn't help. Can't take Advil or ibuprofen because of my arthritis meds. F$#*! I'm a little bit frustrated (what else is new) and I guess, I'll see what J says tomorrow and if she thinks I need to go see him, I will. It's been 11 weeks today and I would really like to have him take an X-Ray and see if the healing of the bone grafts has begun. It can show up as soon as 3 months but sometimes not until 5 or 6 months. He didn't want to see me for 6 months. BAH!!!!!!!!!!!

So what the hell am I supposed to do?! Chuck can't work all day and then come home and do everything! I know I am bending and lifting and carrying a bit too much, but there are SO many things that I am still not even attempting to do that it seems like my body would allow me a little leeway here! Guess not. I sit too long sometimes, I carry too many bags of groceries at a time, I reach up too high putting dishes and such away. But I don't sweep, mop, wash windows, carry ALL the laundry up and down stairs.

Maybe I'm gonna be one of those people that doesn't get total relief from the surgery. God knows, it is 1000 times better than it was. Pain isn't shooting down my legs and I CAN walk, after all. Poor Chuck gently reminds me every day that I am expecting too much too soon.

And Chuck is home and out mending the fence that The Girls kicked down and I can't even go out and whine to him because his 'shadow girl' is there! So you guys get to read it. All 3 or 4 of you that come here. Heavy sigh. I have 2 Vicodin left. Had I known I couldn't have more, I would have saved it for when the kids are here. F*$#!

Okay, enough sniveling. The good news is that tomorrow I will have PURPLE low-lights in my hair. That will surely perk me up. Heh. AND in 3 days at this time, I will have been hugging and kissing on Riley and Timmy for 7 whole hours!!!!!!!!!

In the meanwhile, I will go to the barn and hug her:

and her:

"Snoopy Sniffer" LOL

I Need Your Input

2010-06-13T10:45:00.001-05:00

My dear friends.........please tell me.........is it "normal" for a 13 year old boy to spend {literally} hours riding his bicycle back and forth on the short road between our houses, singing {VERY badly} at the top of his lungs, or just talking, to his imaginary friends I assume {because he has alienated the other kids in the neighborhood} and hopping off his bike to dance and sing in the middle of the public road???

Yes, I am referring to the "terrorist" next door. Anyone that has been reading me for very long has heard me mention him from time to time. This is the same kid that sneaked up into our hay loft and cut the twine on about 100 bales of hay. The same kid that I found in my yard throwing rocks at my horses. Poking at them through he fence with a metal rod and sticks. All this after being told to not go near the barn, horses or into our yard unless Chuck was out there. The same one that "stalked" Maggie and Emily last summer and this summer is "stalking" the 10 year old girl across the street. Chased her into the woods on his bike the other day, and whislt trying to escape she fell and split open her toes on a fallen tree.

We have been neighbors for 5 years now and I have tried so hard to like this kid and I can't. When he comes over here, which is rare these days, he smart mouths me and talks back to me. His Mother blows it off, so I went to his father's place of business and talked to him about it 2 years ago. THAT worked a bit better. I told his Dad that his son was a frog's hair away from getting knocked on his ass, so he better do something! I don't believe in hitting kids.

This is coming from a woman that spanked her only daughter ONCE, when she was about 8 years old and 2 minutes later I was in her room hugging and kissing her while be cried together! After that, we were always able to talk stuff out and reason it out. No need for spanking. Guess I was just lucky to be so blessed with this child of mine, and to have 5 grandchildren that are successfully being brought up the same way! Sadly, Chuck spanked her twice. Both times for things I had told her it was okay to do, but he didn't get the 'memo' in time.

Anyway, in addition to the 'terrorist', we also have a girl across the road that wants to spend all of her time with Chuck and/or me. Preferably Chuck. She's the 10 year old that the Terrorist chased into the trees, BTW. The story with her is that her Step-Grandfather bought an empty lot across the road from us and moved a trailer in. A nice old, kinda run down trailer. Yay! he and his wife lived there for awhile, then they split. He is off living with his new girlfriend and the trailer is inhabited by his daughter {who just got out of jail, for God knows what) and her boyfriend/husband....whatever. It's not clear. So, the little girl, H used to be around on weekends and would be over here alot because of the horses. Well, her dad found out that his ex-wifey was doing meth, so he went and got H and she now lives with them. They don't do anything with her, tho' so she spends ALL of her time over here. I try to be nice, but am forced to chase her off from time to time. That works until she sees Chuck's van pull in at night and over she comes. It's pretty much gotten so that if I need to talk to Chuck about anything, I have to call him...but that can be another post.

