Six Word Saturday…

This weekend could’ve been very different!

I woke up this morning thinking how blessed Ed and I are to still be together, and how different this weekend  would’ve been if Ed had died on Sunday night while having his heart attack. (he survived what’s known as ‘the widow maker’)  It gives me chills, now, to realize how close Ed came to meeting his maker.  In fact, the person who arrived at the ER immediately before us actually didn’t survive.

The date of October 25, 2015 will be forever etched in my brain.  It was the beginning of a new life for Ed and myself–a second chance at life together. This life may be a little different than our previous life, but that’s okay.  We’ll tackle life’s obstacles together.

I thank God for each additional day we’ve been given, and plan to make the most of each and every one of them!  Folks, never take your loved ones for granted.  They can be taken from you in the blink of an eye, before you even realize what’s happening.  Make every day count!

• It’s been a while, but today I’m joining Cate over at Show My Face for her meme “Six Word Saturday”.

Wednesday Hodgepodge #241…

I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday.  I’ve lost all track of time since Sunday.  Being in a hospital has a way of doing that to ya’, and that’s where we’ve been.  In fact, Ed and I have only been home from the hospital for a couple of hours as I’m writing this.  I’m grateful we made it home in time to participate in The Hodgepodge, so I didn’t have to miss out!  Thanks to our hostess, Joyce, for keeping this fun meme going.

 

1. Are you comfortable with silence? If you’re home alone, do you like silence or do you need regular background noise? Do you seek out times and places to be silent? What’s your favorite place to find silence/be silent?

Yes, I’m comfortable with silence.  In fact, I grew to prefer silence over noise after spending so many years working in an elementary school–a place where silence is quite rare.

2. October 28th is National Chocolate Day. Can’t let that go by without a mention now, can we? Will you celebrate? How? Let’s say you can have one of the following right this very minute… a cup of hot chocolate, a strawberry dipped in chocolate, a bowl of plain chocolate ice cream, or a slice of chocolate pie…what’s your pleasure?

I’d pick a bowl of plain chocolate ice cream over the other choices, but I’d be mighty tempted by a slice of chocolate pie, too.

3. How do you feel about blue jeans? Favorite thing in the world to wear or nope, don’t own a single pair? How often do you wear blue jeans in a typical week? Do you own a blue jean jacket?

I don’t own a pair of blue jeans. For me, jeans are very uncomfortable to wear.  In fact, I haven’t worn jeans since the 1970’s, and I’ve never owned a blue jean jacket.

4. Are you superstitious? If so, in what way?

No, I’m not really superstitious. Sometimes I’ll say “knock on wood” though.

5. If you had to come up with a costume using only things you have on hand right now, what could you come up with?

I’m not sure what I’d end up with, but it would  probably be crafted from a cardboard box, since we have some of those readily available.

6. What scares you a little? What do you do when you feel scared?

Contemplating getting old and helpless scares me a little, as well as thinking about the possibility of becoming a widow.  When I begin to feel scared, I pray, then try to turn my thoughts to something more pleasant.

7. Perhaps today will be the day I begin learning how to prepare “heart healthy” meals. (see random thought below)

Random:

Most of the bloggers who visit me on a regular basis know what a year 2015 has been for my husband, Ed, and me–beginning back in January, with Ed losing his job.  From there we went on to discover termites and mold attacking our house, then on to 6 months worth of ‘back issues’ for me, which culminated with me having back surgery, 7 weeks ago.  Things were finally beginning to get better, when the unthinkable happened this past Sunday night.

I’ll save the entire, very interesting story for another day, but Ed ended up in the emergency room with chest pains and sky  high blood pressure, about 8 p.m..  When all was said and done,  the emergency room staff discovered Ed was having a heart attack!  Ed was quickly transported, by ambulance, to a larger hospital in the city, where he had an emergency heart cath performed, shortly before midnight.  This procedure showed that Ed had a 99% blockage of his left anterior descending branch(LAD), which is commonly referred to as “the widow maker” heart attack.  Many don’t survive a blockage in this particular area.  Ed’s blockage was successfully removed, and a stent was then inserted to hold the artery open.  Ed’s bruised and sore from the procedure he had, but seems to be doing well with his new stent, and on his new regimen of heart medications.  Praise the Lord, Ed survived “the widow maker’!

