Things are.............OK, I guess. Tolerable might be a better word.
I'm not a give out personal details kind of person, but I'll say that someone who was supposed to be very good friends (along with their spouse) of DH and mine did something really harmful and hurtful. They betrayed our friendship and abused a position they were in for their own gain.
She's being held responsible for it, but that's little consolation when you're the one stuck with the mess.
On top of that I have a relative in the hospital for going on the third week after a horrific car accident where she had to have a truck winched off her vehicle so they could cut her out of it and life flight her. Things are going better now, thank you God, but for quite some time it wasn't certain if she'd survive it. She broke, well, most of herself, I guess, is the best way to say it.
A man who was a second father to me just passed away in a freak accident this last week, too.
It's very hard to be so far from home right now.
It's been a MESS around here, I tell you!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
New tool for me
OK, not new, but new to me. It's actually old, which makes it that much better as far as I'm concerned.
I bought it yesterday at an antique store that was having a sale. I paid $15 for it. Now I can't wait to get some cabbage!
I bought it yesterday at an antique store that was having a sale. I paid $15 for it. Now I can't wait to get some cabbage!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
I'm sorry
Life fell apart in a big way. I'm not able to be here posting or reading lately. I'm sorry. I'll be back eventually.
Tina
Tina
Sunday, June 17, 2012
First canning of the year
The nectarines on the tree in the back yard ripened the other day. When they get ripe, they ALL get ripe. They don't last long, either, so you have to watch them, collect them and use them or put them up quickly or else you are left with nothing but a bunch of mushy rotten fruit.
This is one of the trees I pruned this year. It REALLY made a difference. I bet last year we got maybe 40-50 nectarines total. We ate some of them and I had enough to make a cobbler.
This year was different.
This year I had two big red bowls full.
PLUS this big metal bowl full. This bowl is quite a bit larger than my wok, to give you an idea of the size.
I treated them like peaches and cooked them down for jam.
It turned out really pretty, I think. It's pretty tart, though. I like tart stuff, so I'm good with that. The kids, not so much. More for me! :)
This is one of the trees I pruned this year. It REALLY made a difference. I bet last year we got maybe 40-50 nectarines total. We ate some of them and I had enough to make a cobbler.
This year was different.
This year I had two big red bowls full.
PLUS this big metal bowl full. This bowl is quite a bit larger than my wok, to give you an idea of the size.
I treated them like peaches and cooked them down for jam.
It turned out really pretty, I think. It's pretty tart, though. I like tart stuff, so I'm good with that. The kids, not so much. More for me! :)
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Another friend with chickens update
They have a coon infestation out there!
As of this morning they have caught SEVEN. They caught two in the same trap last night, which we all found a bit odd and amusing.
Two days ago I heard of a young man with some pullets who was downsizing due to his step-mother's ill health. I went out there and came back with two silver laced wyandotes and three black sex links.
We took them to our friends in a pet carrier and told them we'd caught a coon, too, so we brought it to them. They thought we'd lost our minds!
Then we told the kids to look carefully in the carrier and they were SO excited! I'll have to get pictures of the chickens the next time we go over there.
It worked out well, we were able to help our friends replace some of their lost birds as well as assure that young man that his pullets were going to a home with three kids to spoil them rotten and love on them. :)
As of this morning they have caught SEVEN. They caught two in the same trap last night, which we all found a bit odd and amusing.
Two days ago I heard of a young man with some pullets who was downsizing due to his step-mother's ill health. I went out there and came back with two silver laced wyandotes and three black sex links.
We took them to our friends in a pet carrier and told them we'd caught a coon, too, so we brought it to them. They thought we'd lost our minds!
Then we told the kids to look carefully in the carrier and they were SO excited! I'll have to get pictures of the chickens the next time we go over there.
It worked out well, we were able to help our friends replace some of their lost birds as well as assure that young man that his pullets were going to a home with three kids to spoil them rotten and love on them. :)
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Second update on friends with chickens
So far they have caught three raccoons. They have not caught the opossum yet.
She showed me one of the cam pics from last night.
You could clearly see the raccoon that was in the box trap.
Along with FOUR MORE standing around staring at it!
She showed me one of the cam pics from last night.
You could clearly see the raccoon that was in the box trap.
Along with FOUR MORE standing around staring at it!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Update on our friends with chickens
I just remembered that I never updated you on this!
When our friends got back in town the killing continued. Something got another one the first night they were back, another the second night they were back and three during the day/afternoon of a work day.
They'd finally had enough and went and bought a trap. The first night they caught a raccoon.
The second night - nothing in the cage but digging all around the coop where they'd tried to get in.
Third night - nothing
The next day we borrowed a trail cam from another friend and took it out there so we could see what they had coming in for dinner.
That night they caught another coon on camera. As well as a great big o'possum.
That night they got pictures of the coon lifting up the end of the cage trap to make the food fall out so it could eat it. We'd warned them that they were smart!
The last two nights they've both been back but they haven't caught anything in the cage. The cage is pegged into the ground now, too.
Wishing them luck!
When our friends got back in town the killing continued. Something got another one the first night they were back, another the second night they were back and three during the day/afternoon of a work day.
They'd finally had enough and went and bought a trap. The first night they caught a raccoon.
The second night - nothing in the cage but digging all around the coop where they'd tried to get in.
Third night - nothing
The next day we borrowed a trail cam from another friend and took it out there so we could see what they had coming in for dinner.
That night they caught another coon on camera. As well as a great big o'possum.
That night they got pictures of the coon lifting up the end of the cage trap to make the food fall out so it could eat it. We'd warned them that they were smart!
The last two nights they've both been back but they haven't caught anything in the cage. The cage is pegged into the ground now, too.
Wishing them luck!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Busy and fun weekend
I told you before that we're staring a brand new Boy Scout Troop. This weekend we had our first camp out as a new Troop. We had some families out of town but I think we had about 15 boys the first night and 10 the second.
It was hot, dirty, messy and a ton of fun. I didn't stay out there with them over night because it wasn't a family Scouting trip and DH was already there, so for me to stay the other two boys would have to stay, which would make it a family outing.
Anyway, I did spend most of the weekend out there, starting Friday afternoon when we were setting up and dropping off.
It was sort-of-organized chaos. :)
Saturday morning we'd set up a secret outing for the men to take the boys on.
While they were gone, I took my younger two children back to their camp and we moved the tents around, switching their places. We also took neon colored streamers and 'wrapped' the place as well as decorated the cots and hammocks of the men. I realized half way there I'd forgotten my camera but didn't have time to go back and get it, so I don't have pictures of it. You'll have to trust me that it was colorful. We weaved the streamers on and across the tents, hooking them together via streamer and going across the door ways. We did the same with the chairs and picnic table.
I didn't know when they'd be back, so we were hurrying. When we were leaving out of the long road out I saw their vehicles coming.
Darn, busted!
The first vehicle's driver is a friend, he saw me and waved as he passed. The second car's driver didn't notice me. The third was my husband and we stopped. The fourth saw me because he had to wait for DH to pull off the road to talk to me.
I went back out there Saturday in the early evening and found out that none of the men told the boys who did it. They just said it was a Mom. lol. NONE of the boys noticed me driving by and my son didn't ride with DH, so he didn't realize Dad had stopped to talk to Mom. So we pulled it off after all! lol
I did own up to it after about an hour of them asking me repeatedly and they thought it was funny.
I'm glad they enjoyed it - because I have plans for future trips, too!
It was hot, dirty, messy and a ton of fun. I didn't stay out there with them over night because it wasn't a family Scouting trip and DH was already there, so for me to stay the other two boys would have to stay, which would make it a family outing.
Anyway, I did spend most of the weekend out there, starting Friday afternoon when we were setting up and dropping off.
It was sort-of-organized chaos. :)
Saturday morning we'd set up a secret outing for the men to take the boys on.
While they were gone, I took my younger two children back to their camp and we moved the tents around, switching their places. We also took neon colored streamers and 'wrapped' the place as well as decorated the cots and hammocks of the men. I realized half way there I'd forgotten my camera but didn't have time to go back and get it, so I don't have pictures of it. You'll have to trust me that it was colorful. We weaved the streamers on and across the tents, hooking them together via streamer and going across the door ways. We did the same with the chairs and picnic table.
I didn't know when they'd be back, so we were hurrying. When we were leaving out of the long road out I saw their vehicles coming.
Darn, busted!
The first vehicle's driver is a friend, he saw me and waved as he passed. The second car's driver didn't notice me. The third was my husband and we stopped. The fourth saw me because he had to wait for DH to pull off the road to talk to me.
I went back out there Saturday in the early evening and found out that none of the men told the boys who did it. They just said it was a Mom. lol. NONE of the boys noticed me driving by and my son didn't ride with DH, so he didn't realize Dad had stopped to talk to Mom. So we pulled it off after all! lol
I did own up to it after about an hour of them asking me repeatedly and they thought it was funny.
I'm glad they enjoyed it - because I have plans for future trips, too!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Integrity
So, our house back home is empty again. The renters that were in it, a newlywed couple with one child from her previous marriage skipped out.
The man worked for a construction company and he said that the company was shut down by the IRS. This was at the beginning of May. The realtor told him he'd work with him as best he could, just keep him up to date on what was going on. They had been good tenants, paying on time, keeping the place mowed, etc.
Well, to keep this short, he told the realtor his unemployment would start coming in last week and he'd be paying, just late. We agreed to work with him and waive most of the late fees and the realtor told him so.
The realtor called a few minutes ago.
They skipped out over the weekend. They left some trash in the house but he said it's not too bad. They didn't bother to leave the keys locked in the house, they took those. We'd rekey it, anyway, but still.........
And you know, if they'd have been honest and said they needed to move, it would have been fine. Annoying, but fine, because they were honest. We could have put the ad in the paper and had it in Sunday's paper.
But, no. Why be honest and up front with people who have been working with you and trying to make it work for you?
People suck.
The man worked for a construction company and he said that the company was shut down by the IRS. This was at the beginning of May. The realtor told him he'd work with him as best he could, just keep him up to date on what was going on. They had been good tenants, paying on time, keeping the place mowed, etc.
Well, to keep this short, he told the realtor his unemployment would start coming in last week and he'd be paying, just late. We agreed to work with him and waive most of the late fees and the realtor told him so.
The realtor called a few minutes ago.
They skipped out over the weekend. They left some trash in the house but he said it's not too bad. They didn't bother to leave the keys locked in the house, they took those. We'd rekey it, anyway, but still.........
And you know, if they'd have been honest and said they needed to move, it would have been fine. Annoying, but fine, because they were honest. We could have put the ad in the paper and had it in Sunday's paper.
But, no. Why be honest and up front with people who have been working with you and trying to make it work for you?
People suck.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi!
Actually, the spelling on the sign was UGLI, as in UGLI Fruit.
I'd never heard of it and yes, I bought one so we could try it.
It was various colors and felt like the skin was loose, like those easy to peel *Little Cuties.*
They smell like faintly like a tangerine when you are peeling them.
They are supposed to be a (multi) cross between a tangerine, orange and grapefruit. The sign said they taste sweet like an orange but are bigger, obviously.
I'd never heard of it and yes, I bought one so we could try it.
It was various colors and felt like the skin was loose, like those easy to peel *Little Cuties.*
They smell like faintly like a tangerine when you are peeling them.
They are supposed to be a (multi) cross between a tangerine, orange and grapefruit. The sign said they taste sweet like an orange but are bigger, obviously.
We did not find it to be that sweet. It was certainly edible, but you could taste the grapefruit in it, for sure. Since I'm not a big grapefruit fan, well, I won't be buying another one of these.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Happy Birthday, Mawmaw!
