Booth Update

Well, we got my pretty new red bench down to my booth today, and I got things displayed on it fairly well, I think.

Here's a new front shot, where you can see the curtains I hung above the top shelf to cover some of the ugly pegboard.  There's a light right above it, so the picture didn't turn out real well, but you get the idea.....I hope. :)

The next 2 photos are of a couple of booths across from mine, that the ladies have decorated up really nice.  In the 1st one, that gals husband makes all her cabinets for her.  They are so nice!  My husband would be great at making cabinets for me, but since he's not retired (like he should be) he just doesn't have time.  That booth is going to become available in April, as she is moving to an even larger booth at the front of the shop.  Susan offered to hold the booth for me if I want to move into it after I get back from Alaska.  It is a lot bigger, and much wider and not as deep.  I like that.  Plus it has electricity and mine doesn't.  Makes it nice if you have lamps for sale or to enhance displays.  I think I'll take it.  It's only $10 more a month.

I love doing this!  And will really be able to get into it more and enjoy it more, when I can get around better.  I have already sold a lot of stuff for the month.  Much more than I ever have, and I think it's partly to do with having a better display area.  Also, it's been quite a bit of my jewelry that I have taken in to sell in the display case.  It's encouraging and I'm very pleased!

It was very warm and sunny the past couple of days....in the high 60s.  This AM we awoke to pouring rain and whenever the weather changes so quickly, I hurt.  All over.  Big time.  I read up on it and it's all to do with the barometric pressure and such.  Makes sense, but oh how I hate it!  I would have been a day I would have stayed home and done nothing, but it's the only day Chuck can help me with stuff and I just had to get my new bench set up!  I hope I make it thru my San Diego adventure without any unexpected debilitating weather fronts!.  The girls will just have to roll me around....hahahaha

Why Do I Need a Title???

It's so friggin' hot here. Still. And more triple digits predicted for next week.  We need rain SO bad!  Our lawn and the pasture is so dead and dry that even Gus, our Cocker Spaniel, leaves a little cloud of dust behind him when he trots across the pasture!  You should see the cloud of dust the horses raise!!

In this shot, you can see how badly poor Gus needs a hair cut, and I took this a couple weeks ago, so you can imagine his hairy curly self now.  Also alot less green on the ground than that now, as well.

He does get to go to the groomers tomorrow, now that I can get out and about, so he'll be all sleek and fast and COOLER!

I'm happy to say that my hip is feeling great, most of the time.  It even feels normal.  Sure wish I could act and move like it's normal.  sigh..... It's really hard to keep myself from just 'doing things' when it feels normal.  But I'm not all healed yet and it's not ready to have me do all this normal stuff like bending or sitting comfortably or dancing thru the living room to the Boondock Saints theme song.  Sucks, I tell ya'!  But I try to stay focused and I improvise a LOT.  I just wish I had longer toes so it would be easier to pick up stuff that I drop.  hee hee

We've got 2 birthdays coming up this week.  My 2 baby boys, Tim and Xander!  Tim will be 11 on the 3rd and Xander will be 6 on the 5th!

Here's a great shot Terri got of them yesterday with a couple of Storm Troopers at AlaskaLand.  Pretty awesome huh?

So funny....Terri said to Xander "they look pretty scary....what if Darth Vader is near by".  Xander replied, "Mom, they're just guys in suits."  He's just so damn logical all the time, I told her she mayhaps should have named him "Spock".  LOL

Oh, yeah....an update on our toilet disaster the other day......they are fixed and all is well, however we now need to replace the ceiling in the Living Room.  I am so thankful I am married to a Contractor that has spent his whole life doing such things!  I figure it will only take him 2 or 3 years to get around to it. :-p

Hot & Crispy

Wow.  It was 102 here yesterday and they are calling for 104 today. Ugh.....  That is just wrong! So, I shall light a candle and say a prayer for the man that invented Air Conditioning and stay inside and let my Bionic Hip heal, while the electric meter spins in a wild frenzy to keep me cooool............I think some knitting might be in order today.

Chuck rounded up a couple of strays young men in the neighborhood to help him get hay for "The Girls".  The guy we buy it from grows the most awesome weed free Bermuda and he was baling

yesterday, so Chuck headed over for a couple of loads.  208 bales of fresher than fresh, yummy hay for our babies.  They were sure happy last night to get that treat, since their pasture is all dry and depleted.  We need rain SOOOO bad!  It's been weeks upon weeks since we've had anything significant.  But what a miserable day to have to get the hay at 102 degrees!  With hay, it's all about the timing and ya can't take a chance and wait, so that hard working man of mine was hard at it yesterday!

Between the heat and the Japanese Beetles, my poor rose garden is looking pretty sad.  I do believe that Chuck finally got the Beetles under control and with plenty of watering, the roses finally seem to be making a come-back.  I'll be so glad when I am able to get out in the yard and take care of some of this stuff.  All of my flower beds and plants need a lot more TLC than poor Chuck is able to give them when he gets home at night.  Hopefully, it won't be long and I can get out and do more. {and hopefully, it will be cooler by then too, so this Yankee doesn't melt!}

Today is the half-way mark to being able to get back to doing some normal daily activities.  It's been 3 weeks today since my surgery and there are so many things that I can't do for "6 weeks".  My follow-up appt with the surgeon is the 28th and I can't wait!  The incision has healed 'nicely' and I'm finally able to leave it un-bandaged and I'm past the point of any risk for infection, so that's a plus.  They actually "glued" the incision, so I haven't had to deal with those nasty staples, like I did for my back (all 24 of them. yuck).  There has been so much improvement the past week or so, I am finally able to get a feel for how much better off I am going to be. I am feeling better in general, but also gaining in strength and stability each day.  The Physical Therapy is rather rigorous, but so very beneficial.  I have gone from my walker, to using only a cane and half the time, I walk off and forget that.  Chuck is paranoid that I'll fall and 'disrupt my ball joint" as he puts it.  LOL  Actually, as time goes by it IS getting harder to keep from doing the things I'm not supposed to do.  This last 3 weeks might be tougher than the 1st 3 weeks.  Still can't bend over (but I 'can') still cant get my leg past that 90 degree point, still can't sit in chairs too low, still can't 'twist & shout', but......Boy Howdy, can I walk!!  Not for miles and miles, yet, but a hellovalot further than I was able to!  Still can't drive, tho'.  Some surgeons say 2 weeks, mine is all about waiting 6 weeks.  I could understand that while I was dependent on Percocet to keep me pain free, but I'm down to Vicodin now and much less often.  Anyway, I'll be a good girl and wait for his okay, but I am sure antsy to DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!  Places to go. Things to do. People to see.  Primarily......lunch with Victoria!!!!!

Well, me thinks I shall go check on some blogs, check in with FB and tend to my knitting!  See ya'.

Ready to FLY!

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

Holy Crap!

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.

DOUBLE DAMN THE GEEK SQUAD

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

Attacked Again!

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.

Southern Fried Yankee

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!! 

SURPRISE! Or Not.......

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......)