Ummmmmmmmm. . . . . . . . .

It is the 6th of November. It's been dark, cloudy, rainy, and windy here in Virginia for a few days. There is a major blizzard out West. To the South there is a hurricane brewing. What message should we be getting??? If I hear about hell freezing over I'm going to stock up on supplies in a hurry!

Take care!

The Vote Is Cast

It could have been worse. I was in line a little after 6:00 a.m. - after hunting a parking space for at least ten minutes! The well monitored and well directed line was a serpentine type so as many people as possible were under cover and not getting soaked from the predicted all-day rain. Total voting time was about an hour and forty-five minutes. Then it was off to Starbucks for my free cup of coffee and then home to put my foot up for a while before going to work.

Traffic in our area is heavy, especially so around polling places.

Nurse J called to check on me and said it took her less than an hour to vote. She goes to a different location.

Golfer voted early/absentee since he's on a TDY trip. In Virginia, we don't have "early" voting but just absentee. Bikini says she and Brief voted early in Georgia. Our relatives in Ohio can also vote early if they choose.

Don't let this discourage anyone from heading to the polling places. Go vote! (unless you're for the other candidates!) :) Like they say - if you don't vote, you shouldn't complain! Onward!

Some Miscellaneous Stuff and Ramblings

It's a dark, damp day here in Virginia today. After going to work and then going to the "Y", I have been catching up on some odds and ends.




This is BeyB on Halloween ready to go ring doorbells!



And here is the elusive, timid Cecil. (it's like trying to take a picture of a little unco-operative kid! Notice the squinty eyes!)


















Some wonderings:



Don't they teach the meaning of the yield sign anymore in drivers' training class?




Why are some grown women always surprised and complaining that the floor is wet in the shower and pool area at the "Y"?





Why can't manufacturers package electronic products in something that won't rip your skin apart when you try to open them?

If fruit has to be individually labeled, couldn't they use something that doesn't take the peel off when you remove the label?


This is the Thanksgiving decoration that Bikini gave us. I think he's cute!

And this is the front of the house after cleaning the plants up a little yesterday.

And..... WOO-HOO! I filled up Duke's (the Mustang) (yes, I like to name our cars) gas tank this morning on the way to work for $1.95/gal.!! Thanks Nurse J for the "heads up" on that!

Stay safe! Onward we all go! AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!

One Holiday Done, More to Come!

I hope everyone had a nice Halloween and didn't overdose on left-over candy! We didn't seem to have as many trick-or-treaters here this year; but we had a decent bunch. No one was too rowdy. Of course, the home owners' association called in extra security for the evening, and publicized it, so maybe the rabble rousers went elsewhere.

You can check out adorable pictures of Boxer and Bloomer on Bikini's blog. BeyB dressed up as an ice cream cone and was cute, too. If I can, I will post a picture of her soon. Of course, I think all of them are great!

The Halloween decorations have been put away and a few Thanksgiving ones put out. I am in the midst of Christmas preparations. I do not currently have the strength or stamina to do heavy duty shopping due to my foot, so I have been shopping in short bursts. You know, like where I can park by the door closest to where I want to go in a store and just do the one store that day. Several gifts need to be shipped and I like to get those ready early. Right now I am at the point of having a large pile of things still in bags that need to be sorted and wrapped.

My foot is progressing. I wear the special boot fewer hours each day and am getting along okay. It's nice to be able to get back in the pool at the "Y". I missed that. Hopefully the screw will hold the bones together and all will mend just fine. I am being careful.

So Fall is in full swing, the leaves are starting to change color here, time has changed and it's dark early. The squirrels and birds ate all my decorative corn outside, and Cinder managed to knock over two vases of flowers that were on the fireplace mantle. Cecil did his part by grabbing a flower and dragging it away. Hermione had enough sense to get out of the way. In the grand scheme of things - all is normal and all is well.

I would like to say a big thank you to God now for watching over me. Nine years ago - November 2, 1999, at about this time of the evening, I was unconcious in a crushed car out on I-64. Eighteen-wheelers not paying attention can do that to a person. So on a happy note - Yea, God! Thanks!

