HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Stay safe!

Shoes!

Hooray!  I am wearing shoes!  Of course, Golfer had to help me get them on and tie them for me, but still......

My surgery was a little over a week ago.  We were told everything went well.  I came home from the hospital last Thursday.  Golfer is doing an excellent job of taking care of me.  All of the nurses and rehab people who have been in and out of here say I am doing very well.  In reality, I am frustrated at not being able to do things for myself.  The rules are no bending, no twisting, no lifting anything over five pounds and no raising my arms over my head.  I'm getting pretty good at getting the brace on and off.  I'm still not sleeping well, it's hard to get comfortable.  But basically I am okay and recovering and being well cared for.

NurseJ had a couple days off and Bikini came for a couple days, so Golfer had some help.  It was good to get together.

It is cool here in Virginia.  Golfer went out this afternoon and raked up several bags of leaves.  We're in that time of year here when the new grass is still coming up but is getting covered by leaves falling down. 

The furry kids seem pleased to have me home, although for a couple days they jumped and ran every time they heard the Velcro on my brace. 

So that's about it from me.  Can't do much and not going anywhere.  I just wanted to let you all know I am still here.

Stay safe!

A Big Ol' Bundle of Emotions

Hey, everyone.  I hope things are well with all of you.  It's been busy around our house.  There have been many things I have wanted to get done before having surgery.  Sadly, my strength and energy are not cooperating which leaves me very frustrated.  And frustration brings emotions.  Or as Bikini says, "feels".  And I have had to stop all my regular meds.  So as they are working their way out of my system I am more emotional from that.  Such is life.  I had a good holler about things while I was out driving by myself.  It didn't really fix anything, but I felt better.  Fortunately it was a low traffic area.   :)

On the good side though, we went out to dinner with friends a couple nights ago and because I am off the meds, I was able to have wine!!!  I now know why Merlot is one of Golfer's favorites!  We were all celebrating my glass of wine and figured out it had been at least sixteen years or longer since I had had any.  So, yay!

While we were away, it rained here most of the time.  The yard finally dried enough for Golfer to get it mowed.  The rain washed most of the seed out of the strip that the landscapers had repaired so we still have a bare place.  Golfer put more seed down that our yard guy left for us.

Nurse J and family came over for a pizza night recently.  CutieGirl sat in her new high chair.  She gets very upset now if everyone else is eating and she isn't.  She had special rice baby biscuits and pureed green beans.  I doubt that was as good as the pizza, but we all had a good time.

Bikini has been busy getting Halloween costumes done for Boxer and Bloomer.  They are going as Minecraft characters.  We saw part of the costumes while we were there and they were cute!

Golfer and I have been trying to catch up on our TV viewing.  Our DVR has things we recorded while we were gone.  As the new broadcast season progresses we've been weeding things out of our schedule.  Some shows are too dumb, some too annoying, some have been cancelled already.

I will be posting again when I am able.  I know that after the surgery there will be PT and home visits from the nurse, and I will be wearing a back brace for at least six weeks.  Plus there is the mind-fog of pain medications.  And don't you know that all that brings on more emotions and feels?  Please keep Golfer in your prayers!  He's a great man and I love him.  Remember me, too, please.

Stay safe!

Some Words to Keep in Mind

Golfer and I have XM Radio in Hiro, our Acura TL.  Yes, I name our vehicles.  :)   Just another way I am unique I guess!  Anyway, on our recent travels we heard an old Helen Reddy song.  And that reminded me how much I always enjoyed her music.

So I just got our CD of her greatest hits out and it is playing right now.  One of my favorite songs is "I Am Woman"  You know.... I am woman. Hear me roar. I am strong. I am invincible.  Very appropriate words for me to think about right now.

Stay safe folks!

Art Critique

As I mentioned in my last post, Golfer and I were on a road trip recently to visit Bikini and family.  This picture was in one of our hotel rooms.  It puzzles me.

Sorry this is not super clear, but I think it shows my concern.  Why would a major hotel chain hang pictures of bugs in their rooms?????  Creepy!  And I've seen this same picture in other locations of the same chain.

Stay safe!

Family Time

Golfer and I just returned from visiting Bikini and her family.  She and I had some good quality time in her favorite quilt shop.  She's going to make Golfer and me a new king-size quilt for our bed and she was helping me pick out fabric for her to use.  I know it's going to be beautiful!