A few days ago Mawmaw turned a spry 85!
We celebrated over the weekend so hubby would be home. We took her out to her favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch and made her a cake.
We were trying to figure out what to get her for a present because pretty much anything you give her she crams in her closet or dresser and won't use it, even if it's something she's said she'd love to have. She always wants to 'save it for when I need it.'
My idea?
We bought her a beta fish! I figured she COULDN'T put it up in the closet, it would give her a sense of taking care of something and hopefully some joy in watching him.
She named him Red. :)
So far she seems to really like him, I've heard her in there talking to him a couple of times, so, hey, I guess he provided some more company for her, too.
Happy Birthday, Mawmaw!
We celebrated over the weekend so hubby would be home. We took her out to her favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch and made her a cake.
We were trying to figure out what to get her for a present because pretty much anything you give her she crams in her closet or dresser and won't use it, even if it's something she's said she'd love to have. She always wants to 'save it for when I need it.'
My idea?
We bought her a beta fish! I figured she COULDN'T put it up in the closet, it would give her a sense of taking care of something and hopefully some joy in watching him.
She named him Red. :)
So far she seems to really like him, I've heard her in there talking to him a couple of times, so, hey, I guess he provided some more company for her, too.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Troop, Attention!
This is another one of those changes I was talking about before.
We are forming a brand new Boy Scout Troop.
We had a huge group of boys that we took over to a Troop when they moved up and I think we over whelmed them. We more than doubled their current Troop size, to give you an idea.
Anyway, the area only had one Troop for this end of several counties, so now there will be two.
It's a lot of work but we're hoping the boys will have a great time and learn a lot, too. As an adult, I think it's pretty neat that my son will be able to (hopefully) look back one day as an adult and say:
Yeah, Troop ##, it's going strong and I was one of the founding Scout members!
Almost every family has had at least one adult step up and agree to get trained and hold either a committee or troop position. Wonderful! A bunch of us were already in the process of being approved as merit badge counselors (which can be utilized by any Scout in the area, yay!) so that's going well, too.
The biggest hurdle was getting a sponsoring organization and that's done.
The next hurdle was filling our necessary committee positions - done.
Then filling the Troop positions - done.
Now we have to plan our calendar for the boys and start fund raising to purchase gear. There is a great flea market near here that I've already bought some stuff from, so I'm hoping we'll be able to outfit the troop well in not too long.
I've got to take my uniform to the Scout shop soon and get them to help me. I'll now officially hold my previous position with the Pack as a den leader but I'll hold a committee position with the Troop, too. I'm guessing I use the Troop stuff on my shirt (?) but I'm not sure. Good thing the experts are there and so nice! :)
We are forming a brand new Boy Scout Troop.
We had a huge group of boys that we took over to a Troop when they moved up and I think we over whelmed them. We more than doubled their current Troop size, to give you an idea.
Anyway, the area only had one Troop for this end of several counties, so now there will be two.
It's a lot of work but we're hoping the boys will have a great time and learn a lot, too. As an adult, I think it's pretty neat that my son will be able to (hopefully) look back one day as an adult and say:
Yeah, Troop ##, it's going strong and I was one of the founding Scout members!
Almost every family has had at least one adult step up and agree to get trained and hold either a committee or troop position. Wonderful! A bunch of us were already in the process of being approved as merit badge counselors (which can be utilized by any Scout in the area, yay!) so that's going well, too.
The biggest hurdle was getting a sponsoring organization and that's done.
The next hurdle was filling our necessary committee positions - done.
Then filling the Troop positions - done.
Now we have to plan our calendar for the boys and start fund raising to purchase gear. There is a great flea market near here that I've already bought some stuff from, so I'm hoping we'll be able to outfit the troop well in not too long.
I've got to take my uniform to the Scout shop soon and get them to help me. I'll now officially hold my previous position with the Pack as a den leader but I'll hold a committee position with the Troop, too. I'm guessing I use the Troop stuff on my shirt (?) but I'm not sure. Good thing the experts are there and so nice! :)
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Pet sitting failure
We have friends who have gone away for the long weekend. They asked us to come over to take care of their animals. Dogs, cats and chickens.
They had just put their younger chicks in with their older flock of one rooster and three hens.
Thursday and Friday went fine. Yesterday morning when I got there their one white hen (one of the younger group) had been attacked. I'm guessing someone pulled a feather out, they saw the blood against the white feathers and went after her. It wasn't too bad.
I pulled her out along with two of the other younger hens and put her back in the pen that the younger group was in before integration. I ran to the hardware store and bought blu-kote, came back and made her a tie dyed chicken, gave them fresh food and added some electrolytes to their water. We checked the rest of them and they were fine.
I left a message for them saying I was so sorry about the one hen because it's their son's favorite (OF COURSE!) and I thought it would be fine, but if not, I'll get him another one.
I went back over last night and she was up and walking around. I saw her drinking and, other than being purple and missing feathers, seemed OK.
The boys and I went over there this morning after church.
All three younger hens were dead. An opossum broke into the pen the younger hens had been kept in and killed all three of them. Actually, I'm guessing maybe it was a momma and babies because they did eat pretty much everything except the bones and feathers.
Ugh. Why NOW? Seriously! We cleaned everything up and made sure the other pen was extra secure. I'm so tempted to go spend the night out there the next two nights until they get back!
They had just put their younger chicks in with their older flock of one rooster and three hens.
Thursday and Friday went fine. Yesterday morning when I got there their one white hen (one of the younger group) had been attacked. I'm guessing someone pulled a feather out, they saw the blood against the white feathers and went after her. It wasn't too bad.
I pulled her out along with two of the other younger hens and put her back in the pen that the younger group was in before integration. I ran to the hardware store and bought blu-kote, came back and made her a tie dyed chicken, gave them fresh food and added some electrolytes to their water. We checked the rest of them and they were fine.
I left a message for them saying I was so sorry about the one hen because it's their son's favorite (OF COURSE!) and I thought it would be fine, but if not, I'll get him another one.
I went back over last night and she was up and walking around. I saw her drinking and, other than being purple and missing feathers, seemed OK.
The boys and I went over there this morning after church.
All three younger hens were dead. An opossum broke into the pen the younger hens had been kept in and killed all three of them. Actually, I'm guessing maybe it was a momma and babies because they did eat pretty much everything except the bones and feathers.
Ugh. Why NOW? Seriously! We cleaned everything up and made sure the other pen was extra secure. I'm so tempted to go spend the night out there the next two nights until they get back!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Just call me Mrs. Mommy
I'm going to be home schooling my youngest next year.
There, I said it.
Still petrified, but I said it. lol
To try and keep this less than six billion pages, I'll sum the situation up by saying we know where we should be moving to next and we have a rough idea of when. That area does not require kindergarten and enrolls by birth date when entering school for the first time. Their kindergarten cut off is a full month later than it is here.
That means that if we lived there already, youngest would be starting kindergarten in Sept. Here, he misses the cut off date by about two weeks. It also means that if we get there when we think we will, they will enroll him in first grade because kindergarten isn't required. Clear as mud, right?
I asked them to screen him for early admission for kindergarten (a whopping 10 days early for the cut off date) because I think he's ready and he would LOVE to be in school. We are up there volunteering all the time and everyone has made comments on how he needs to be in school. Well, they denied him. They said he didn't test well enough but, IMO, their scoring was EXTREMELY harsh and unfair.
For instance:
On lower case letters he missed a few (r and k give him trouble). They marked him as not being able to identify lower case letters.
They marked him as not being able to write his name because the lady thought it wasn't neat enough (and this REALLY ticks me off because everyone at church, the library, Scouts and others at the school can read it just fine) and he reversed his N. So kindergarteners should have perfect hand writing and never mess up any letters? My older kids were still doing that in second grade!
They marked him as not being able to pick out the numbers 1-10 because he mixed up 6 and 9.
On and on.
Pretty much they said he couldn't do anything.
Talk about make a Mama mad!
After talking to some of the teachers and staff, the truth, I think, is that the classes were getting full with kids who did meet the deadline, they weren't about to hire another teacher and so they denied the early entrance kids using this grading as their justification. They should have just said that, though, not tried to make it out like these kids (I know of 3 others that were denied, too) have no skills or knowledge!
I won't let anyone enroll him in first grade right off, that's not fair to him and setting him up for failure. So. Home schooling it is.
I am terrified I'll mess up the foundation of his education, to be honest. I have no idea how to teach a child to read!
I'm spending a lot of time researching right now. I know it's supposedly easy once you get going, but from out here it sure looks complicated and hard.
My plan right now is to home school for just the one year, but I know enough to know not to say for sure because God has a plan and I'm excited to see it happen. :)
There, I said it.
Still petrified, but I said it. lol
To try and keep this less than six billion pages, I'll sum the situation up by saying we know where we should be moving to next and we have a rough idea of when. That area does not require kindergarten and enrolls by birth date when entering school for the first time. Their kindergarten cut off is a full month later than it is here.
That means that if we lived there already, youngest would be starting kindergarten in Sept. Here, he misses the cut off date by about two weeks. It also means that if we get there when we think we will, they will enroll him in first grade because kindergarten isn't required. Clear as mud, right?
I asked them to screen him for early admission for kindergarten (a whopping 10 days early for the cut off date) because I think he's ready and he would LOVE to be in school. We are up there volunteering all the time and everyone has made comments on how he needs to be in school. Well, they denied him. They said he didn't test well enough but, IMO, their scoring was EXTREMELY harsh and unfair.
For instance:
On lower case letters he missed a few (r and k give him trouble). They marked him as not being able to identify lower case letters.
They marked him as not being able to write his name because the lady thought it wasn't neat enough (and this REALLY ticks me off because everyone at church, the library, Scouts and others at the school can read it just fine) and he reversed his N. So kindergarteners should have perfect hand writing and never mess up any letters? My older kids were still doing that in second grade!
They marked him as not being able to pick out the numbers 1-10 because he mixed up 6 and 9.
On and on.
Pretty much they said he couldn't do anything.
Talk about make a Mama mad!
After talking to some of the teachers and staff, the truth, I think, is that the classes were getting full with kids who did meet the deadline, they weren't about to hire another teacher and so they denied the early entrance kids using this grading as their justification. They should have just said that, though, not tried to make it out like these kids (I know of 3 others that were denied, too) have no skills or knowledge!
I won't let anyone enroll him in first grade right off, that's not fair to him and setting him up for failure. So. Home schooling it is.
I am terrified I'll mess up the foundation of his education, to be honest. I have no idea how to teach a child to read!
I'm spending a lot of time researching right now. I know it's supposedly easy once you get going, but from out here it sure looks complicated and hard.
My plan right now is to home school for just the one year, but I know enough to know not to say for sure because God has a plan and I'm excited to see it happen. :)
Monday, May 21, 2012
Ch-ch-ch-changes
Sorry I've been MIA. You know how life can get sometimes.
I'm going to be having several posts about things that are changing around here. They aren't anything horrible and I know my Lord has a plan, they are just really time consuming right now as I adjust.
I guess I'll start with the one from today. I got a call that my blood work from last week was all fine except my thyroid is under-active. They are putting me on something for it. She told me the name over the phone but I forgot it already. I'll pick it up later today.
So now I get to add:
Pick up med
Research under-active thyroid to my To Do List
lol
I'm going to be having several posts about things that are changing around here. They aren't anything horrible and I know my Lord has a plan, they are just really time consuming right now as I adjust.
