The Monday After…

Saturday morning started out much like many others.  I hadn’t slept well the night before, so I was moving slowly.  I went over the 50 pound bag of chicken feed that sits in the corner of our pool room. I bent down to fill up a bowl for the chickens, like I do every morning… and that’s when it happened. I felt a “catch” in my back, in other words, a sharp pain, and I could hardly straighten back up.  I don’t know exactly what happened, but it sure was painful!

I don’t like to give up easily, so I went ahead with my chicken chores.  I fed the chickens and cleaned their coops. Once more, I felt that sharp stabbing pain in my back when I tried to bend over.  I avoided all bending, after that!

Call me crazy, but, a few minutes later, I still decided to change out the towels that are protecting the swing [from cats] on the front porch.  It was at that particular moment I  also got stung by a wasp!  How was I to know a huge wasp nest was located on the back of the swing?  Wow, two painful episodes within an hour.  I couldn’t decide which felt worse, my back or my ring finger.  It quickly became obvious that Saturday, the 13th wasn’t going to be my day!

Our daughter-in-law had a cookout planned for Saturday evening, so I willed myself into the kitchen to make some rice krispie treats.  I didn’t want to let my aches and  pains get the best of me. By lunchtime, my back was good and sore, and I moved slowly and painfully the rest of the day.  I took pain medication twice that day, so I was able to make it to the cookout.

The Saturday afternoon cookout was to honor our oldest son, who finally finished up his degree.  He graduated from high school in 2000, and has been s-l-o-w-l-y working toward his college degree for many years.  Nobody could convince him to take more than one class per semester, but just like the tortoise, he very slowly and very steadily completed his task.  We couldn’t be prouder!  He graduated with honors, but the very best part is he graduated with no student debt, too.  There aren’t many who can say that, these days!

College Grad

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful.  I spent the majority of it alternating between laying down and sitting because of my sore back.  I tried to do a little grocery shopping, on Sunday afternoon, but started having back spasms, and had to let Ed finish the job.  I’m blessed that he can take over my duties when I’m not able to do them.

Speaking of Ed, he had a checkup with his cardiologist, on Friday, and got a very good report.  His doctor told him if all of his patients got along as well as Ed has, it would make his job a lot easier.  Praise the Lord for Ed’s smooth recovery!  He’s approaching the 10 month anniversary of his heart attack.

It has started raining, as I’m writing this post, and I’m glad!  Our grass has turned brown due to extreme temperatures and lack of rain.  Perhaps a good shower will help to bring it back to life.  It would also be nice not to have to water my plants for a day or so.  Speaking of watering plants, there’s nothing like being “down in the back” to show a person they have too many things to take care of!  And speaking of being “down in the back”, I think I’ll go and rest mine for a while.  I hope it helps!

Have a great Monday!

 

I

 

 

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!

 

 

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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ending August With The Hodgepodge…

It’s almost the end of August, and what a spring and summer it’s been for us!  I’m hoping fall will bring some much-needed changes around here.  We shall see. (A hurricane is headed for Florida, as I write)  For now, let’s indulge in a little mid-week distraction known as The Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. It’s hard to believe, but next week’s Hodgepodge will find us in the month of September. What’s one thing you want, need, or hope to do still before summer officially ends?

I was hoping to spend one more day on St. Simon’s Island before summer officially ends.  No big surprise there, huh?  My back and the weather will be the deciding factor on whether this trip happens or not.

2. When were you last at ‘your wit’s end’?

I am currently at my wit’s end!  After a very brief hiatus, last Friday, my old ‘friend’ sciatica came back with a vengeance.  It’s been almost 5 months (and counting) of living with this miserable thing.

3. Describe a time you were figuratively thrown into ‘the deep end’?

Sometimes, the entire year of 2015 feels that way, to me.  First Ed lost his job, then we discovered we had mold and termites under our house, and, last but not least, I discovered I have two messed up discs in my lumbar spine.  This has been a year of “just trying to stay afloat”.