We went to Bloomer's class auction and watched the students spend their "quarters" (play ones). Each student gets a certain number to start with and they can earn more for good behavior and work or lose some for bad.  It's all an exercise in math, decision making, and strategy.  Once a month there's an auction to spend their "money" on items donated by the parents.  It was fun to watch.  Bloomer's prize buy was a large Halloween spider in some sticky "goo".  Lovely.

And then we attended the PTA meeting and got to see Boxer's fourth grade chorus perform.  Nice patriotic show.  And the music is tied in to the social studies and history material for the class. 

Sadly, Boxer's football game didn't go so well, and they lost.  We were glad to get to see him play, but I don't think the other team exactly played fair.  Brief says there are going to be some meetings about the other team.  But, all in all, it was a good day.  I will say this though,  football is taken VERY seriously in Georgia!  I should add that this was my first experience with little boys' football.

We also got to meet our new "grandcats", Morelli, Nina and Jett.  All were lovely and well behaved.  Nina is a little shy, not as much as our Cecil, but she did not want us to hold her.  I couldn't get a picture of her that wasn't blurry, but here are Morelli and Jett snuggling on my lap. 

And we met our "grand-dog", Fred.  You all know that Golfer and I are cat people, but I have to say that Fred is okay!  He's a cutie and likes to snuggle.  And he was very good at sitting by my feet under the dinner table and making sad puppy eyes in hopes I might "drop" something.  Golfer and Fred had some quiet time together one afternoon watching football on TV.

So now it's time to get busy.  There is a lot to get done this week.  Stay safe!

A Good Explanation - Think About It

A friend sent us this.  I think it's pretty good and wish the politicians (Obama particularly) would realize this.  So I'm sharing.

Will this be the U.S. in 3, 5 or 10 years?

This makes sense and hopefully this country will see what is happening before it's too late!!!!!!

Is this man a genius??  Very profound........

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D!  No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because **when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.* *

Could not be any simpler than that.  These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment**:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation. 

Sound familiar?  Stay safe!

I Admit It, I Am Moody

Hey, All,

Yes, I am disgusted, and moody.  Usually I am a happy, optimistic person and smiling.  But my mind won't stop dwelling on some issues lately.

First off, of course, I am sad about Sis passing, but am relieved that she is not suffering.  But also, I am not ready to be the "matron" or oldest.  While we were visiting with family on our trip to Ohio, Golfer looked around at everyone and said that he never thought he'd be the oldest one in the group.  Sometimes maturity is baffling.  We don't feel that old.  Where did the time go?

And I am totally disgusted with politicians.  The government shut-down is causing many problems in our area.  People are being laid off, parks closed, Commissaries closed, Colonial Parkway closed, and on and on.  If I was in charge (and wouldn't that be a hoot!) I would lock all the politicians, including the President,  in a large room and dock them a month's pay for every day they let this go on.  They'd get loaves of white bread, jars of peanut butter and a cold water faucet, nothing else for food until they were done.  I would also demand that all politicians have to abide by all the regulations and laws they impose on the people.   I would also stop illegal immigration, but that is a whole other issue.

Our community has an ARB and Home Owner's Association.  I am disgusted by the residents who don't observe simple rules.  Things like mowing their grass and taking care of their property, not putting their trash out for pick-up on time and letting it sit out for two weeks. My thoughts on home ownership are similar to my thoughts on having children or pets - if you won't or can't take care of them, don't have them.  It's better for everyone that way.

I am concerned about my surgery that's scheduled in a couple weeks.  Two of my doctors think it will fix the problems I've been having for over two years.  Problems that were supposed to get better over time after a previous surgery.  I am trying to remain hopeful and optimistic, but it is hard.  I told Golfer I'd like to believe them, but I'm not holding my breath at this point.  In  my heart I know I will be well cared for.  But I realize how frustrated I get when I can't do things for myself!

Add to these things the fact we just discovered a leak at our water heater.  It's not that old and we can't tell where the water is coming from, but there is definitely a leak somewhere.  The plumber comes tomorrow. Sigh.  This water problem comes on top of a different leak in the sprinkler system we just had fixed.  And we just got the bill (!*%$#!!) for that repair.  Sigh again.

There was one good piece of news in today's paper - the first ever local BACON FESTIVAL is going to happen!  This will feature all things bacon!  Our area has all kinds of seafood festivals and peanut festivals, but this is the first one devoted to bacon!  Actually, I think Smithfield foods is looking for some good publicity.

I am sure my mood will get better and also sure the general state of affairs will get better.  For now I am going to go "woogie" a kitty.  That's always good for a smile.

Stay safe.