A ‘Timely’ Wednesday Hodgepodge…

Hello again!  It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to participate in The Wednesday Hodgepodge!  I hope you’ll join me as I attempt to answer our hostess, Joyce’s, varied and thought-provoking questions for this week.  Here we go:

1. October 21, 2015 is Back to the Future Day. Did you see the movie? The sequels? In the second film, Doc takes Marty into the future to prevent Marty’s future son from making a mistake. They leave 1985 and land on a ‘skyway’ on October 21st, 2015. So tell us, what were you doing in the fall of 1985?

Yes, I have seen Back to the Future, and, at least one of the sequels.  The fall of 1985 was a long time ago, but I’m sure I was busy taking care of our three children, who would have been ages 7 years, 3 years, and 3 months old.  Fun times that went by entirely too fast!  I was probably busy making Halloween costumes for them, too.  Back in the day, I enjoyed doing things like that!

2. If time travel were possible, would you want to go to the future? The past?

If time travel were possible, I definitely wouldn’t want to go into the future.  I’m in that phase of life where I really don’t care to know what the future holds.  It might be too depressing.  However, I’d gladly go back into the past, to relive my late teens and early twenties–or even my thirties! It would be nice to experience how it feels to be young and healthy again, plus it would be great to spend more time with all of the loved ones I’ve lost since then.

3. We’re not flying cars, but some of the technology imagined in the 80’s film has indeed come to pass in real life 2015-flat screen TVs on the wall, tablets, fingerprint recognition, video conferencing, online banking, 3-D movies, motion controlled video games, drone cameras, and smart glasses (Google glass). Do you worry technology is growing at a rate so fast we’ll soon be unable to keep up with it’s demands? Do you think the Internet does more harm than good?

Yes, I’m astonished at the rate technology is growing, and I do worry.  Case in point, we recently bought a new vehicle, and it’s equipped to take certain voice commands, and also help you drive!  We can even ‘keep tabs’ on each other’s driving, if we want to!  This is a far cry from our first vehicle, which had manual windows and door locks–and no a/c!  Ed and I will probably have one foot in our graves before we figure out how to work all of the technology on our new vehicle.  I’m a bit overwhelmed.

As for the internet, I’m sure it has caused plenty of harm to plenty of people, but it sure is nice to have!  I’ve learned so many things and ‘met’ some of the nicest people through blogging!  If only people would use the internet only for good, but, of course, there’s evil everywhere.

4. Your favorite dish prepared in a slow-cooker? Your favorite fast food?

My favorite dish prepared in a slow-cooker is ‘Crock Pot Barbecue.  My favorite fast food is probably pizza.

5. No time like the present, down time, face time, pressed for time, in the nick of time, make time, mark time, or just in time…which timely saying most relates to your life right now?

Since Ed and I are both retired, I guess “down time” most accurately describes my life right now.  Unless we have an appointment or something specific planned, time has no meaning to us anymore.  Every day feels like a Saturday, which is really kind of nice.

6. Tell us about a place you went as a child or younger person that’s no longer there or is now something else. How does that make you feel?

The last home my paternal grandparents owned no longer exists.  I was a pre-teen, but I can still remember how happy and proud my grandparents were when they purchased their land and home back in the 1960’s. (Prior to this, they lived and worked on a farm belonging to someone else, for as long as I can remember.)  About ten years ago, I sadly watched as my grandparents’ former home was torn down by a cousin who now owns the property.

7. Describe your comfort zone.

My comfort zone is being [with my husband, Ed] inside of a little house, designed and built by us, which sits next to a secluded section of pine trees, located in the back corner of Ed’s parents’ farm.  It’s home, and there’s no place else I’d rather be.

Random:

Our oldest grandchild, and only granddaughter, Madison, will celebrate another birthday, on Friday, October 23.  It seems like just yesterday, when I was a lot younger and Madison had just been born.  In truth, it’s been almost nine years!

The picture below was taken after I’d spent five long nights sleeping on the floor of my daughter’s hospital room, waiting for this little bundle of joy to be born… (It’s a complicated story you can read HERE if you want)  and, yes, I look tired because I was exhausted!  Stress, along with sleeping on a hospital floor will almost kill you.  These days, I’m afraid this “Mimi” might not be able to accomplish such a feat, but I was determined back then!

Praise the Lord, our little bundle of joy arrived safe and healthy! These days Madison is quickly growing into a beautiful and smart young lady.  I’m afraid she’ll be grown and gone before we know it, but I’ll never forget the nine long months leading up to her birth!