Now that I have managed to drag myself away from my computer for 25 hours a day and get back into reading books, I like to sit outside and enjoy the quiet solitude and the breeze with only the occasional nicker of a horse as background noise {music to MY ears}. Between H popping over and the "Singing Terrorist" it just doesn't happen that way very often. Very frustrating, indeed.

In 5 days Timmy and Riley will be here and I shall be very possessive of my time with them....which means, if I have to become "The Bitchy Old Lady" in the big house, then so be it!

Showin' Off My "Grand-Lass"

2010-06-12T15:02:00.000-05:00

Just gotta show off my beautiful Grand-Lass, Riley! She got a new cut and some awesome green color added to her hair! It's perfect! I was planning on having my gal, Becky, do Riley's hair for her while she was here, but Riley said I can treat her to a pedi instead! Works for me! Now I shall splurge on myself instead and have some purple "chunks" put in my hair next Wednesday. Becky and I already picked the color and she's ready. Since the last color she used was only a couple shades away from the one I want, and it worked so well....we're pretty sure this will. If not........we can fix it!

I'm just all about "me" these days. As I begin to have more good days, with much less or even NO pain, I feel better about myself. I want fun hair, I've been getting my nails done again, I've finally joined the ranks of the "Ladies of Pedicure" and I want fun stuff. Like new makeup and Coach bags. My dear friend Victoria has been so instrumental in these changes. She's known me for 7 years now and we have been thru most everything a friendship can go thru. She knows where I need "to be" and is pretty darn good at steering me in that direction.

Man, I am getting so excited that there are only 6 more days before Tim and Riley arrive!! 3 whole weeks of love and laughter and fun to fill my big old house. What bliss! If only they could all come!! Someday maybe. If Chuck keeps buying those lottery tickets and hits a big one! LOL

Well, it's only 86 outside and there is a great breeze blowing. I think I shall put my roasting chicken on (for our chicken and biscuits dinner) and go sit outside and read a bit. See all y'all later!

I'm Craving a Coach

2010-06-09T18:15:00.000-05:00

and it has nothing to do with my horses....or Cinderella.....nor does it have wheels! I love purses/handbags/pocketbooks, whatever your choice to call them is. Actually, I haven't heard them called 'pocketbooks' since my Mom passed. She always called them that. Hmmm....now I'm wondering where that expression came from. Okay, so Wikipedia says:

Pocketbook may refer to:

Purse, a bag for carrying possessions and/or money, sometimes known in American English as a pocketbook

I guess it's 'Early 1900's American English'. Whatever........Anyway, I want a Coach. I love purses and have dozens. Most of them are leather and thus, last forever! I have a collection of Vera Bradley bags, some of which are pretty worn (as they are fabric) but I simply can not, WILL not part with them. I love them, each and every one and they have served me well! My problem with Coach is that I like/need a large purse and when you're talking Coach in MY size, you're talking $$$$$$$$$$! But they have a dark brown leather called Mahogany that I have always loved. It is to die for!

Gads........what am I thinking! I am officially 'retired' with my current income having been deemed as 'unspendable' by the boss man and I'm craving a potential $3-400 purse! Actually my checks go into our Money Market account and he DID tell me that it "is there if I need it". To me, this would qualify as a 'need'. For him....I'm thinking not. LOL Maybe if I referred to it as needing a new Saddle Bag. After all, Terri coaxed a Coach out of Mike for her birthday by referring to it as a Gun Case! Hmmm...I might try that.

I did go and buy myself a new computer chair today and am ever so confident that it will be just what I need! Actually I did some research last night to see what the various stores in the area had to offer and finally found just what I want and need at Staples. You can even check and see if your local store has it in stock and they did! So off I went today and trudged on in and alllllll the way to the back of the store where the furniture is, and I couldn't find that particular chair. An associate came over and asked if he could help me, so I described the chair and he couldn't find it either. So he went to look on their computer and still didn't see it, but he also wouldn't let me look. Anyway, I left. Went out to the Tahoe and looked it up online on trusty Max The Mighty iPhone. Still said they had them in stock. So I called; talked to a gal; gave her the item # and she said they had 5 in stock. So I told her my story-that I'd been in and the guy couldn't find it and that I was sitting outside (gave the old hard to walk because of surgery story) and she put me on hold and had them check the warehouse and BINGO! She said she'd have one brought up front for me so I could try it and it seemed pefect, so mine is in the box, sitting in the garage waiting for Chuck to assemble. The feature that I needed so badly was a "knee lift" and this was the only chair under $400 that had that feature. (this one was on sale for $169). This way, I can raise the seat up in front so that it tilts back and 'forces' me to sit back with my spine resting against the lumbar support. It has a mesh back and padded seat and it pretty well built for the price. So...........if he ever gets done messing with the horses and gets in here, I'll get him to assemble it and we shall see!