I guess I'll start with the one from today. I got a call that my blood work from last week was all fine except my thyroid is under-active. They are putting me on something for it. She told me the name over the phone but I forgot it already. I'll pick it up later today.
So now I get to add:
Pick up med
Research under-active thyroid to my To Do List
lol
Friday, May 11, 2012
Hubby's turn
Last night at dinner middle son was practicing his states. They have to memorize them in alphabetical order and be able to label a US map correctly.
Mawmaw says to DH: Well, I have a question.
DH: OK
Mawmaw: We still own Japan, right?
(I grabbed my glass and raised it up to hide my face. SO glad it's his turn this time!)
DH: No, we don't own Japan, Mawmaw.
Mawmaw: When did we sell it?
DH: We never owned it.
Mawmaw: But we whooped them in the war, right? So we owned Japan. That's the way it works. You lose the war, you lose your country.
DH: No, that's not the way it works.
Mawmaw: Well, it was when the war ended. They must have changed the rules sometime recently.
She was a young adult when WWII ended. I have no idea where she got that idea or why she never realized it was wrong. I can tell you that I don't think she really believes DH, though! lol
Mawmaw says to DH: Well, I have a question.
DH: OK
Mawmaw: We still own Japan, right?
(I grabbed my glass and raised it up to hide my face. SO glad it's his turn this time!)
DH: No, we don't own Japan, Mawmaw.
Mawmaw: When did we sell it?
DH: We never owned it.
Mawmaw: But we whooped them in the war, right? So we owned Japan. That's the way it works. You lose the war, you lose your country.
DH: No, that's not the way it works.
Mawmaw: Well, it was when the war ended. They must have changed the rules sometime recently.
She was a young adult when WWII ended. I have no idea where she got that idea or why she never realized it was wrong. I can tell you that I don't think she really believes DH, though! lol
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Would you like fries with that?
Last night as I'm in the middle of cooking dinner Mawmaw comes in the kitchen.
Mawmaw: TINA!
Me: Yes?
Mawmaw: I'm putting in my order for dinner right now.
Me: Fine, as long as it's spaghetti, because that's what we're having.
Mawmaw: OK! :) (walks off)
LOL. Sometimes it's very entertaining around here.
Mawmaw: TINA!
Me: Yes?
Mawmaw: I'm putting in my order for dinner right now.
Me: Fine, as long as it's spaghetti, because that's what we're having.
Mawmaw: OK! :) (walks off)
LOL. Sometimes it's very entertaining around here.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Update on my little buddy in the burn ward
Thank you for the prayers for my little buddy.
He's still in the hospital but there's a decent possibility that he'll be going home tomorrow. He ended up with a pretty bad lung infection and a fever of over 103 degrees for a couple of days so they've been treating him for that, too, along with the burns. The doctors' best guess is that it was something that was dormant in his lungs for a while (probably from a previous illness) and with the burn knocking his resistance down it allowed it to flare up. Thank God he was in the children's hospital already so he got instant, great care for it. He's off the IV completely now, even for fluids.
My kids REALLY want him to come home. They aren't allowed to visit him in the hospital and, while they know I don't lie to them and that they can trust me, they REALLY REALLY want to see him for themselves so they can know he's OK and going to be just fine.
He's still in the hospital but there's a decent possibility that he'll be going home tomorrow. He ended up with a pretty bad lung infection and a fever of over 103 degrees for a couple of days so they've been treating him for that, too, along with the burns. The doctors' best guess is that it was something that was dormant in his lungs for a while (probably from a previous illness) and with the burn knocking his resistance down it allowed it to flare up. Thank God he was in the children's hospital already so he got instant, great care for it. He's off the IV completely now, even for fluids.
My kids REALLY want him to come home. They aren't allowed to visit him in the hospital and, while they know I don't lie to them and that they can trust me, they REALLY REALLY want to see him for themselves so they can know he's OK and going to be just fine.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
That would be a neat trick
Last night Mawmaw tells me that when we get back home she's going to buy herself a new bed.
"I'm going to give the bed I have now to (oldest child's name). He's going to be moving into his own room, so this will give him a bed for his new room."
OK - side note: She bought the bed (which consists of metal bed frame, box spring and mattress that weighs 999 pounds) she currently has USED from some guy for $50 about 20 years ago. She didn't know this guy, she heard about him from another patient at the dialysis clinic that her husband used. So, um, ICK. And she has some incontinence issues......so, Double Ick.
In other words - no way is this mattress being given to oldest child.
But, that's not the best part of this story.
The best part is the part where she's decided that oldest child is going to be moving into his own room.
We have a three bedroom house.
Hubby and I have a room.
The kids have a room.
She has a room.
WHERE is this other magical bedroom going to come from????
I really don't think he'd appreciate his 'new' bed being the bathtub!
"I'm going to give the bed I have now to (oldest child's name). He's going to be moving into his own room, so this will give him a bed for his new room."
OK - side note: She bought the bed (which consists of metal bed frame, box spring and mattress that weighs 999 pounds) she currently has USED from some guy for $50 about 20 years ago. She didn't know this guy, she heard about him from another patient at the dialysis clinic that her husband used. So, um, ICK. And she has some incontinence issues......so, Double Ick.
In other words - no way is this mattress being given to oldest child.
But, that's not the best part of this story.
The best part is the part where she's decided that oldest child is going to be moving into his own room.
We have a three bedroom house.
Hubby and I have a room.
The kids have a room.
She has a room.
WHERE is this other magical bedroom going to come from????
I really don't think he'd appreciate his 'new' bed being the bathtub!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Request for those that pray
There is a little boy here that's my buddy. He's such a sweetie. He hangs out in our Awana class and my class kids call him their mascot and they all love him, too. He's a toddler, cute as a button and has the best personality. Every time I walk by him he'll put his arms out, come to me and give me a big ole hug. His face just lights up when he sees someone he recognizes. He loves everyone. Sometimes, when I'm really lucky, he'll come to me at the beginning of church service and snuggle up, fall asleep and stay in my lap all service. He's a precious child, a true gift from God and I love him to bits.
He's in the children's hospital's burn ward right now. He grabbed a cup of scalding hot coffee and dumped it down himself. Dad has medical training and had his clothes torn off in seconds, which really helped stop the damage from being worse. He's got second degree burns on his chin, shoulders, down his chest and stomach and the worst part is where the coffee pooled right at the top of his diaper. They did his de-briding (sp?) bath, where they scrub the dead skin off, yesterday and even though he was heavily medicated he passed out from the pain.
I went to see him last night and he's such a doll baby. They are doing their very best to stay on top of his pain so while I was there he was feeling OK and was actually up walking around some. His biggest complaint is that they have the IV tubing in his arm (port in but not currently hooked up to anything) and this big inflated cast thing on it to keep him from bending his arm. He was not happy about that and it was so cute when he'd pick up a snack or his bottle and try to reach his mouth with it. He couldn't because his arm won't bend, so he'd have to switch hands and you could just see the "UGH!" look on his face, lol, poor sweetie.
Last night he was running a slight fever, so we are all worried.
I will call later this morning to check on him. I'm hoping that they are all sleeping this morning, so I'm not calling yet.
If you pray, please pray for my little buddy, his parents and the doctors. They can use all the prayers they can get.
Thank you
He's in the children's hospital's burn ward right now. He grabbed a cup of scalding hot coffee and dumped it down himself. Dad has medical training and had his clothes torn off in seconds, which really helped stop the damage from being worse. He's got second degree burns on his chin, shoulders, down his chest and stomach and the worst part is where the coffee pooled right at the top of his diaper. They did his de-briding (sp?) bath, where they scrub the dead skin off, yesterday and even though he was heavily medicated he passed out from the pain.
I went to see him last night and he's such a doll baby. They are doing their very best to stay on top of his pain so while I was there he was feeling OK and was actually up walking around some. His biggest complaint is that they have the IV tubing in his arm (port in but not currently hooked up to anything) and this big inflated cast thing on it to keep him from bending his arm. He was not happy about that and it was so cute when he'd pick up a snack or his bottle and try to reach his mouth with it. He couldn't because his arm won't bend, so he'd have to switch hands and you could just see the "UGH!" look on his face, lol, poor sweetie.
Last night he was running a slight fever, so we are all worried.
I will call later this morning to check on him. I'm hoping that they are all sleeping this morning, so I'm not calling yet.
If you pray, please pray for my little buddy, his parents and the doctors. They can use all the prayers they can get.
Thank you
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Mawmaw's dementia screening results
Well, the doctor said he had been as generous as he could be in the scoring. As in, if she got it wrong at first but then corrected herself, he gave her credit for it.
Her score: 22
He explained it to me this way:
30 is a perfect score
26-29 is a bit off but nothing to really worry about, could be explained by a bad day, not enough sleep the night before, being stressed and worried about the test, etc.
25 and below is where you get into marked dementia, the resulting issues it causes and support a person needs to still function properly.
He said that at 22 she's right where he would have expected her to be from what we've told him and what he's seen. She can still do things like bathe, but she needs to be told to do that on a regular basis, she needs someone to be in control of her medicine dosages even though she can hold and swallow them, stuff like that. Exactly what we are experiencing, in other words.
I looked it up online when we got home and found this description for her results range:
Significant effect. May require some supervision, support and assistance.
Yep, that's our life right now.
So. What did this test tell us? Nothing. Nothing that we didn't already know, but it did get the information documented officially and in her medical records in case we need that in the future.
He put her on a medicine to help slow the build up of plaques in her brain in hopes of helping her retain her current level of functioning. He said that after we see how she does on it for a month or so then he may add another one that is often prescribed with the first but he never likes to start both at once in case there is an issue with one or the other. Starting them separately lets him easily see which one causes any problems.
I did giggle because at one point he forgot about her hearing and started talking in a normal voice. She was nodding and agreeing whenever he looked at her. I butted in and said to her (loudly where she could hear me):
You have no idea what he said do you?
Her: No
Me: You better stop shaking your head yes when you don't know what he's saying, you might be agreeing to wash his car or something!
Her score: 22
He explained it to me this way:
30 is a perfect score
26-29 is a bit off but nothing to really worry about, could be explained by a bad day, not enough sleep the night before, being stressed and worried about the test, etc.
25 and below is where you get into marked dementia, the resulting issues it causes and support a person needs to still function properly.
He said that at 22 she's right where he would have expected her to be from what we've told him and what he's seen. She can still do things like bathe, but she needs to be told to do that on a regular basis, she needs someone to be in control of her medicine dosages even though she can hold and swallow them, stuff like that. Exactly what we are experiencing, in other words.
I looked it up online when we got home and found this description for her results range:
Significant effect. May require some supervision, support and assistance.
Yep, that's our life right now.
So. What did this test tell us? Nothing. Nothing that we didn't already know, but it did get the information documented officially and in her medical records in case we need that in the future.
He put her on a medicine to help slow the build up of plaques in her brain in hopes of helping her retain her current level of functioning. He said that after we see how she does on it for a month or so then he may add another one that is often prescribed with the first but he never likes to start both at once in case there is an issue with one or the other. Starting them separately lets him easily see which one causes any problems.
I did giggle because at one point he forgot about her hearing and started talking in a normal voice. She was nodding and agreeing whenever he looked at her. I butted in and said to her (loudly where she could hear me):
You have no idea what he said do you?
Her: No
Me: You better stop shaking your head yes when you don't know what he's saying, you might be agreeing to wash his car or something!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Wounded Warriors
We met a group of Wounded Warriors last year. These are active duty Army men and women that were injured while deployed. Injuries ranged from missing limbs to brain injuries, abdominal destruction due to blasts, etc. Horrific stuff.