Happy birthday, Madison!  I hope it’s the best one ever!

Autumn Adventures…

Lately, we’ve been so busy living life, there’s been no time to blog about it.  Days like that are the best ones, in my humble opinion.  However, I figured I’d better take a little time to write a few blog notes in case I need them for future reference.  Does anyone else use their blog as a type of diary, or am I the only one?

It’s been almost 15 years since we bought our last new car, the PT Cruiser, so Ed and I finally figured it was getting about that time again.  “Classy”, the Cruiser, is still in good shape, and I still love her dearly, but, more and more I’ve found myself wondering if we’re going to make it to our destination and back without another incident.  Like the one, two years ago, when her timing belt broke and she left us left stranded beside the road on the way home from St. Simon’s Island.

Ed and I have been looking around, on and off, for a while, but last week found Ed and me on the last leg of our long journey of looking for “just the right vehicle”.  Now I remember why we waited so long to swap vehicles!  I hate shopping for a new car, and we both hate dealing with car salesmen.  On Wednesday, we found “just the right vehicle”, as well as “just the right salesman”, but that’s a story for another day.  I will tell you this, though– it was quite an adventure!

The day after our “vehicle buying adventure”, which involved riding/driving 200 miles, I had to go back to the neurologist for my post-op checkup.  The trip to the doctor’s office involved traveling another 120 miles.  Let’s just say, we did more than our share of riding/driving last week!  Anyway, I got a good report from the doctor’s assistant, and was released, with orders to call them if anything happens and I need them again.  She told me I still need to take things easy for another two to three weeks, though.

The strange ‘sensations’ I’ve been having in my leg, since my surgery, have all disappeared now.  I have only a slight bit of numbness, occasionally.  The doctor’s assistant told me the numbness is always the last thing to go away.  She also told me the reason I had the ‘three day relapse’, three weeks after surgery, was probably because the steroids [injected into my spine during surgery]  were wearing off.  She explained how they injected steroids into the spine [during surgery] to calm the irritated sciatic nerve, and help keep pain levels lower after surgery.  It made perfect sense to me, I just had no idea they did this.

I’m now able to walk a mile a day again (1/2 mile in the morning and 1/2 mile in the afternoon) without any leg pain.  Hooray!  Occasionally, I still have some back pain, and I’ll always have to be careful what I do because of those two bad discs, but, overall, things are SO MUCH BETTER!  I can live with a little back ache, as long as I can walk without discomfort.

On the day of my doctor’s appointment, my daughter had an appointment with her dermatologist in the same city as me.  Ed and I met up with her and her family for lunch, which was a nice treat sandwiched in between both of our appointments.  We ate at Old Time Country Buffet, and I’m sure glad I didn’t have to weigh in at the doctor’s office, afterward 🙂

On Friday night, our daughter-in-law, Christina, invited all of the family down to their house.  She made ‘Chicken Spaghetti’ using the Pioneer Woman’s recipe, and it was delicious!  She also had salad, bread, and she made a delicious cake using a recipe she borrowed from her sister.  Everyone enjoyed the food and fellowship very much, plus I enjoyed going to somebody else’s house for a change!  Sadly, our youngest son, Brad, and his family weren’t able to make it because of illness.  They’ve been passing around a cold between them for over a week.

We’ve been enjoying these cool, fall-like mornings here in Georgia.  The mornings and evenings are cool, but the days warm up nicely.  This is my kind of weather!  I just wish we had some pretty foliage to look at.  We’re surrounded by only pine trees, which stay green all of the time!

Speaking of “being surrounded”, we are also surrounded by several fields of cotton.  The plants are ready for harvest, so every field is as white as snow.  It’s a beautiful sight to see, in autumn.  People often go out into the fields and take pictures, which is what I wanted to do.  Ed and I had planned to do this on Saturday afternoon, immediately after we returned from our weekend shopping trip.  Unfortunately, when we arrived home, we discovered this:

photo via Google

We’d arrived too late!  The farmer was already busy harvesting his fields of cotton!  Oh well, maybe next year…

That’s pretty much what’s been going on around here.  What kind of ‘autumn adventures’ have you been having?

 

 

Another October Hodgepodge…

We’re almost halfway through the month of October.  Some say “the older you get, the faster time goes”, and I believe it!  Tick tock, time is passing.  It’s already time for another edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge.  As always, many thanks to Joyce for hosting this fun and thought-provoking meme each week 🙂

1. What’s something that has recently ‘tried your patience’?

Two bad discs in my back, and six  l-o-n-g  months of miserable sciatica has almost stretched my patience to the max.