I will sign off now and try to keep the annual heebie jeebies in check. No driving for me this evening. Stay safe!

Hey! It's the Day After Surgery!

Hey, all!

The surgery on my foot went well. Golfer and I were at the hospital before 6:45 a.m. yesterday. There was the usual paperwork, then I was taken back for more questions and discussions with the doctors. And of course the changing into the lovely hospital gown and cap. My doctor came in and drew on my foot. An IV was started. Golfer and Nurse J were called back to sit with me along with our pastor, Rev. C. He said a prayer and then left. Soon after that, the nurse told Golfer and Nurse J to give me a hug and leave and I was rolled away to the surgery suite.

I remember someone saying I needed to breathe the oxygen coming out of the mask and next thing I knew I was back in recovery with a nurse asking me more questions. And then when she determined I was really awake and still knew when my birthday was she rolled me into the recovery room. Golfer and Nurse J were brought in. They got to watch me try to eat some not-so-great crackers. Have you ever tried to eat a cracker when your mouth literally has no spit??? Not fun. Then I was given two pain pills to take. We went home shortly after that.

The rest of the day is a blur of nausea and light-headedness. I don't know if it was the after effects of the anesthesia or the pain pills or both, but it was nasty. I decided not to take more of the pain pills and am relying on the usual DayPro that I take for the RA and also taking some Tylenol. I am hoping that will keep things tolerable. I figure after the level of pain I've had to several months, I think I can handle it. When I woke up this morning the nausea and light-headedness was much better, so we'll see how the day goes.

My foot is fairly heavily bandaged and wrapped. I wear the "boot" when I'm up. I used the walker yesterday but have switched to my quad cane today. I'm not supposed to unwrap my foot, remove the bandage, or get it wet until Saturday.

Thanks for the prayers, calls, and good thoughts. Onward we go!

Fall in Virginia

Hey, again!

I'm still doing odds and ends and was printing a couple pictures for Mom. Since I had mentioned the flowers on a much earlier post, I thought I'd post them now.

The first photo is the last of this year's zinnias. Sigh. My Grama always grew zinnias, but I remember hers being a lot larger. Mine were very pretty, but maybe I bought dwarf ones!

The second one is October in Virginia. You will see the fern - that used to be a spindly thing in a hanging pot - is thriving in the ground. The chrysanthemums are starting to bloom. You can just see some rose colored Encore azaleas blooming on the left. The newly seeded lawn is sprouting.

Take care and stay safe. I'll let you know how I'm doing after the surgery.

Harrumph!

Hey, all!

Things have been busy around here. I went for a progress check-up for the fracture in my foot. The doctor looked at the x-rays and said it wasn't healing and we should go ahead and do the surgery on it rather than waiting for the six months he originally mentioned. I'm scheduled for early Wednesday morning. I am hoping this will get it mended and I can get back to a more normal routine in the near future. As it is, and has been for what seems like months and months, I can only be up on my foot for a short time before it gets too painful and then have to sit down and prop it up to rest.

Over the past few days, I have gradually been taking care of odds and ends and getting things all caught up around the house. Golfer will be taking family medical leave and will be home with me following the surgery.

Things are well with Nurse J and her family. She likes her new job. Cable Guy will be having some additional training for his work. BeyB is doing well with school. They adopted a new kitten - Bartowski - to keep Sid and Grayson company. It's lively around their house!

Bikini had a scare this morning when Bloomer and Boxer both fell down the basement stairs. Nothing broken, but lots of bumps and bruises. Scary for all of them.

I had a little clean-up job to do on the porch. I had finally managed to get a couple pumpkins and had a nice Fall arrangement of those, some gourds and some corn. Saturday morning I looked out and all the corn had been dragged almost off the porch and some taken off the cob. Evidently the little squirrel and the tiny bird that I saw taking off were hungry! So the corn got swept up and put out by our bird feeder and I rearranged all the rest of it. Still looks nice and all the corn out back has disappeared!

That's it from here. Please keep a good thought for me on Wednesday. I'm anxious to get this over with!