4. Does the end always, ever, or never justify the means? Explain.

Sometimes it does, but not always, depending on the particular situation and circumstances.  I’d elaborate more, but my brain is tired and I am just not feeling it today.

5. What makes your hair stand on end?

My hair stands on end whenever our grandchildren run in the house or play on the furniture.  I love them dearly, but don’t want anything to get broken or anyone to get hurt.  When he was small, our oldest son once broke his hand… You guessed it, by running in the house.

6. I read an article on the website Eat This! Health, that listed 11 foods we can eat to help end bad moods. Basically it’s a feed your brain so you’re less anxious, grouchy and lethargic. The foods are-mussels, swiss chard, blue potatoes, grass-fed beef, dark chocolate, greek yogurt, asparagus, honey, cherry tomatoes, eggs, and coconut. Which of those do you think would most help end your own bad mood? Which do you fear, if forced to eat, would put you into a bad mood?

I think dark chocolate and coconut would most help end a bad mood…as in a Mounds candy bar!

As far as something putting me in a bad mood, if forced to eat it–that would be mussels or Greek yogurt.  I just can’t make myself like either one of those foods.

7. What project around your home, office, or life in general feels like there is ‘no end in sight’?

This job doesn’t really involve me, but I’m going to say ‘yard work’.  Ed’s forever needing to mow grass, trim weeds, or do something with the garden.  It never seems to end–just like housework and grocery shopping!

Random:

Okay, so I called my neurologist’s office, on Monday, to tell them my sciatica had suddenly gotten worse, after three weeks of doing home physical therapy.  (I was then told it would be a month before I could get an appointment.)  After our initial conversation, the office lady pulled my records, and told me there was really no need to wait for an office appointment because [the doctor had written] his next recommendation, if the physical therapy failed, was surgery.  She said they could just go ahead and get me on the surgery schedule, to save time and suffering (and I’m so tired of suffering). Sigh. So, now I’m waiting for a call back. Today is day three…

As if we haven’t been through enough, this year, imagine my surprise, last week, when I went on line and discovered I’d been a victim of fraud.  There was a $1753.50 charge on my Discover Card account that I didn’t make!  I immediately called the company and was reassured that I have ‘fraud protection’, and wouldn’t be held responsible. It turned out someone had tried to make two other transactions, as well, but those didn’t go through.  Discover took care of everything, but the whole incident has left me feeling a bit shaken and vulnerable.

Also, I apologize to my blog friends for my lack of presence on the computer–on their blogs, as well as my own.  It’s hard to concentrate on much of anything, right now, but, hopefully, it won’t always be this way!

As always, many thanks to Joyce, for continuing to host The Hodgepodge 🙂  Even with everything that’s going on in my life, I still look forward to The Hodgepodge each week.

Miscellaneous Monday…

Lately, it seems to take me more time to do less things, so there’s been less time for blogging.  Dear Blog, I’m so sorry for neglecting you.  If it makes you feel any better, Facebook is feeling neglected, too…

After I visited the neurologist, on last Tuesday, I began my ‘home physical therapy program’, on Friday.  My friend, Diane, [who also suffers with back problems] loaned me this fantastic book entitled Treat Your Own Back.  Diane had been given this book by her physical therapist.  I’m currently doing the exercises in that book, and following the other advice given throughout the book, as well, such as correcting bad posture and using a lumbar support pillow when sitting.  It’s a little too early to tell if the program is working, yet, but I’m hoping and praying it will.  The book says it will take about two weeks to feel results.  It takes that long to add all of the exercises to the sessions.

(Google image)

In other news, we finally discovered that the meter that’s been measuring the humidity underneath our house is wrong!  We suspected this, after continued high readings, but actually confirmed it by testing with another meter.  Our meter is ‘off’ by over 20%!  Apparently our meter has a faulty sensor, but that’s actually good news for us.  When we thought the humidity levels were at 97%, they were actually 75%, or so.