2. Do you think patience comes to us naturally or is it something you have to learn as you grow? On a scale of 1-10 generally how patient are you? (1=I blow up at the drop of a hat and 10=I’ve got all the time in the world).

I think patience may come naturally to some, but it sure didn’t to me.  I learned patience as I grew older, and navigated the waters of life.  Raising children teaches you patience, as well as dealing with aging parents. Then, of course, there’s my chronic health issues I’ve had to learn to deal with.  On a scale of 1-10, I used to be about a 2.  After 61 years of life experience, I’d give myself about an 8.  I’m still a work in progress.

3. Share about a time when you felt like you could fly. Or a time you wished you could fly. Or a time you felt like you were flying.

I’m afraid of heights, so I can’t recall an actual time when felt like I could fly (or ever wanted to fly).  However, Ed has owned two motorcycles during our 43 years of marriage, and every time I rode on the back of one of them I felt like we were flying!  It felt like we were going faster than we actually were.  Of course there’s something about riding along on a motorcycle, watching the asphalt zooming by underneath your feet– knowing there’s no protection between your body and that asphalt…

4. Your favorite song with the word fly in the title or lyrics, or your favorite song that relates to flying in some way?

Fly Like An Eagle by  Steve Miller Band is the first song that came to mind, so I’ll go with that one.  “Tick tock.  Tick tock.  Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future…”

5. What’s in your fall picnic basket and where are we picnicking in your neck of the woods this time of year?

If I had a fall picnic basket, I’d definitely have some fried chicken in it, and maybe some potato salad. I think we’d be picnicking at the Gordonia Alatamaha State Park, which is located about 17 miles from where we live.  Our family has camped and enjoyed many picnics there.  Fall is the perfect time of the year to picnic there.

Gordonia Alatamaha State Park (photo via Google)

6. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping…which skill would you most like to possess and how would you put that skill to use today?

My husband, Ed, knows a good bit about carpentry, electrical, and plumbing, but nothing about landscaping.  I wish we knew more about landscaping.  If we did, I’d totally re-do our yard.  Of course, there’s only so much one can do with 9 hens roaming in the yard 🙂  Ah, country living.  Gotta’ love it!

7. What’s something you think is too expensive to justify buying lately?

Ed and I have been looking at vehicles for over a week.  We haven’t bought a new car in 13 1/2 years, and, as you can imagine, we’re suffering from severe “sticker shock”.

Random:

October 8 made six months since my back “went out”.  Monday of this week made four weeks since my surgery.  I think I may have finally “turned the corner”, this week, and I’m happy, happy, happy to say, I’m feeling much better 🙂  Hey!  There’s some light at the end of this tunnel!

 

Miscellaneous Monday…

Today makes four weeks since I had my back surgery.  Each day has gotten better, with the exception of three days [a little over a week ago] when things seemed to take a giant step backward.  I don’t know what happened, but I could barely walk for those three days. Once again, the pain became excruciating. Thankfully, by the end of the day, the pain would subside, but it would return the following morning. Now, that pain has disappeared, as mysteriously as it appeared.

Fortunately, I seem to be back on track, and headed in the right direction with my recovery, at the moment 🙂  I’m able to walk short distances (nearly 1/2 mile) without discomfort!  Yay for being able to walk again without pain!  I’ve also been able to resume taking care of my chickens.  Yay for being able to bend over again without pain!  It’s still a bit of a chore to stand up straight, especially after sitting for very long, and sometimes a backache wakes me up at night, but, overall, things are a lot better than before I had the surgery.

I haven’t gotten my ‘blogging mojo’ back, yet.  In fact, most days I’m running on empty by the end of the day, just doing the bare necessities around the house.  I baked a cake, on Thursday morning, and was exhausted by the time I got it frosted!  My brain even feels tired on some days.  Sometimes, I think some of my brain cells are still asleep from the anesthesia!

My brother and his wife came for a quick visit, last week.  In fact they’re the reason I baked a German Chocolate cake on Thursday.  We hadn’t seen each other in eight months, and I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed a visit more.  Speaking of my brother and his wife, they are celebrating their 52nd wedding anniversary today!

Happy Anniversary, guys!