Yet these people had the BEST attitudes of anyone you'll ever meet. There was not a one of them that wasn't humble, funny, determined and SUCCESSFUL. Several of them were wounded in the same incident on one day that they call "the day that sucked!" The man who was most seriously injured was their medic, go figure. He jokes that they fixed him first because they like him the best. Their response is that they had to make sure he lived so he could tell them how to fix each other up.
See what I mean about their sense of humor? :)
I could go on and on about these people, we consider them extended family and I hope they are OK with that label. ;)
Right now I want to shout and brag, though!
Three of this group have been cleared to return to their units on full duty! They are thrilled and we're thrilled for them. I'm so happy for them that it brought tears to my eyes when I heard. This is what they have been working for hard for and it's happening for three of them within the next few weeks.
I have NO doubt that more of them will be following in the next year.
Did I mention how amazing these people are??!?!?!
Yet these people had the BEST attitudes of anyone you'll ever meet. There was not a one of them that wasn't humble, funny, determined and SUCCESSFUL. Several of them were wounded in the same incident on one day that they call "the day that sucked!" The man who was most seriously injured was their medic, go figure. He jokes that they fixed him first because they like him the best. Their response is that they had to make sure he lived so he could tell them how to fix each other up.
See what I mean about their sense of humor? :)
I could go on and on about these people, we consider them extended family and I hope they are OK with that label. ;)
Right now I want to shout and brag, though!
Three of this group have been cleared to return to their units on full duty! They are thrilled and we're thrilled for them. I'm so happy for them that it brought tears to my eyes when I heard. This is what they have been working for hard for and it's happening for three of them within the next few weeks.
I have NO doubt that more of them will be following in the next year.
Did I mention how amazing these people are??!?!?!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Government WAY overstepping it's bounds
I'd guess that by posting that title I might end up on a "watch her, she's a homegrown terrorist" list somewhere. Then again, I'm sure I've been on that list for quite some time now, right along with my husband. You know, because he's in the military....therefore he's had training, experienced how the government works and therefore can't be trusted.
Big Sigh.
Carolyn, over at Krazo Acres has a great post up saying so much of what lots of us are thinking. We're tired of the government doing whatever big business wants, which is stepping on the little guy. You know - the responsible, self-employed business owner, humane farmers who don't pump their animals full of antibiotics 'just because' and who don't add crap to the meat that we can't say, or wash it in bleach right before selling it.
(There are a few *grown up* words in her post, just so you know ahead of time.)
Michigan wants it to be illegal to raise heritage breeds of pigs. Yes, you read that right. The average person should not be allowed to raise pigs that are proven to thrive on open air, pasture land and sunshine. The average person should only be allowed to buy pigs raised by commercial outfits that live in tiny, cramped spaces with no room to roam and that get pumped full of antibiotics and hormones "just because."
This is beyond ridiculous. It's my land. If I'm within my land regulations (ie: out of city limits and livestock is allowed) if I want to raise good, clean, disease and medicine free meat for my family - get your nose out of my business! If the government (and read that as the big commercial pig growers that are pushing for this) win this you can bet they'll try it in other states and with other animals. I do NOT want my family's only choice for meat to be the medicine filled, extra fluid injected to plump up volume, dipped in bleach water stuff that comes in trays from the big grocery stores. No way!
To read it, click -> Krazo Acres
Then when you're done, follow her link to Bakers Green Acres and you'll get really mad.
Big Sigh.
Carolyn, over at Krazo Acres has a great post up saying so much of what lots of us are thinking. We're tired of the government doing whatever big business wants, which is stepping on the little guy. You know - the responsible, self-employed business owner, humane farmers who don't pump their animals full of antibiotics 'just because' and who don't add crap to the meat that we can't say, or wash it in bleach right before selling it.
(There are a few *grown up* words in her post, just so you know ahead of time.)
Michigan wants it to be illegal to raise heritage breeds of pigs. Yes, you read that right. The average person should not be allowed to raise pigs that are proven to thrive on open air, pasture land and sunshine. The average person should only be allowed to buy pigs raised by commercial outfits that live in tiny, cramped spaces with no room to roam and that get pumped full of antibiotics and hormones "just because."
This is beyond ridiculous. It's my land. If I'm within my land regulations (ie: out of city limits and livestock is allowed) if I want to raise good, clean, disease and medicine free meat for my family - get your nose out of my business! If the government (and read that as the big commercial pig growers that are pushing for this) win this you can bet they'll try it in other states and with other animals. I do NOT want my family's only choice for meat to be the medicine filled, extra fluid injected to plump up volume, dipped in bleach water stuff that comes in trays from the big grocery stores. No way!
To read it, click -> Krazo Acres
Then when you're done, follow her link to Bakers Green Acres and you'll get really mad.
We made fruit leather
Don't ask me why we haven't done this before. We own a dehydrator. We've dried all kinds of stuff in it, jerky, tomatoes, bananas, jalapenos, etc.
We took some of our applesauce and added a package of cherry sugar free jello mix to it. I had a sheet that you're supposed to use for soft stuff like that, so we used it. I had too much applesauce, though, so I put plastic wrap over two trays and spread the rest on that.
The plastic wrap trays finished first, by a few hours.
The kids love it.
I meant to take pictures for you, but you know how I am. I took a picture of the applesauce all mixed up but forgot to take one of it spread out on the trays, partly dried and dried.
Then I cut it up and the kids ate it. lol
Sorry!
We took some of our applesauce and added a package of cherry sugar free jello mix to it. I had a sheet that you're supposed to use for soft stuff like that, so we used it. I had too much applesauce, though, so I put plastic wrap over two trays and spread the rest on that.
The plastic wrap trays finished first, by a few hours.
The kids love it.
I meant to take pictures for you, but you know how I am. I took a picture of the applesauce all mixed up but forgot to take one of it spread out on the trays, partly dried and dried.
Then I cut it up and the kids ate it. lol
Sorry!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Another family death
I just found out that my Aunt A passed away over the weekend. She had cancer. I didn't know. When I was a kid someone in that side of the family was always *fueding* with someone else, so I can only remember one Christmas where everyone (I think, anyway) was together. After I got married and moved away they finally all started to get along, but I was then out of the loop.
So, this is the second aunt on that side (Dad's side) to die from cancer in a year's time. My Mom has had cancer twice, too. I always tell my doctors that this is why I request the screenings religiously, it's more a matter of when, not if, I get cancer with the history both sides have.
Anyway, in the same email I was also told that my Uncle (on that same side, so A's sister) is in the hospital and not doing well. He's fought heart issues for most of my life, probably a good 30 years. He's had stints and valve replacement and leaking blood vessels fixed and who knows what else. Now they say he's anemic and retaining water badly and they are concerned his organs may be starting to shut down.
I guess there's a good chance Uncle B will be next.
I'm glad they are all speaking now, just wish they had been when I was around, too. I wouldn't know most of them if I sat next to them on a bench.
So, this is the second aunt on that side (Dad's side) to die from cancer in a year's time. My Mom has had cancer twice, too. I always tell my doctors that this is why I request the screenings religiously, it's more a matter of when, not if, I get cancer with the history both sides have.
Anyway, in the same email I was also told that my Uncle (on that same side, so A's sister) is in the hospital and not doing well. He's fought heart issues for most of my life, probably a good 30 years. He's had stints and valve replacement and leaking blood vessels fixed and who knows what else. Now they say he's anemic and retaining water badly and they are concerned his organs may be starting to shut down.
I guess there's a good chance Uncle B will be next.
I'm glad they are all speaking now, just wish they had been when I was around, too. I wouldn't know most of them if I sat next to them on a bench.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Anyone go geocaching?
We've done with the boys for years now. They call it treasure hunting.
Well, the two younger boys call it treasure hunting. The older one DID, but now he's too old for that silliness, so he calls it geocaching.
Whatever, he still gets super excited when he finds one! lol.
We set out yesterday afternoon to find five. We found four of them. An unpredicted rain storm started moving in and the clouds messed up the GPS plus we're not tempting lightning, so we called it a day and headed home.
The neatest 'treasure' we saw in one yesterday, IMO, was a sand dollar.
I also found someone's sun glasses and left them near the parking area in hopes they might come back and look for them, but that doesn't count. lol
Well, the two younger boys call it treasure hunting. The older one DID, but now he's too old for that silliness, so he calls it geocaching.
Whatever, he still gets super excited when he finds one! lol.
We set out yesterday afternoon to find five. We found four of them. An unpredicted rain storm started moving in and the clouds messed up the GPS plus we're not tempting lightning, so we called it a day and headed home.
The neatest 'treasure' we saw in one yesterday, IMO, was a sand dollar.
I also found someone's sun glasses and left them near the parking area in hopes they might come back and look for them, but that doesn't count. lol
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Is it a man thing or a MY man thing?
We have a gathering to attend tomorrow night for a friend's birthday. We've known about it for about two weeks now and yes, it's been marked on the calendar.
Friday hubby calls from work and says that *so-and-so* (another guy at work) and his wife have invited us over for Sunday evening.
I told him that was nice, but we were going to be at the birthday party, remember?
Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.
Now - here is where the question lies:
If I were the one at work I'd have immediately gone over or called over to the guy's office and told him that, hey, I forgot, but we have a party to attend at that same time, sorry.
Did he do that?
You are correct. He did not.
A few minutes ago I was looking for wrapping paper for the present and hubby says I guess I should call *so-and-so,* huh?
WHAT???
You haven't told him that we can't come yet?
No, why?
What if they bought a bunch of food to cook or turned down plans of their own or something? You should have told him Friday.
Hubby: "He has my number, too."
Me: "Yeah, he used it to INVITE you. After that, it's on YOU."
Geesh.
I found the wrapping paper and left the room.
About 10 minutes later hubby comes in the living room:
"I told him we'd probably be there around 7:00 or so."
Let's see.
The party starts at 6:00. There will be dinner and general visiting and just relaxing to have a good time. They are planning on a bonfire AT DARK if weather allows. You know, 8:30-9:00 PM?
Excuse me while I go bang my head on the wall.
Mawmaw's other self-mis-diagnosis
Mawmaw says she gets blood clots. She says she had them so bad when she gave birth to her first child (a preemie who died as an infant, never left the hospital) that she couldn't walk and the doctor told her she'd never walk again.
I wasn't there. Her husband was there, but he's dead (from diabetes, natch) so we can't ask him.
I'm betting, based on what I know of her, that she passed the normal blood clots that happen when you give birth, saw them on her legs, remembered how they didn't let you out of bed right after you gave birth long ago, put 2 + 2 together over the years and came up with 13.
BUT
Based on what she'd said about the blood clots that happened when she was in her early 20s (and NEVER since then) a doctor who joined the office she went to in 1995 put her on blood thinners. A LOT of blood thinners. Let's keep it short by saying it caused issues. We (hubby and I) were in other states and Mawmaw's daughter (hubby's Mom) was still alive and living with Mawmaw at the time. None of them or the doctors questioned anything. She bruised all the time? She bled a LOT from a teeny cut? She falls down and gets cut quite often? Well, that's to be expected when you're on blood thinners, of course. You're on blood thinners because of the clots. The clots that hadn't happened in the 50 years since her first giving birth and this supposed clotting episode.
So, when she moved in with us I immediately moved her out of that office and to a doctor I knew as a friend and knew we could trust. We started cutting back on meds and she went from being on nine prescription meds. when she moved in to being on one prescription med, one med that you can buy over the counter for dizziness and an iron pill.