In other house news, the exterminator came back to do the 90 day check (it’s hard to believe 90 days has already passed!) on the termite traps he’d set around the perimeter of our house.  Two of the twelve traps had signs of termite activity.  He baited them with poison, which the termites will carry back to their colonies.  I’m so glad we had this baiting system installed, in addition to having our house treated underneath. It would be great to cut the little buggers off before they actually reach our house, since we apparently are living in termite territory.

termite bait system 

Ed and I took our weekly shopping trip, on Thursday, and ended up bringing home more than groceries.  We ended up purchasing a new chair for me.  Every since I developed sciatica, I have trouble finding a comfortable place to sit.  I avoid our reclining sofas like the plague!  I borrowed a chair from Ed’s mom’s house, which worked for a while, but soon became uncomfortable, as well.  I needed something firm!  I found a small glider rocker/recliner at Big Lots that seems to meet my needs.  The chair is small, about the size of a computer chair, and has memory foam in the seat.  So far, so good.  The chair doesn’t match a thing in the living room, but who cares?  I have a chair I can sit in (for short periods of time) without so much discomfort!   We had a time fitting that chair and the ottoman in the PT Cruiser, but we did it.  I [still] love that car, and I love my new chair, too!

Ed boiled some of his ‘home grown’ peanuts and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs on Friday night.  All of our grown off spring and their families gathered with us to ‘kick start’ the weekend.  I served hot fudge cake for dessert which everyone seemed to enjoy.  It’s so nice to finally be able to get the entire family together again, without waiting for a holiday or special occasion.  At times like these, I wish we’d built our house just a little larger though.  Twelve of us pretty much fill up the kitchen space, and mine is a lot larger than most.

Ed and I ran away to St. Simon’s Island, again, on Sunday.  The trip wasn’t planned, but the weather finally gave us a break from the oppressive heat and humidity, so we took advantage of it!  This time, we packed a picnic lunch, so we didn’t have to buy a thing except enough gas to get us back home.  We discovered it doesn’t matter what you’re eating, it tastes better beside the ocean, and, best of all, we only spent about twenty dollars!  It felt so good to get away–and the view wasn’t half bad either…

 

The two ‘oldest girls’, aka known as my little red hens, have forgotten where they are supposed to lay their eggs, again. Their latest nesting spot has been under our car port (in addition to underneath Ed’s lawnmower).  As a result of this, ‘the girls’ are spending mornings in their coop, which they are not too happy about!  One of them fusses and makes a noise similar to a child crying.  I refer to this noise as “chicken crying”.  Every now and then they just need a reminder of where “home” is… The other day, I found an egg beside a tree in our yard!

My back is telling me it’s time to get up and stretch, and the breakfast dishes aren’t washing themselves either,  so I should end this blog post.  Have a great Monday, everyone!

Chillin’ With The Wednesday Hodgepodge…

Summer is still raging here, and I’m spending most of my time in the air conditioned comfort of my home.  Days like these are good for reading, watching a movie, or taking a nap!  They are also good for participating in The Hodgepodge, which you can do by clicking on the button at the top of this post, and answering the questions.  As always, thanks to our hostess, Joyce, for keeping this fun meme alive!

1. Is your home air conditioned? If it’s not air conditioned, is that by choice? Did you grow up with air conditioning? If not how did you cope with the heat? Share about a time or place you remember as being too hot-the temperature kind of hot, lest anyone be confused.

Yes, our home is air conditioned, by choice.  These days, I’m not sure we could survive the heat and humidity, here in the south, without air conditioning.  It was 99 degrees, yesterday, and the humidity levels have been in the 90’s, as well.  Miserable!

While I was growing up, folks didn’t always have air conditioning in their homes.  In fact, for the first few weeks of marriage, Ed and I didn’t have air conditioning in our first home, either.  Praise the Lord, his parents had a spare window [air conditioning] unit that they gave us!