In addition to our fall decorations, Ed and I put out some Halloween decorations, last week.  We live in the country and don’t have any trick-or-treaters, other than our grandchildren, but I like to decorate for the grandchildren.  Has anyone else noticed that it’s getting more difficult to find Halloween decorations that aren’t very ghoulish and scary?

Ed and I have also begun visiting a few local car lots, lately.  We’ve done a couple of test drives, but can’t quite make up our minds if the time is right to purchase another vehicle.  I think we’ve almost decided what kind of vehicle we want, we’re just not sure if we’re ready to make the move yet.  There’s no hurry.  Although all of our vehicles would be considered “senior citizens” of the automotive world, they’re all still good vehicles.

Meanwhile, the autumn days are passing quickly.  Last week went by in a blur, as we watched the leaves continue to fall from the trees.  The nights have become cooler, and I love that.  I’m envious of the folks who are traveling through the mountains enjoying the rich colors of the fall foliage, at this time.  Their Facebook photos are beautiful!  How I’d love to pick a basket of fresh apples in an orchard somewhere…

I’m never going to get my bed made or the laundry done if I keep sitting here day dreaming about traveling through the mountains, so I’d better wrap this blog post up for today.  Have a happy Monday, everyone!

 

 

An October Hodgepodge…

Hello again, from my neck of the woods.  It’s Wednesday, again, which means it’s time for me to join in The Wednesday Hodgepodge.  Thanks to our hostess, Joyce, for providing us with such fun and provocative questions!  Here we go…

1. It’s October so let’s get this out there first thing…have you jumped on the all-things-pumpkin bandwagon? How so?

I’ve set out my pumpkin scented candles, and decorated, inside and outside, with some ‘pumpkin-themed’ decorations.  Is that enough to be considered on the bandwagon?  Probably not…

MAC and Baby enjoying the outside fall decorations

2. “We have more power than will; and it is often by way of excuse to ourselves that we fancy things are impossible.” Francois Duc De la Rochefoucauld

What’s something you once thought impossible, but in hindsight see as more a matter of lack of will?

The first thing that comes to mind is hearing Ed say, many years ago, “I’ve always wanted to build my own house.”  I thought he was crazy and the feat would be impossible, since he knew next-to-nothing about building a house! Here we are 38 years later, and Ed’s built his own house, from the ground up, including plumbing and electrical.  We’ve been living in ‘the house that Ed built’ for almost 8 years.  I guess where there’s a will there really is a way.

3. The rose is America’s National Flower, but every state also has its own (click here to see the list). Are you happy with yours? If you were in charge what would you declare your state’s flower? If you’re outside the U.S. what bloom would you like to see labeled as your country’s national flower?

I’m not quite sure why, but Georgia’s state flower is the Cherokee Rose.  I were in charge I’d change the state flower to an Azalea because Azaleas are everywhere in Georgia!  Cherokee Roses?  Not so much.  In fact, I don’t remember seeing a Cherokee Rose around here, ever.

4. What have you lost interest in recently?

Reading, but I really need to get back to it because I’m behind in visiting blogs and reading magazines, as well as reading books.

5. In your opinion, who’s the best living musician?

I have no clue who the best living musician is, but I greatly admire anyone who can play multiple musical instruments very well.  Singing and song writing is an added bonus.

6. S’mores-love ’em or no? Ever make them indoors? Last time you sat around an outdoor fire? Are making s’mores and sitting round a fire pit on your autumn bucket list? Do you have an autumn bucket list?

I like s’mores pretty good, but I don’t love them.  Yes, I’ve made them indoors, in the microwave, once or twice.  It’s been a while since I sat around an outdoor fire (several weeks), but the weather is getting perfect for doing that.  I’m sure we’ll be sitting around the fire making s’mores before much longer.  As for that autumn bucket list, I used to have an autumn bucket list of things to do each fall.  Now?  Not so much.

7. Your favorite small town? Why?

Unfortunately, it’s not the town we live in.  I love living in the town I grew up in, but it’s not my favorite town, by any means.  We have two red lights, a dozen convenience stores, and not much else.

I like the nearby town called Jesup, Ga.  They’ve revitalized their historic downtown area, and it’s so pretty with all of the little ‘mom and pop’ shops lining main street.  It reminds me of times past.  A  large portion of that downtown area burned, last summer, but they’re rebuilding, and it’s looking nice.  They’ve taken great care to made the new part look historical, so it still blends in with the old part. I love that.