No more cholesterol pills, no more diabetic meds (she was on multiple), no more blood thinners. And her blood kept testing fine. They sent her to a heart and vascular specialist.....everything came back fine.
For three years she's been on no blood thinners. Guess what? No clots.
I really don't think there was ever a blood clotting issue to begin with but of course you can't tell her that. In fact, she shows the regular doctor and the foot doctor 'my clots' every time we're there. They all tell her the same thing....those are not clots, they are varicose veins.
But
Since she's so adamant that this happened almost 70 years ago, this doctor says, well, let's run a test. Let's see if she does have the MTHFR DNA mutation. She pipes up and says that she remembers a test being done on her legs that said she has that a long time ago.
1. It's a blood test, not a leg test.
2. She can't remember what city she lives in, but can remember these initials from years ago?
Whatever.
Run it.
If she does have it, it lends itself to other issues like chronic dehydration, so it will be good information to have as things progress. Plus, it's genetic, so it will be good information to have concerning my husband and our kids.
If she doesn't have it that's good info. to have, too. Will decrease her odds of certain things and the same for my husband and kids.
It took two weeks to get the results back, they just came in today:
Official wording:
No genetic clotting defect.
I know she could have clotting issues from other stuff, but knowing she doesn't have this is a great thing. I'm quite confident based on the fact that she's about the most sedentary person I've ever met and she's not had a confirmed blood clot in over 65 years that she doesn't have any clotting disorder, but I'm especially pleased to know she doesn't have this.
Next appt. we should get the dementia test results and official diagnosis. Will update when that happens.
I wasn't there. Her husband was there, but he's dead (from diabetes, natch) so we can't ask him.
I'm betting, based on what I know of her, that she passed the normal blood clots that happen when you give birth, saw them on her legs, remembered how they didn't let you out of bed right after you gave birth long ago, put 2 + 2 together over the years and came up with 13.
BUT
Based on what she'd said about the blood clots that happened when she was in her early 20s (and NEVER since then) a doctor who joined the office she went to in 1995 put her on blood thinners. A LOT of blood thinners. Let's keep it short by saying it caused issues. We (hubby and I) were in other states and Mawmaw's daughter (hubby's Mom) was still alive and living with Mawmaw at the time. None of them or the doctors questioned anything. She bruised all the time? She bled a LOT from a teeny cut? She falls down and gets cut quite often? Well, that's to be expected when you're on blood thinners, of course. You're on blood thinners because of the clots. The clots that hadn't happened in the 50 years since her first giving birth and this supposed clotting episode.
So, when she moved in with us I immediately moved her out of that office and to a doctor I knew as a friend and knew we could trust. We started cutting back on meds and she went from being on nine prescription meds. when she moved in to being on one prescription med, one med that you can buy over the counter for dizziness and an iron pill.
No more cholesterol pills, no more diabetic meds (she was on multiple), no more blood thinners. And her blood kept testing fine. They sent her to a heart and vascular specialist.....everything came back fine.
For three years she's been on no blood thinners. Guess what? No clots.
I really don't think there was ever a blood clotting issue to begin with but of course you can't tell her that. In fact, she shows the regular doctor and the foot doctor 'my clots' every time we're there. They all tell her the same thing....those are not clots, they are varicose veins.
But
Since she's so adamant that this happened almost 70 years ago, this doctor says, well, let's run a test. Let's see if she does have the MTHFR DNA mutation. She pipes up and says that she remembers a test being done on her legs that said she has that a long time ago.
1. It's a blood test, not a leg test.
2. She can't remember what city she lives in, but can remember these initials from years ago?
Whatever.
Run it.
If she does have it, it lends itself to other issues like chronic dehydration, so it will be good information to have as things progress. Plus, it's genetic, so it will be good information to have concerning my husband and our kids.
If she doesn't have it that's good info. to have, too. Will decrease her odds of certain things and the same for my husband and kids.
It took two weeks to get the results back, they just came in today:
Official wording:
No genetic clotting defect.
I know she could have clotting issues from other stuff, but knowing she doesn't have this is a great thing. I'm quite confident based on the fact that she's about the most sedentary person I've ever met and she's not had a confirmed blood clot in over 65 years that she doesn't have any clotting disorder, but I'm especially pleased to know she doesn't have this.
Next appt. we should get the dementia test results and official diagnosis. Will update when that happens.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Freezes
I know I'm not the only one who's had freezes the last several nights. I covered what I could and what needed to be...except for the fruit trees. There's no way to cover those (well, except my satsuma, I did cover it because it's in a pot). The peach and nectarine trees have small fruits on them already and the apples are in bloom.
I wonder if any of them are going to survive.
I wonder if any of them are going to survive.
Mawmaw medical stuff
OK, to continue some now, because it really gets overwhelming dealing with it all, all of the time.
During the dementia test she did OK, I guess. She knew the date, state, her name and birthday, that kind of stuff. She didn't know the county, city we live in, how to spell the word *world* backwards and several other things.
The biggest one, though, was after the test when he's checking her leg wound to make sure that the diabetic healing cream is working and she pipes up and tells him that until that very minute she never knew she had diabetes.
You could have knocked me off the chair. She was on diabetes meds. for roughly 12-13 years before she moved in with us. She's not on meds. now because it's dietary controlled for the last three years (since moving in with us) but she goes to a foot specialist.....because she's a diabetic. She has special shoes that the insurance company provides......because she's a diabetic. They pull A1C tests on her to check her blood...because, well you get the idea.
No idea, she says.
Wow.
Either she was screwing with him to get some drama (because she loves attention) or things may be a LOT worse than I thought.
Of course, this is also ignoring the fact that her mother died quite young and when she died her hands, feet and lower legs were 'solid black and hard as a rock.' Sounds like diabetes to me.
Nope, according to Mawmaw, her mom died of breast cancer. No matter how many doctors have told her, showed her pictures, information and discussed how she has the hereditary kind, it doesn't matter - her mother didn't have diabetes.
(No matter what she says, her mom did have it, she has it, her daughter had it and died from complications from it......yeah, it IS a family thing.)
I bring up the breast cancer self-mis-diagnosis only because it ties in with another self-diagnosis she has.
Thanks for the very kind words on my last post, ladies. It does make me feel better knowing that others understand and I'm comforted to know there are prayers being said over this. Thank you, truly.
During the dementia test she did OK, I guess. She knew the date, state, her name and birthday, that kind of stuff. She didn't know the county, city we live in, how to spell the word *world* backwards and several other things.
The biggest one, though, was after the test when he's checking her leg wound to make sure that the diabetic healing cream is working and she pipes up and tells him that until that very minute she never knew she had diabetes.
You could have knocked me off the chair. She was on diabetes meds. for roughly 12-13 years before she moved in with us. She's not on meds. now because it's dietary controlled for the last three years (since moving in with us) but she goes to a foot specialist.....because she's a diabetic. She has special shoes that the insurance company provides......because she's a diabetic. They pull A1C tests on her to check her blood...because, well you get the idea.
No idea, she says.
Wow.
Either she was screwing with him to get some drama (because she loves attention) or things may be a LOT worse than I thought.
Of course, this is also ignoring the fact that her mother died quite young and when she died her hands, feet and lower legs were 'solid black and hard as a rock.' Sounds like diabetes to me.
Nope, according to Mawmaw, her mom died of breast cancer. No matter how many doctors have told her, showed her pictures, information and discussed how she has the hereditary kind, it doesn't matter - her mother didn't have diabetes.
(No matter what she says, her mom did have it, she has it, her daughter had it and died from complications from it......yeah, it IS a family thing.)
I bring up the breast cancer self-mis-diagnosis only because it ties in with another self-diagnosis she has.
Thanks for the very kind words on my last post, ladies. It does make me feel better knowing that others understand and I'm comforted to know there are prayers being said over this. Thank you, truly.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
More about Mawmaw
I'll try to keep this as short as possible, but it's hard with everyone not knowing the back story.
About 5 days ago she comes to me telling me her leg is just 'thobbing' (what she calls throbbing) and she has no idea why. I make her let me look and, hey, you've scraped the skin off a patch and it's infected. When did you do that? Oh, about a week ago. *Sigh* Treated it at home for two days (over the weekend) and then took her in. Her dr. wasn't available, so had them get her in with mine. LOVE that man. Prescribed her some stuff to help heal wounds on diabetics and called me out in the hall to find out what the other dr. had been doing about her obvious dementia issues. NOTHING. I've been asking, begging and doing everything I can to get them to test/document, etc.
So, my dr. is now her dr. We've been back for a few more appts. and have more to go, but at least I feel like we're making progress. Yay!
He gave her a short test involving some memorization, answering some questions, drawing some shapes that overlapped, etc. Will get the results from that next time. He also did quite a bit of blood work. Most of it came back fine, sugar (A1C) was fine, so was iron, B12, liver function and a bunch of other stuff. Cholesterol was a bit high but nothing he's worried about at this time, especially because she hadn't fasted for that blood draw because we didn't know they were going to draw blood that day.
What he did find was that her Vitamin D is practically non-existent. Bad news in that you need it, but good news in that it might explain a bit of the memory, mixing stuff up, getting confused stuff. I had given the nurse a short letter to give him before he came in the room giving him details on some of the stuff she does, the stealing stuff, what I call organized hoarding, telling lies about how she's treated, trying to sneak out of the house by asking neighbors to take her six miles to town and drop her off (no, she couldn't direct anyone back to our house, has no cell phone and has no idea what our number or address is), etc. Explained that she, I think, made up her medical history to a certain point, etc. I KNOW she lies to doctors about stuff because I bust her on it at darn near every appt. She won't come out of her room unless you practically drag her out (unless you promise to take her to her precious Walmart, then she'll beat you to the car! lol). Wants books to read but refuses to go into the library and pick some out, etc.
He's putting her on a prescription Vitamin D med. to work on that. I told her, see, there's another reason you need to get out of your room and come outside with us, so you can get more Vitamin D. She then tells him how this just doesn't make any sense because "I'm an outside person, doctor. I LOVE BEING OUTSIDE!"
Lying. Through. Her. Teeth.
Yes, I busted her. She got all mad, made annoyed noises and then made up an excuse for herself.
It's too cold here.
Always.
Yes, you read that right, it's too cold in this state for her to go outside.
Ever.
Summer of over 100 degrees......too cold.
Right. That's the issue.
Will tell you more next time.
About 5 days ago she comes to me telling me her leg is just 'thobbing' (what she calls throbbing) and she has no idea why. I make her let me look and, hey, you've scraped the skin off a patch and it's infected. When did you do that? Oh, about a week ago. *Sigh* Treated it at home for two days (over the weekend) and then took her in. Her dr. wasn't available, so had them get her in with mine. LOVE that man. Prescribed her some stuff to help heal wounds on diabetics and called me out in the hall to find out what the other dr. had been doing about her obvious dementia issues. NOTHING. I've been asking, begging and doing everything I can to get them to test/document, etc.
So, my dr. is now her dr. We've been back for a few more appts. and have more to go, but at least I feel like we're making progress. Yay!
He gave her a short test involving some memorization, answering some questions, drawing some shapes that overlapped, etc. Will get the results from that next time. He also did quite a bit of blood work. Most of it came back fine, sugar (A1C) was fine, so was iron, B12, liver function and a bunch of other stuff. Cholesterol was a bit high but nothing he's worried about at this time, especially because she hadn't fasted for that blood draw because we didn't know they were going to draw blood that day.