My most vivid memories, of being too hot, is trying to sleep at night without any air conditioning!  We always kept box fans in the bedroom windows, but those usually blew warm air until the wee hours of the morning. By the time it finally got cool enough to actually sleep, it was time to get up!  I won’t even talk about how hot it was in the kitchen…

 2. What’s something in your life right now that falls under the heading ‘up in the air’?

My health. (See Random)

3. Your favorite light and airy dessert?

I don’t know if it qualifies as “light and airy”, but I’m going to say Strawberry Shortcake because we use angel food cake to make ours.

4. When did you last feel like you were ‘floating on air’?

I’m going to say it was when our last grandchild, Evan, was born.  He was the grandchild we thought we’d never have (because his mom is a cancer survivor with no cervix and only one ovary), then we feared he was going to be born with Cystic Fibrosis when prenatal testing showed both parents to be carriers of the disease.  Today, Evan is a happy, healthy little boy who will be two in October, and doesn’t even carry the gene for Cystic Fibrosis!

Evan shows off his new haircut

5. Airport, airmail, airtight, airhead…which have you most recently encountered? Explain.

Airtight, when I opened a jar of green beans that I canned.

6.  Have you ever been to the Alps? If so where did you go? If not, is this a destination on your must-see list? If you were headed that direction this summer, which of the following would be your preferred activity…a gentle walk, a serious walk, a bike ride, a boat ride around one of the lakes, or summer snow skiing?

I’ve never been to the Alps, nor do I have any plans to go.  If I happened to go there, a boat ride around one of the lakes sounds most appealing to me.

7. What is one saying or phrase that was considered ‘cool’ when you were growing up?

I grew up in the late 60’s and early 70’s, so there were many.  “Peace” was used a lot, back then, as was “Can you dig it?”, and “Groovy”.  My personal favorites were “Bad scene” and “Cool your jets”.  Ha!  Just typing those phrases takes me back to my teen years.

Random:

So, yesterday was the day of my long-awaited doctor’s appointment with the neurologist.  The wait to see him was 2 1/2 hours long, while sitting on the most uncomfortable furniture in the world. If a person didn’t have back issues before they arrived, they would after they left!

He told me this:  Your MRI shows two troubled areas, the L 2-3 and the L 4-5.  This presents a problem.  Your symptoms suggest your problem is coming from L 4-5, but L 2-3 is the disc that’s actually herniated.  I can do microscopic surgery, but I need to be sure which disc to target because there’s no room to “look around” in this kind of surgery, which is basically done through a tube.  He told me if I was in a lot of pain and really wanted the surgery done, he would do it, but if he was me, he wouldn’t have surgery, at this point.

We decided I’d try some physical therapy and give the sciatic nerve a little more time to heal on its own. Yesterday, my leg strength and reflexes were good, and the painful spasms have subsided, for now.(Because I just finished a second round of Prednisone two days ago.) Some numbness in the lower leg still persists, but, at least it’s not the entire leg, like before.

If the pain/numbness gets worse, or the spasms start again, I’m supposed to call his office and schedule another appointment to discuss my next option, which would be steroid injections in the spine or microscopic surgery.  (I may have to learn to live with a certain amount of back pain.)  Your prayers for continued healing would be most appreciated.

One thing I’ve learned though this ordeal is that back surgery isn’t a ‘cure all’.  Some patients get better, while others don’t.  I met one lady, yesterday, who’d had 13 back surgeries and a hip replacement! She was younger than me, and walked with a cane, but she was smiling.  She’d recently had a permanent pain pump implanted, to help deal with her pain, and was there for a checkup.  I felt extremely blessed after meeting this lady.  She was a great reminder [to me] that things could always be worse.

 

A Little Of This-N-That On Monday…

Life goes on, as usual, here in our ‘neck of the woods’.  Life, last week, was relatively uneventful, except for that out-of-control truck taking out all of our mailboxes, on Monday.

On Tuesday, Ed, our daughter, and our granddaughter went to a local farm and picked some peaches, while  I stayed home.  (I love putting peaches in the freezer, then making peach cobbler with them during the winter.)  It had been several years since we’ve picked any peaches, and the price has gone up.  This little basket of peaches cost $22.00, so those peach cobblers better be delicious!