I suspect I've bored you enough for one day and shall go harvest some pretend crops on FB or go out and water my real flowers.

Only 9 days till my sweet babies arrive!!!!!! HAPPY DANCE, HAPPY DANCE, HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!

Kickin' A$$

2010-06-08T14:41:00.000-05:00

I went to Physical Therapy this morning and J (my sweet and awesome Therapist) decided that since today marked 10 weeks Post-Surgery, she wanted to analyze my flexibility and range of motion. The results were much better than she anticipated and I am totally jazzed!! Next week she is going to go over with me what housework I can start doing and give me tips on how to do it. Darn!

The great thing is that I have had very little pain this past week. More yesterday afternoon and evening and this AM that during the past few days and I know that it is a result of spending too much time in my computer chair messing with this blog. I have tried everything to make this chair more conducive to my condition, but all attempts have failed. I really need a different chair. I know that I can not sit in one place, especially if I am sitting incorrectly, for more than 1/2 and hour to an hour. Need to move around, walk some, do stuff, sit in a different chair, etc.. She did bump me up to 15 minutes on the Step machine, so I'll be doing that everyday for sure, before the kids arrive on the 18th. It really is helping my walking so hopefully by then I will be able to walk farther and stand longer!!

So....about the Blog. I added a Blog Roll, but right now all I have on it are pretty much people that I know, or am pretty sure still read me. I know that some of you have Blog Rolls and some of you don't. What are your reasons for having or not having one??? I, personally, like going to someone's page and seeing "Yankeechick" on their Blog Roll. Makes me feel good. Connected, ya know?!? What do you say???

Good Morning from Blogger!

2010-06-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Well, then. Let's get this new show on the road! I love this template and am all into the 'chocolate and pink' thing, so this is perfect. I was going to go for my all time favorite 3 column version, but I think for now I will stick to the 2 column. Maybe it won't look so cluttered around here :)

My first order of business this morning was to find a new 'comment' format other than the one that comes with this template. Amazingly enough, that took about 2 minutes and even less time to install! This is rather disturbing, as my luck doesn't typically run so smooth......especially at 8:00 AM, when I'm just awakening (after having gotten up at 6:45) and only 1/2 way thru my 2nd cup of coffee! Either the rest of my day is going to go in the toilet, or it will be exceptionally good, as well! I pick "exceptionally good"

How bad can it be when my second stroke of good luck came mere moments after posting a test post to try my comments and K~Lo appeared to be my first Guest Comment Tester! Yay!!! Thanks, Kathy!!

Mayhaps this is what I needed to get my blogging mojo juiced up again. For one thing, I love that there are so many great options out there for templates for Blogger! I got this one from The Cutest Blog on the Block and they certainly have some awesome and fun things available. There are many others, as well, but I have been drawn to this particular template for a very long time, plus they have so many helpful tips and extras.
I think I should dive right in and post some pictures and maybe a video and see how smoothly that goes! Stand by.

Well, the first one isn't that great cuz it's tiny and fuzzy, but you can still get the benefit of my darling, handsome, adorable, youngest grandbaby (Xander) pretending to take his Daddy's place on his talk show. Isn't he just too cute?!?!?! I think I'll try a little video next. Hmmmmm.........

Okay. Forget the video for now. I can't find one 'suitable'. Needs some editing first and I'll work on that later.

Man! It was supposed to be hot and sunny all day today, but the sky is turning black and I hear thunder rumbling off in the distance. The black clouds seem to be traveling at warp speed, however, so they may pass over before they spring a leak.

On the medical front, I am pleased to report that I have been feeling much improved these past 3 or 4 days! For the last 1 1/2 weeks I have been able to go to The Adult Wellness Center and use the exercise equipment there, in between PT appointments. So far I can only use the resistance machine for strengthening my legs, gut and butt :) and then only for 10 minutes, but it is making a difference! Everything about this is 'baby steps' but thank God I'm finally getting more benefit from it! I'm hoping that when I go to PT tomorrow, she will tell me that I can do 15 or 20 minutes, but I doubt it. !5, maybe.......never 20. Too soon, I'm sure. So, yes! I am being good and not over-doing it, or anything else. I'm saving myself for Timmy and Riley! LOL

Only 10 more days! OMG!! I can hardly believe it!!!!!!!!! I'll want to spend the first 2 days, at least, just hugging and kissing them!!!