Employees of the Jesup Drive In @ the Grand Re-opening in 2012 (Google photo)

Jesup is also is the home of Georgia’s oldest Drive-Inn, where they still show ‘double-features’.  Another of Jesup’s attractions is their annual Christmas Parade which is always held at night.

Random:

Thirteen days of drizzle and no sun has taken a toll on everyone and everything around here!  I snapped this picture last week.  Bobs, the tabby cat, seemed to be saying, “Let me in, please.”   Meanwhile, old Charlie, the Siamese mix, was just glad to be on the porch and out of the rain.  Note the two red hens behind the baby gate, wishing they could get on the front porch, too…

Thank goodness, the sun finally came out, late yesterday afternoon!  Today is a warm, beautiful, sunny day!

 

Miscellaneous Monday…

Here we are, in our eleventh day without sunshine, with no end in sight.  Thankfully, we are not flooded, like many places, just damp and in dire need of some sun.  I know the sun will eventually shine again, in due time.  In the meantime, I’ll try to wait patiently.

All of the days have been pretty much the same around here.  We eat, we sleep, we watch some of the new fall shows on television.  Ed vacuums the house, while I dust.  Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?  Fortunately, all of last week wasn’t like that.

On Thursday, Ed and I broke our usual routine by taking our daughter and granddaughter out for lunch.  It was our daughter’s birthday, and we thought it would be nice to do something special with her.  We all enjoyed our lunch, and the shopping that followed.  Unfortunately, a thunderstorm blew up during the shopping part of the trip, and we got stranded in Kmart for a while.  Ed and I walked over to the furniture section and made ourselves comfortable until the registers were back up and running.  I tell you, older folks know how to adapt!  Ha!

On Friday night, our entire family gathered at the house to visit and celebrate our daughter, Brandy’s, birthday.  Ed grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for all.  My daughter-in-law  bought birthday decorations, and decorated the kitchen for me, since I’m still not feeling 100%.  She also took down the decorations after the party, and I was very appreciative of her help.

We did a little something different at Brandy’s birthday celebration, this year.  While sitting around the kitchen table, we took turns offering up praises to Brandy for the things we appreciate about her.  It turned out to be a special time, consisting of some laughter and a few tears.  We shouldn’t wait so long to tell our loved ones how much they mean to us!

In addition to Brandy’s birthday, our youngest son, Brad, was celebrating the official sale and closing of their house in the city, on Friday.  It’s been a long 5 months since he and his wife first put their home on the market.  They’ve been living with Jennifer’s dad and step mom for four of those five months.  As of last week, Brad, Jennifer, and Evan are living on their own, once again. Perhaps life is finally returning to normal for them.

By the end of Friday evening, I was feeling a bit frazzled and worn out.  It was the first time we’ve had all of the family (twelve of us) gathered together since my surgery.  Four grandchildren, ages 8 thru 2,  all playing with six pink balloons in the living room, may have been a bit much for this grandma!  I may have been guilty of shooing them all into the kitchen to play where one of them decided to ‘pop’ a family sized bag of potato chips during the course of the evening…

Saturday evening brought us an overnight guest.  Granddaughter, Madison, was finally able to spend the night with us.  She’s been begging to stay with us for ages, but we put her off because I wasn’t feeling well.  An opportunity presented itself, and it finally seemed like a good time to let her stay over.  Ed and I ordered pizza, letting Madison choose her favorite kind.  Later, we all watched movies until 11:30 that night, like a bunch of kids!

Today makes three weeks since I had my back surgery.  Sigh.  When people ask me how I’m doing, I answer, “I’m better than I was, but not as good as I’d like to be.”  I don’t know why, but, lately, early mornings have been difficult.  When I first rise out of bed, I can barely walk down the hall.  I have pain in the left hip/groin area, similar to sciatica, but it doesn’t radiate all the way down my leg like before. It stays confined to the thigh area.  After a couple of hours, the pain subsides, and I can walk again.  It’s very strange.  Many of the strange leg ‘sensations’ I was experiencing, at first, have subsided, so I’m hoping and praying this will, too.

Ed and I are expecting more guests today.  Our two oldest grandsons are coming for an afternoon visit, while their mom goes to an appointment.  We’ve invited Madison to come over and join them.  This grandma has placed those pink balloons in the trash can.   As for my potato chips?  They’re out of sight, too…

Have a great Monday!