What he did find was that her Vitamin D is practically non-existent. Bad news in that you need it, but good news in that it might explain a bit of the memory, mixing stuff up, getting confused stuff. I had given the nurse a short letter to give him before he came in the room giving him details on some of the stuff she does, the stealing stuff, what I call organized hoarding, telling lies about how she's treated, trying to sneak out of the house by asking neighbors to take her six miles to town and drop her off (no, she couldn't direct anyone back to our house, has no cell phone and has no idea what our number or address is), etc. Explained that she, I think, made up her medical history to a certain point, etc. I KNOW she lies to doctors about stuff because I bust her on it at darn near every appt. She won't come out of her room unless you practically drag her out (unless you promise to take her to her precious Walmart, then she'll beat you to the car! lol). Wants books to read but refuses to go into the library and pick some out, etc.
He's putting her on a prescription Vitamin D med. to work on that. I told her, see, there's another reason you need to get out of your room and come outside with us, so you can get more Vitamin D. She then tells him how this just doesn't make any sense because "I'm an outside person, doctor. I LOVE BEING OUTSIDE!"
Lying. Through. Her. Teeth.
Yes, I busted her. She got all mad, made annoyed noises and then made up an excuse for herself.
It's too cold here.
Always.
Yes, you read that right, it's too cold in this state for her to go outside.
Ever.
Summer of over 100 degrees......too cold.
Right. That's the issue.
Will tell you more next time.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Ick!
A tick!
OK, not A tick.......lots of ticks.
Yet another thing that having a mild winter has messed up. It's early in the year but there are ticks everywhere already. We've removed 7 off of us so far this year plus found two on the floor in the house. Only 3 of those were from the days we spent walking in the woods. The rest were after being at the city park, at a state park campground (read about this below) and one that I guess came from the back yard.
A Scouting camp out had to be postponed until they could reserve a new location because the first site was covered with ticks.
If you're outside at all, be sure you do your tick checks regularly!
OK, not A tick.......lots of ticks.
Yet another thing that having a mild winter has messed up. It's early in the year but there are ticks everywhere already. We've removed 7 off of us so far this year plus found two on the floor in the house. Only 3 of those were from the days we spent walking in the woods. The rest were after being at the city park, at a state park campground (read about this below) and one that I guess came from the back yard.
A Scouting camp out had to be postponed until they could reserve a new location because the first site was covered with ticks.
If you're outside at all, be sure you do your tick checks regularly!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The rest of the haul
We practice Leave No Trace principals on outings.
Leave No Trace is what Scouts and schools call it now. When I was growing up my parents just called it cleaning up after yourself and whatever jerks came before you.
It's really sad the amount of trash we drug out of the (public access) woods with us.
Beer cans
food wrappers
fishing line
bait boxes and bags
store bags
empty shotgun shells
The thing that made me most mad, though, was that someone had gone out and set up a bait trap to try and gather sheds from the deer. It was obvious that they had poured some kind of bait on the ground from the amount of traffic that area had gotten (prints all over). They had then taken some of that orange plastic fencing like you see at construction sites and wrapped it all over around and on top of the bait. Our best guess is that they did it when the deer were shedding their antlers and they were hoping they'd get caught in the fencing while they tried to get to the bait and they could just pick them up right there. I have no idea if it worked or not, but they left it there when they were done and we found it because we saw the orange as we were walking around and went over to see what it was.
People are REALLY jerks sometimes. Why walk around looking for sheds following deer trails like the other guys when you can maybe increase your odds by doing something illegal (you can't bait for anything here) and as a bonus, put some animals at risk of getting entangled, too.
So we drug all of that crap out with us, too. I hope they'd be ticked to know that their poles and fencing are now part of my rabbit defense system in the new area where I planted cucumbers and peas this year. So, thanks, jerks, for buying that stuff, I hope it cost you a bunch! By the way, we stopped and reported what area it was in, too. Hopefully they can keep an eye on it next year and catch the jerk.
Leave No Trace is what Scouts and schools call it now. When I was growing up my parents just called it cleaning up after yourself and whatever jerks came before you.
It's really sad the amount of trash we drug out of the (public access) woods with us.
Beer cans
food wrappers
fishing line
bait boxes and bags
store bags
empty shotgun shells
The thing that made me most mad, though, was that someone had gone out and set up a bait trap to try and gather sheds from the deer. It was obvious that they had poured some kind of bait on the ground from the amount of traffic that area had gotten (prints all over). They had then taken some of that orange plastic fencing like you see at construction sites and wrapped it all over around and on top of the bait. Our best guess is that they did it when the deer were shedding their antlers and they were hoping they'd get caught in the fencing while they tried to get to the bait and they could just pick them up right there. I have no idea if it worked or not, but they left it there when they were done and we found it because we saw the orange as we were walking around and went over to see what it was.
People are REALLY jerks sometimes. Why walk around looking for sheds following deer trails like the other guys when you can maybe increase your odds by doing something illegal (you can't bait for anything here) and as a bonus, put some animals at risk of getting entangled, too.
So we drug all of that crap out with us, too. I hope they'd be ticked to know that their poles and fencing are now part of my rabbit defense system in the new area where I planted cucumbers and peas this year. So, thanks, jerks, for buying that stuff, I hope it cost you a bunch! By the way, we stopped and reported what area it was in, too. Hopefully they can keep an eye on it next year and catch the jerk.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Morel hunting
It's morel season. The odd winter may or may not have messed up morel season, it depends on who you ask. Time will tell, I guess.
I'd never even heard of morels until we moved up here. It's a BIG thing here. Highly prized for eating but also highly priced if you want to sell some.
We went morel hunting. Of course, we have no idea what we are doing, so basically we went walking in the woods, which is a favorite thing to do for all of us.
We went out two days. The first day we spent probably 3 hours walking and looking. The second day we spent probably 6 hours out walking.
Our grand total:
One yellow morel. That's not my picture, I got it online. I didn't have a camera with me.
Yep, one morel.
We found some gorgeous creeks and two ponds, saw squirrels and rabbits and tons of deer tracks. We also had picnics and just spent time outside enjoying the weather, nature and each other. Wonderful.
Lest you feel sorry for us because of our small 'haul,' here is a partial list of the treasures the boys brought home:
a deer jaw bone complete with teeth
3 deer vertebrae
turtle shell
old Coke bottle
shiny rocks
fishing bobbers that had been caught in trees at the creeks
Oh! I have to tell you this story, too.
We told the boys we were going to go mushroom hunting. Youngest son replies:
"But, Dad, I can't shoot a gun!"
I'd never even heard of morels until we moved up here. It's a BIG thing here. Highly prized for eating but also highly priced if you want to sell some.
We went morel hunting. Of course, we have no idea what we are doing, so basically we went walking in the woods, which is a favorite thing to do for all of us.
We went out two days. The first day we spent probably 3 hours walking and looking. The second day we spent probably 6 hours out walking.
Our grand total:
One yellow morel. That's not my picture, I got it online. I didn't have a camera with me.
Yep, one morel.
We found some gorgeous creeks and two ponds, saw squirrels and rabbits and tons of deer tracks. We also had picnics and just spent time outside enjoying the weather, nature and each other. Wonderful.
Lest you feel sorry for us because of our small 'haul,' here is a partial list of the treasures the boys brought home:
a deer jaw bone complete with teeth
3 deer vertebrae
turtle shell
old Coke bottle
shiny rocks
fishing bobbers that had been caught in trees at the creeks
Oh! I have to tell you this story, too.
We told the boys we were going to go mushroom hunting. Youngest son replies:
"But, Dad, I can't shoot a gun!"
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Satsuma Orange
Did I ever tell you I have a Satsuma Orange tree?
Well, I do. I bought it a couple of years ago at the end of season sale. It had oranges on it and it was getting cold so I was afraid to take it out of the pot and plant it then for fear I'd shock it, lose the oranges and kill it. My plan was that I'd plant it in the Spring.
Then we got orders to move. At the time we had three rooms in our house torn down to studs because we were updating/redoing it ourselves and this move was not supposed to happen.
What did I do?
I moved the tree with us. I knew if I planted it and left it there on it's own it would likely die from no one taking care of it and monitoring it so, hey, if I bring it in a pot and it dies, same thing, right?
Well, it didn't die. I didn't plant it up here because this area's winters are too cold for it and I knew it wouldn't make it. Well, that, and the fact that it wasn't our place, so I didn't have the right to plant anything like a tree, anyway.
It didn't make any fruit the year after that move. I'd had it in the house during the winter and I think it was too warm to trigger it to set fruit. That's my theory, anyway. I know nothing about citrus trees, so who knows! lol
Then we moved again. Still too cold for it to be outside year round. I put it in the unheated garage during the really cold times this Winter.
It's put on some new growth in the last few months and I knew I needed to prune it.
Isn't it funny how you can look at someone else's tree and think, "Oh, I'd prune that limb and that limb," but when it's your tree you're unsure? Like I had no questions or qualms about pruning the peach tree that's in the yard here. The owner said it was fine if I pruned it so I did. It looks good, if I do say so myself. They had actually wired a limb to another limb because it had split from fruit weight years ago. That lower limb shouldn't have been there to begin with, the angle was too great from trunk to limb, even just looking at it. So it's gone now. :)
I did prune it but I'm left with one question that I'd like your opinion on.
This is what it looked like before:
This is what it looks like after:
See that middle limb? Shouldn't I whack the top off of it? Yes? No?
I'm not going to do it now because I actually have three little bloom buds out there so far (none of which are on that part) and I'm going to be thrilled if I can get a couple of oranges up here. I have to re-pot it, too, to get it back straight.
Well, I do. I bought it a couple of years ago at the end of season sale. It had oranges on it and it was getting cold so I was afraid to take it out of the pot and plant it then for fear I'd shock it, lose the oranges and kill it. My plan was that I'd plant it in the Spring.
Then we got orders to move. At the time we had three rooms in our house torn down to studs because we were updating/redoing it ourselves and this move was not supposed to happen.
What did I do?
I moved the tree with us. I knew if I planted it and left it there on it's own it would likely die from no one taking care of it and monitoring it so, hey, if I bring it in a pot and it dies, same thing, right?
Well, it didn't die. I didn't plant it up here because this area's winters are too cold for it and I knew it wouldn't make it. Well, that, and the fact that it wasn't our place, so I didn't have the right to plant anything like a tree, anyway.
It didn't make any fruit the year after that move. I'd had it in the house during the winter and I think it was too warm to trigger it to set fruit. That's my theory, anyway. I know nothing about citrus trees, so who knows! lol
Then we moved again. Still too cold for it to be outside year round. I put it in the unheated garage during the really cold times this Winter.
It's put on some new growth in the last few months and I knew I needed to prune it.
Isn't it funny how you can look at someone else's tree and think, "Oh, I'd prune that limb and that limb," but when it's your tree you're unsure? Like I had no questions or qualms about pruning the peach tree that's in the yard here. The owner said it was fine if I pruned it so I did. It looks good, if I do say so myself. They had actually wired a limb to another limb because it had split from fruit weight years ago. That lower limb shouldn't have been there to begin with, the angle was too great from trunk to limb, even just looking at it. So it's gone now. :)
I did prune it but I'm left with one question that I'd like your opinion on.
This is what it looked like before:
This is what it looks like after:
See that middle limb? Shouldn't I whack the top off of it? Yes? No?
I'm not going to do it now because I actually have three little bloom buds out there so far (none of which are on that part) and I'm going to be thrilled if I can get a couple of oranges up here. I have to re-pot it, too, to get it back straight.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Before and After - My *New* Sewing Chair
It's new to me, anyway.
I bought this chair at a Goodwill store in the next town over.
This is what it looked like when I bought it.
(I now know that the pattern was originally light green but all exposed parts were yellow when I bought it.)