Well, I better go hit the shower and get into town for my big "work-out" at the old folks gym! LMAO! Let me know how you like my new place!

Testing comments

2010-06-07T07:59:00.002-05:00

testing comments

My New Home

2010-06-06T23:51:00.000-05:00

I have moved from WordPress. I had a bit of an incident last night and lost my entire WP blog. What happened is this.

About 2 or 3 years ago I hired someone to create a custom template for my blog. In order to use it, I had to have my own Domain, which we set up as "yankee-chick.com". A domain name had to be registered and this gal did that for me with her Hosting Service that she used. Yesterday she emailed me saying that it was going to expire in 35 days and what did I want to do. Well............about a year ago I switched to a different Hosting Service, as I was having a difficult time trying to make any changes to my template thru her Hosting Service. While I was able to have an account with my new Hosting Svc, I was still registered with HER Hosting Svc, so we decided to transfer the registration, which was done successfully. However, I didn't realize that I had to backup my blog, or that I would have to download WordPress to the new Hosting Svc., so when all was said and done, all I got is what you see on the page that directed you here.

I have no business having my own domain name or using Wordpress.org. I am not that savvy with all that stuff, nor to I want to boggle my brain with it. These days, I prefer to stay in "KISS" mode, as in Keep It Simple, Stupid! So, here I am and I suspect, here I will stay. I have some work and adjustments to make on the template, which is easy stuff. So, if you wanna keep reading me, bookmark this page :)

And a bazillion thanks and hugs and kisses to Marna for finding and sending me all of my entries from my WP.org blog!!!!!!!!!!! All 387 entries! I don't know how she did it, but I at least have my content. Sadly, there are no dates, but if I need to, I can figure things out pretty close! Marna~you are an angel!!!!!

That's it for now!

Follow me here

2009-10-21T22:00:00.001-05:00

www.yankee-chick.com

I was bouncing back and forth for awhile.......still like here better I think, but am back at WP :P

Not Sure What to Think....

2009-09-23T16:48:00.002-05:00

There is a sign attached to the light pole at the end of our road, where it turns onto the 'main' road.

LOST
Female Shitzu
Red Collar
REWARD
Dead or Alive
470-000-0000

Not quite sure what to think of this one. Personally, when it comes to Shitzus, I don't care for them dead OR alive, but if it was my beloved pooch, I would prefer "Alive". I realize that this person, ultimately, just wants to know for sure what happened to their dog, but the wording struck me as quite odd. Mayhaps it's just me..... I hope the little pooch is found....'alive'.

My back continues to feel terrific (well, as terrific as it can), but the damage I inflicted on my hip by waiting too long to get my injection is still causing persistent discomfort, accompanied by frequent and searing jolts of pain. These jolts are accompanied by involuntary yelps of pain which Hubs is finding most distracting/disconcerting/annoying. I suppose I need to get an appointment with my "Hip Doctor", who is in the same office as my "Spine Doctor", but not to be confused with my Neurosurgeon. I have been going with the logic that I caused a severe bout of Bursitis to flare up, but it does feel different this time than last. And although I am 'resting it' sorta kinda (by not working, at least) it will only ease up a bit after a handful of Tylenol and then returns with a vengeance! The strangest motions set it off. For example....I just now, quite simply, reached for my Pepsi can to take a sip, whilst sitting in my chair typing this. Only moved my arm about 10 inches.....and YELP! It's just what I need. There's no end to it.

And speaking of my 3 doctors, I am having a rather difficult time with the one that I think should be signing my Leave of Absence papers for W*M. Been waiting all day for a call back from the disagreeable wench that does his LOA and Disability paper work. She is one of those people that is "too busy" to shut up and listen, so we had quite an annoying conversation. Since it is now past their closing time, I will pursue her again in the AM, because I NEED SOME ANSWERS HERE!

SURPRISE! Or Not.......