This is what it looks like now.
It's my *new* sewing chair.
I got tired of dragging a dining room chair around.
This is what the 'stuffing' was made of.
Guess how I found that out and how big of a mess it made.
(I took it apart in the living room, of course!)
Everything down to the strapping was pretty much dry rotted so I took it all off and started over.
Now if I can keep the kids and cat out of it, maybe I can use it for sewing!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Copycat, that's me!
Ok, a while back Carolyn Renee and Rhiannon at Krazo Acres made dandelion fritters.
I'd never heard of making fritters with dandelions. I've eaten the greens in salads. I knew you could make jelly, although it doesn't peak my interest. I knew you could make wine, but I don't like wine, lol. So, basically, I've been leaving the flowers alone and just using the greens.
Until this year. When I learned about fritters!
Fried dough with dandelions? I can try that!
We picked dandelions. (We picked flowers for the fritters and greens for our dinner salad.)
I made up the batter following CR's instructions. I'm a messy cook, as you can see. lol
Mine didn't turn out as pretty as CR's did, but I was happy with them. Oh! I must admit, the first few were quite flat so I added a tiny bit of baking powder to the remaining batter to poof them up a bit. :)
Then we tried them. I put powdered sugar on some for the boys. To me they taste like the funnel cakes we used to get at the county fair. Except, of course, that they have dandelions in them.
The verdict?
I liked them, hubby liked them, one son liked them, one son tolerated them and one didn't like them. What was sort of funny to me was that the one that didn't like them was the one that was the most excited about making and trying them! Poor guy!
Thanks for the inspiration, Carolyn Renee and Rhiannon!!!
I'd never heard of making fritters with dandelions. I've eaten the greens in salads. I knew you could make jelly, although it doesn't peak my interest. I knew you could make wine, but I don't like wine, lol. So, basically, I've been leaving the flowers alone and just using the greens.
Until this year. When I learned about fritters!
Fried dough with dandelions? I can try that!
We picked dandelions. (We picked flowers for the fritters and greens for our dinner salad.)
I made up the batter following CR's instructions. I'm a messy cook, as you can see. lol
Mine didn't turn out as pretty as CR's did, but I was happy with them. Oh! I must admit, the first few were quite flat so I added a tiny bit of baking powder to the remaining batter to poof them up a bit. :)
Then we tried them. I put powdered sugar on some for the boys. To me they taste like the funnel cakes we used to get at the county fair. Except, of course, that they have dandelions in them.
The verdict?
I liked them, hubby liked them, one son liked them, one son tolerated them and one didn't like them. What was sort of funny to me was that the one that didn't like them was the one that was the most excited about making and trying them! Poor guy!
Thanks for the inspiration, Carolyn Renee and Rhiannon!!!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
On Rappel! (AKA Why not throw your children off a 42 foot wall?)
We recently had the chance for our Scouts to go to a fun filled day of activities on a military installation. They rode in vehicles, rode in simulators, shot guns in simulators, checked out equipment and a helicopter and asked 888 gazillion questions.
They also got to use the training tower for rappeling.
This is the tower. It's 42 feet at the top, we were told.
We were double booked with another group and they had exactly enough riggings for each boy, so us adults lost out. I cannot tell you how bummed I am about that! I REALLY wanted to try it and that's coming from someone who's not a daredevil. It just looked like a blast, pretty much idiot proof and the rappel masters were great guys, funny enough to put everyone at ease but very calming and helpful with the few (VERY few) boys who were nervous about it.
This is my youngest kiddo. He doesn't weigh enough to pull the rope harness on his own, so they rigged a rappel master up behind him to anchor him. This is the practice wall. He only got to do the practice wall (no way to rig him in tandem for the big wall) but he had an absolute blast.
The kiddo on the right is my middle child. I think he'd have jumped off the wall face first if they'd have let him. HE LOVED THIS! I think he went down it four times before we made the boys stop because the poor rappel masters were there volunteering their time and we were sure they wanted to go home at some point. lol This picture is just so you can see how small kiddos look up there when you are on the ground.
Here he is coming down.
This is my oldest on one of his trips down. He had a great time, too. He took great glee that ALL of the younger Scouts did it with no problems and the only nervous ones were the older Scouts. lol
Monday, March 19, 2012
Beautiful lately, isn't it?
I've got peas, onion sets and lettuces in the garden. I also have some strawberries in pots on the porch. The trees are all budding out (which probably means a later freeze and no fruit, bah!) and we've been enjoying the weather.
I'm especially enjoying hanging clothes outside and not running A/C or heat!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Phone call with a pre-schooler
My little guy has pneumonia. His grandmother called to check on him last night.
Here's how theinterrogation phone call went:
She asked how he felt.
I'm fine. I have double amonia. (obviously he heard SOME of what they said when reading the x-rays..lol)
That was the last thing she got to say because then he took over the questioning.
Can you read books, Nana?
Can you play a guitar?
Do you have a pencil sharpener at your house?
What about pictures? Do you have pictures on your walls?
Do you still have two dogs?
Are there mud puddles there now?
OK,I'mdonenowIloveyoubye! (hands phone to me)
Here's how the
She asked how he felt.
I'm fine. I have double amonia. (obviously he heard SOME of what they said when reading the x-rays..lol)
That was the last thing she got to say because then he took over the questioning.
Can you read books, Nana?
Can you play a guitar?
Do you have a pencil sharpener at your house?
What about pictures? Do you have pictures on your walls?
Do you still have two dogs?
Are there mud puddles there now?
OK,I'mdonenowIloveyoubye! (hands phone to me)
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Mother's Day
Yes, I know Mother's Day is like 67 days away. (There's a gadget to tell you everything on the internet, isn't there?)
Doesn't matter.
I usually don't have a request for Mother's Day. I'm not picky, I'm not big on getting gifts just because someone decided we should get things on that day.
This year, though, this year is different.
I know exactly what I want.
The boys are going to clean my car out. All the crap they've drug in there - OUT. All the dirt - OUT.
Then they (with hubbies help) are going to wash and wax it for me.
I can't remember the last time it was *really* waxed, as in, by hand. It's old, it hauls them all over, it's still running strong and darn it - I, um, IT deserves it! :)
My memory isn't as strong as the car........so will someone please remind me of what I decided on when it gets closer to Mother's Day? HA!
Doesn't matter.
I usually don't have a request for Mother's Day. I'm not picky, I'm not big on getting gifts just because someone decided we should get things on that day.
This year, though, this year is different.
I know exactly what I want.
The boys are going to clean my car out. All the crap they've drug in there - OUT. All the dirt - OUT.
Then they (with hubbies help) are going to wash and wax it for me.
I can't remember the last time it was *really* waxed, as in, by hand. It's old, it hauls them all over, it's still running strong and darn it - I, um, IT deserves it! :)
My memory isn't as strong as the car........so will someone please remind me of what I decided on when it gets closer to Mother's Day? HA!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Can't wait to hear the update
I have a son who's moving up to Boy Scouts soon. He's in a den with a great bunch of kids: friendly, helpful, good students (and I mean that they all work hard at school and behave, not that they are all A students or speak six languages), polite, just all around fun and nice to be around.
This weekend several of them got together to camp out and play in the woods and 'rough it.' There are five of them out there together. We dropped them off with their sleeping bags, clothes, MREs (they LOVE those things...lol) and water. They were camping close enough to one's house that they could easily walk over and sleep inside if they got too cold, but they were adamant that they were sleeping outside (no tents taken). Temps were in the 40s and BEAUTIFUL during the day and down in the 20s at night this weekend.
I know they are making memories that will last forever and I know they are having an absolute blast.
I cannot wait to hear all about it later today. :)
This weekend several of them got together to camp out and play in the woods and 'rough it.' There are five of them out there together. We dropped them off with their sleeping bags, clothes, MREs (they LOVE those things...lol) and water. They were camping close enough to one's house that they could easily walk over and sleep inside if they got too cold, but they were adamant that they were sleeping outside (no tents taken). Temps were in the 40s and BEAUTIFUL during the day and down in the 20s at night this weekend.
I know they are making memories that will last forever and I know they are having an absolute blast.
I cannot wait to hear all about it later today. :)
Monday, February 13, 2012
Excuse me while I whine
Ever have one of those months?
In no particular order:
I want to PLANT stuff!
Sick of sick kids.
And a sick hubby.
I need to have an outpatient surgery and hubby's work is beyond ridiculous right now, so it's going to have to wait, just no option on that. On top of that, they do these types of surgery on one particular day of the week and it happens to be one of the two days of the week that I have an obligation......that day of the week, every week. The next day is the second day. lol
My vehicle has to go in the shop. Dreading hearing that $. Was hoping it was just the oil sensor but I think we're beyond that...so maybe the oil pump? It is 12 years old, so something had to break sometime, I know, but still.... Guess I know what the tax return will be going for.
Mawmaw's drama. Can I just say how much I can't STAND drama?!?! She had a checkup today. Blood sugar level was fine, her A1C was fine, blood pressure was fine, no need to adjust any meds. Great, right?
Should have been. I kid you not, though, she went from being just fine, giggling with my youngest son to the SECOND the doctor walked into the room looking all gloomy. She's telling him how bad she feels, she's 'had this cold the whole time I've lived here and I can't get rid of it.' Yeah, you've had a cold for a year and a half. Never mind that this man sees you every three months and knows darn well that's a lie. So he checks her, ask how she's eating and drinking, she lies to him about it, I bust her out and tell him the truth. I told him she ate 1/2 of what I gave her for breakfast and threw the rest away. She told me she ate lunch while I was out of the house but considering the fact that there were no dirty dishes anywhere, that was a lie. I KNOW she didn't eat dinner because she was in bed asleep at 4:00, wouldn't get up to eat at 6:00 and I wasn't in the mood to mess with her because I'd have said something not nice at that point. He lectures her about needing to eat and drink without me having to force her or fight with her. She tells him she couldn't eat yesterday, everything was coming back up. I was out of the house for about an hour. She was NOT throwing up yesterday. In fact, she's only gotten sick to her stomach once since she lived with us and that was her own fault for eating a bunch of sweets. So he says, oh, you've been sick to your stomach? "Noooooo." I swear, you can't even keep your lies straight for 20 seconds!
He thinks she's a tiny bit dehydrated, no surprise there. Not bad, but he wants us to buy a big bottle of Gatorade or G2 and for her to drink it over today and tomorrow.
I go buy that after we leave the doctor, take it in her room and 'pop' the top so she can turn the lid and open it (no hand strength to crack the plastic lid open on her own). I remind her what he said, you have to drink 1/2 today and 1/2 tomorrow. Just keep it in here for now and we'll put it in the fridge later on.
OK.
I go to the garage to get something out of the freezer for dinner and come back in and the stupid bottle is in the kitchen on the counter. Completely full.
I'm writing to you all here for a bit because if I go in there with it right now I'm liable to dump it on her head! I don't think that's the hydration the doctor had in mind. ;) lol
Thanks for listening, folks. :)
In no particular order:
I want to PLANT stuff!
Sick of sick kids.
And a sick hubby.
I need to have an outpatient surgery and hubby's work is beyond ridiculous right now, so it's going to have to wait, just no option on that. On top of that, they do these types of surgery on one particular day of the week and it happens to be one of the two days of the week that I have an obligation......that day of the week, every week. The next day is the second day. lol
My vehicle has to go in the shop. Dreading hearing that $. Was hoping it was just the oil sensor but I think we're beyond that...so maybe the oil pump? It is 12 years old, so something had to break sometime, I know, but still.... Guess I know what the tax return will be going for.