2009-09-22T19:06:00.007-05:00

So, I have been playing around over here cuz I'm tired of the limitations that confront me with my lack of WP.org knowledge and ability and am finding that I might just like it here for a change........or not. We shall see. Nothing is set in stone. I'm just gonna post here tonight and see how I feel about it :)

Having this time off from work, I have been able to get back in my kitchen with some time and energy and actually prepare meals, people! I love to cook, although I do admit to the act of doing it e.v.e.r.y. night for 40 years became a bit dreary and tiresome. The past year that I have been at W*M, working late hours, has left Chuck to fend for himself most nights so he is enjoying having real meals every night once again, as well. I've been sticking with old favorites, until last night whist chatting with my sweet Terri on line and she gave me the incentive to try a new dish. She was telling me about a new restaurant that we need to try when I go up to visit and that they make the best Carne Asada. Not knowing what that was, I looked it up, found this and made it for dinner tonight
It turned out delightfully delicious! The meat marinade was heavenly, key notes being the fresh lime and cilantro complete with the char broiled effect of my grill. Very Yummy and a keeper for sure!

It was a beautiful day here today, but I for sure felt in my 'mental element' as a Yankee Lost in the Ozarks! As I was flitting around town (well, hobbling, rather than flitting, as my hip is still bothering a bit. Whatever) thoroughly enjoying the 68 degree day I began to notice something. It wasn't sunny, but rather cloudy and very misty. Enjoyable temp, nonetheless! I was noticing, however, that I was pretty much the only person wearing shorts and a t-shirt. People had sweaters on. Some people were wearing jackets. WTF?!? I began to feel a bit out of place (which I am) and like people were 'looking' at me (which they were). LOL Kinda funny I think.

I was finally able to get my Leave of Absence packet from W*M late this afternoon, so tomorrow I will proceed to determine exactly which Doctor will take responsibility and sign it for me. Once that is turned in, my Short Term Disability should kick in and I'll be good until I see the surgeon on Oct 8th and start the process for the real thing. I am wondering if I should do this with the aid of an attorney, however. I suppose the Doctor can advise me on that from his experience. Any of you that have any insight, please feel free to share your comments.

I'm going to lunch with Victoria again tomorrow. We had such a good time last week and it was so good to be with someone that I have known for so long and so well. We caught up on kids, cats, dogs, mutual friends, old co-workers. It was all good and I truly enjoyed it. Last time we tried, I guess I just wasn't ready. It didn't feel right. Now it does.

I think that's it for tonight. I have some quilting to do before Chuck goes to bed and the sound of my sewing machine keeps him awake. Geez. For such a big house, there are no quiet corners! Mayhaps I could move my sewing room to the barn :) (or his bed......)

2009-09-20T20:16:00.000-05:00

Yankee-Chick

NEW BLOG~I'VE MOVED!

Alaskan Adventure Post #1

Ready to FLY!

Fusion Anniversary

The Blessings of Life ♥

37 DAYS!!!!!!!!

Another Revolting Development

Life is Too Short

Holy Crap!

CAN WE GO HOME NOW????

PURPLE HAIR

BOONDOCK SAINTS DAY

DOUBLE DAMN THE GEEK SQUAD

GEEK SQUAD, BE DAMNED

A Whole Week!

What'll She Get Into Next???

Revolting Development #2

Revolting Developments

START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MY GIRL'S ARE LOOKIN' GOOD!

This and That

SUPER MURPHY!

PROGRESS IS BEING MADE

Murphy is a Terrorist!

Introducing Murphy

Kitty Visitation and Casinos

Kitty Rescue in the Works!

Cleaning Up My Act

Here's to a Better Me.

Visitors and Birthdays

Equine Escape Artist

Moving On

Farewell My Little Friend

Tough Little Girl

Grasshopper Delight

Think Positive

Brave Little Kitty

Sad Sick Kitties

Doctors, Roses and Tahoes

Here We Go Again...........

Attacked Again!

A Video and Some Photos~Horse Stuff, Of Course!

Brand New Day

Yankee-Chick

I Need A Pep Talk

Camping Trip and Me, Me, Me,Me, Me

Blogrolls, Happy Horses and Progress

I Am So Confused.........

The Rose Garden and A Happy Horse

Southern Fried Yankee

Roses and Horses and Finches....Oh My!

Dixie's Sad Story

Birthday's!!

I Have Totally Lost My MInd

Remember Me???

Just Sharing Some Photos Today

Take the Good With the Bad

Never Fails to Amaze Me

I Need Your Input

Showin' Off My "Grand-Lass"

I'm Craving a Coach

Kickin' A$$

Good Morning from Blogger!

Testing comments

My New Home

Follow me here

Not Sure What to Think....

SURPRISE! Or Not.......