Mawmaw's drama. Can I just say how much I can't STAND drama?!?! She had a checkup today. Blood sugar level was fine, her A1C was fine, blood pressure was fine, no need to adjust any meds. Great, right?
Should have been. I kid you not, though, she went from being just fine, giggling with my youngest son to the SECOND the doctor walked into the room looking all gloomy. She's telling him how bad she feels, she's 'had this cold the whole time I've lived here and I can't get rid of it.' Yeah, you've had a cold for a year and a half. Never mind that this man sees you every three months and knows darn well that's a lie. So he checks her, ask how she's eating and drinking, she lies to him about it, I bust her out and tell him the truth. I told him she ate 1/2 of what I gave her for breakfast and threw the rest away. She told me she ate lunch while I was out of the house but considering the fact that there were no dirty dishes anywhere, that was a lie. I KNOW she didn't eat dinner because she was in bed asleep at 4:00, wouldn't get up to eat at 6:00 and I wasn't in the mood to mess with her because I'd have said something not nice at that point. He lectures her about needing to eat and drink without me having to force her or fight with her. She tells him she couldn't eat yesterday, everything was coming back up. I was out of the house for about an hour. She was NOT throwing up yesterday. In fact, she's only gotten sick to her stomach once since she lived with us and that was her own fault for eating a bunch of sweets. So he says, oh, you've been sick to your stomach? "Noooooo." I swear, you can't even keep your lies straight for 20 seconds!
He thinks she's a tiny bit dehydrated, no surprise there. Not bad, but he wants us to buy a big bottle of Gatorade or G2 and for her to drink it over today and tomorrow.
I go buy that after we leave the doctor, take it in her room and 'pop' the top so she can turn the lid and open it (no hand strength to crack the plastic lid open on her own). I remind her what he said, you have to drink 1/2 today and 1/2 tomorrow. Just keep it in here for now and we'll put it in the fridge later on.
OK.
I go to the garage to get something out of the freezer for dinner and come back in and the stupid bottle is in the kitchen on the counter. Completely full.
I'm writing to you all here for a bit because if I go in there with it right now I'm liable to dump it on her head! I don't think that's the hydration the doctor had in mind. ;) lol
Thanks for listening, folks. :)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Spelling bee
I have a friend who's going to college and she was working on a paper on her laptop at church while waiting on a child's activity to end. I walked by and she asked me how many qs there are in acquire.
Me: ???? Um, one. (Is there any word with more than one???)
Her: No, I tried that and it still says it's wrong.
Me: You know there's a c in there, too, right?
Her: Really?
Me: Yes, maybe that's the problem. Acqu.....
Her: Nope, still wrong. It must have more than one q.
Me: (Trying not to laugh) Let me look.
I walk over.......
Me: Oh! You need an i, too. A-c-q-u-i-r-e
Her: That's is! Wow, that really looks funny!
As opposed to acqquire? lol
Then I taught her the neat trick of right clicking on the underlined word to get suggestions of how to spell it correctly. :)
Me: ???? Um, one. (Is there any word with more than one???)
Her: No, I tried that and it still says it's wrong.
Me: You know there's a c in there, too, right?
Her: Really?
Me: Yes, maybe that's the problem. Acqu.....
Her: Nope, still wrong. It must have more than one q.
Me: (Trying not to laugh) Let me look.
I walk over.......
Me: Oh! You need an i, too. A-c-q-u-i-r-e
Her: That's is! Wow, that really looks funny!
As opposed to acqquire? lol
Then I taught her the neat trick of right clicking on the underlined word to get suggestions of how to spell it correctly. :)
Monday, January 30, 2012
Well, that's logical
Yesterday evening we had to be out of the house at our normal dinner time. I sent hubby to tell Mawmaw that she HAD to eat dinner but we weren't going to be here when she did. Plenty of left overs and sandwich stuff, cereal, soup, etc.
He knocks on her door and she says come in, so he does.
She's in bed, had been asleep.
He tells her that we are leaving for a couple of hours, she HAS to eat something for dinner and lists a bunch of options for her.
Her response?
"I can't eat now, it's only 4:30. It's too early to eat."
Him: "You don't have to eat now, you just have to eat something for dinner."
Her: "Oh, OK."
Ummm, anyone else see an issue here?
It's too early for her to eat dinner but it's NOT too early for her to be in bed asleep????
And no, she didn't eat. This morning when I called her on it she lied and said she ate leftover mashed potatoes and gravy from the night before.
Yeah, well, that would be pretty amazing considering I sent all of the left overs from that meal with Hubby to work for lunch.......there were no potatoes and gravy in there to eat!
Grrrr.
He knocks on her door and she says come in, so he does.
She's in bed, had been asleep.
He tells her that we are leaving for a couple of hours, she HAS to eat something for dinner and lists a bunch of options for her.
Her response?
"I can't eat now, it's only 4:30. It's too early to eat."
Him: "You don't have to eat now, you just have to eat something for dinner."
Her: "Oh, OK."
Ummm, anyone else see an issue here?
It's too early for her to eat dinner but it's NOT too early for her to be in bed asleep????
And no, she didn't eat. This morning when I called her on it she lied and said she ate leftover mashed potatoes and gravy from the night before.
Yeah, well, that would be pretty amazing considering I sent all of the left overs from that meal with Hubby to work for lunch.......there were no potatoes and gravy in there to eat!
Grrrr.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
New USDA planting zones
The USDA has revised the planting zones for the first time since 1990. The story is here if you want to read it.
If you go to this page you will find the new and old zone maps with a slider bar, so you can slide it back and forth to see the difference in your area between the old map and the new one.
I think pretty much everyone that's changing is going up a number/partial number. We did.
If you go to this page you will find the new and old zone maps with a slider bar, so you can slide it back and forth to see the difference in your area between the old map and the new one.
I think pretty much everyone that's changing is going up a number/partial number. We did.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Warm babies
Remember when I wouldn't show you everything I was working on?
Well, I'm finally done! They are in a box on the way to their new home.
A very good friend (and fellow military wife) had twins. I wanted to honor her and them by making them baby quilts.
Hers:
His:
(The parts I blurred have personal info, so I took it out.)
Now I just have to sit and worry until I know they arrived safely.
Well, I'm finally done! They are in a box on the way to their new home.
A very good friend (and fellow military wife) had twins. I wanted to honor her and them by making them baby quilts.
Hers:
His:
(The parts I blurred have personal info, so I took it out.)
Now I just have to sit and worry until I know they arrived safely.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Random Ramblings
Some Mawmaw-isms for you:
I hope no one in the whole world EVER has toe pain like this. It's horrible and I don't think anyone else could take it.
The horrible pain that no one else in the world could possibly stand is a corn. They've shaved it down and given her some little pads to wear next to that toe to shield it. They also told her to stop buying shoes that are TOO NARROW because that crowds the toes together, but she just won't accept that she needs a 'wide' shoe, so she won't go buy new ones. I bought her new ones for Christmas. She refuses to wear them.
My little guy is coughing. He's the one dealing with pertussis right now. (Side note: pretty sure hubby has it, too. Yay.) Her diagnosis? "He's got that summer virus that's going around."
No, I do not know what a summer virus is, why it would cause a cough or why you'd have it in the middle of January.
Took her to the store with me this morning. She heads straight for the clothes. I go in after her and tell her NOT to buy any clothes. You just spend $80 ordering pants. You can not afford to buy any more clothes plus you have no where to put them.
"I wasn't going to buy anything, I was just looking at the colors."
Any one else see that pig flying by???
Oh - the pants. She ordered her 'favorite pants in the whole wide world.' She had the money, it's hers to spend. She ordered 10, yes, 10, pair of pants. Elastic waist polyester pants, one of every color they offered, which were what we shall nicely term old lady colors: lavender, neon green, yellow and of course her beloved PINK.
I don't even know what to say about that anymore! lol
Oh - did I ever tell you how she says women should NEVER, EVER wear cotton underwear?
No?
Well, that's what she says.
Want to know why?
They'll cause your belly button to get infected.
Yeah, feel free to figure it out yourself, I'm not even trying!
I hope no one in the whole world EVER has toe pain like this. It's horrible and I don't think anyone else could take it.
The horrible pain that no one else in the world could possibly stand is a corn. They've shaved it down and given her some little pads to wear next to that toe to shield it. They also told her to stop buying shoes that are TOO NARROW because that crowds the toes together, but she just won't accept that she needs a 'wide' shoe, so she won't go buy new ones. I bought her new ones for Christmas. She refuses to wear them.
My little guy is coughing. He's the one dealing with pertussis right now. (Side note: pretty sure hubby has it, too. Yay.) Her diagnosis? "He's got that summer virus that's going around."
No, I do not know what a summer virus is, why it would cause a cough or why you'd have it in the middle of January.
Took her to the store with me this morning. She heads straight for the clothes. I go in after her and tell her NOT to buy any clothes. You just spend $80 ordering pants. You can not afford to buy any more clothes plus you have no where to put them.
"I wasn't going to buy anything, I was just looking at the colors."
Any one else see that pig flying by???
Oh - the pants. She ordered her 'favorite pants in the whole wide world.' She had the money, it's hers to spend. She ordered 10, yes, 10, pair of pants. Elastic waist polyester pants, one of every color they offered, which were what we shall nicely term old lady colors: lavender, neon green, yellow and of course her beloved PINK.
I don't even know what to say about that anymore! lol
Oh - did I ever tell you how she says women should NEVER, EVER wear cotton underwear?
No?
Well, that's what she says.
Want to know why?
They'll cause your belly button to get infected.
Yeah, feel free to figure it out yourself, I'm not even trying!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Goodies!
Carolyn Renee at Krazo Acres hosted a give away on her blog. Not just any give away, either.
CHOCOLATES!
Specifically, chocolates from Louisa's & Millie's Chocolates
So far I've eaten the hand dipped chocolate covered cherry and two small chocolates that were filled with a cream filling. One was a butter cream type filling and the other was a mint filling and since I'm a mint addict, it was AMAZING!
Look at these cute little chocolates! Not are they darling because they are so small (put them next to a dime so you could see the size) but they are decorated with snowflakes and gingerbread men!
SO CUTE!
CHOCOLATES!
Specifically, chocolates from Louisa's & Millie's Chocolates
I won! Woohoo!
Carolyn Renee asked me if I preferred milk chocolate or dark chocolate, nut or no nuts, etc. Hey, I'm just THRILLED to be getting chocolate! I told her to tell her friends to surprise me. They could send whatever they had too much of that day or whatever they wanted. No food allergies in this house, so we're fine with whatever.
Well, they arrived!
I should start by saying, they arrived the day before yesterday but the mail was late that day and everyone was home. I KNEW if I opened the package then the family would pounce and I wouldn't get any pictures. Or any chocolate!
So I hid the box in my closet until yesterday when I opened it. Wow are there are a LOT of chocolates in this box!
I had to prop some pieces up around the edge to be able to show you everything. This box is FULL of gorgeous chocolates and the smell, ooh, wonderful!
(Ignore the date on the pictures, please, my camera is dying a slow and annoying death.)
So far I've eaten the hand dipped chocolate covered cherry and two small chocolates that were filled with a cream filling. One was a butter cream type filling and the other was a mint filling and since I'm a mint addict, it was AMAZING!
Look at these cute little chocolates! Not are they darling because they are so small (put them next to a dime so you could see the size) but they are decorated with snowflakes and gingerbread men!
SO CUTE!
Carolyn Renee, I want to thank you once again for the chocolates. Please pass my thanks along to your friend, too, and let them know that they are WONDERFUL.
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