After the mailbox incident, on Monday, Ed made a couple more calls about getting our boxes moved.  The post master continues to give us “the run around”, but hasn’t told us “No”, yet.  We’ll see if anything else comes of  it before we give up.  There have been two wrecks within two years, near where our mailboxes are.

You know, a funny thing happened when some of us went to replace our mailboxes.  Our son and his wife were ‘on the ball’, and replaced their mailbox the day after the accident. The rest of us drug our feet a bit.

Ed and I went to Lowe’s to buy ours, on Wednesday, without saying anything to anyone.  When we got to Lowe’s, we discovered they no longer sell the kind of mailbox we previously had.  This made the simple chore of choosing a new box just a bit more difficult.

The following day, our daughter went to Lowe’s to buy their mailbox, without knowing that Ed and I had already bought ours.  When she arrived home, she discovered she’d bought the exact same mailbox and post that we’d bought the day before!  Even the little sign to hold the address numbers was the same!  What were the chances of that, considering the mailboxes we both chose were “Venetian Bronze” in color?!

As of Saturday, all three of us have our new mailboxes back in place.  Now, if we can just get the mailman to deliver our missing mail.  After three days of no mail, all we got was two envelopes, on Friday–and no weekly newspaper!

Ed and I decided to mix a little pleasure with business on the day we bought our new mailbox.  We drove to the Lowe’s in Brunswick, then made a side trip to St. Simon’s Island for lunch and a couple of hours of relaxation.

While Ed and I ate our lunch, on St. Simon’s Island, we watched a young lad climb one of the massive oak trees we were dining under.  He carried a couple of backpacks and some rope with him as he climbed higher and higher.  We watched, with interest, as he unpacked a hammock, tied it up in the branches of the tree, then hopped into the hammock and began relaxing!  Ed took a picture.

I couldn’t even relax and enjoy my lunch because I was afraid the boy was going to fall the entire time!  He didn’t. After an hour or so, the boy climbed out, took the hammock down, packed everything back up and rode away on his bicycle!

The rest of our week wasn’t nearly as exciting as watching the boy in the tree, but I’m sort of glad.  We shopped a bit, canned peaches, mowed our grass, and got caught up with our family.  Normal and unexciting is good.

This week won’t be ‘normal’, at least not for me.  Tomorrow is my ‘long awaited’ appointment with the neurologist.  My stomach is in knots today.  I’m both relieved and terrified that the day is finally about to arrive.  I have no idea what to expect, other than opening up our checkbook…  That much I know for sure!  I’d sure appreciate any and all prayers concerning that doctor visit and the healing of my back.

My back is aching, my hair needs washing, and the floor needs vacuuming.  I guess that means it’s time to get out of this chair and get busy.  Let the day begin…

Happy Monday!

 

 

 

Ten Things On Tuesday…

(1) No, I haven’t died or dropped off the face of the earth.  I’ve just been trying to get through the days, one at a time.  Some days are better than others, but there haven’t been any good days [with my back] for about a week.  I’m assuming it’s because the Prednisone has completely worn off. Bummer.

(2) After going for weeks without any rain, we’ve been experiencing afternoon thunder showers every day–including on the Fourth of July.  Fortunately, I’d planned to have our family ‘picnic’ indoors.  Eventually, before the end of the day, the kids managed to steal a few minutes to play in the rain, and in the swimming pool, but Ed got sprinkled on while doing the grilling.

(3) Some folks in our area got a lot more than a thunder shower on July 4th.  They lost their electricity, for part of the day, and some of the streets, in nearby Savannah, were flooded.  Facebook’s feed was filled with photos of folks floating down the flooded streets on tubes!  I guess that could be classified as “making the best of a bad situation.”

(4) Ed discovered that our one-and-only convenience store was closed on July 4th, when we needed to buy a bag of ice.  So much for convenience…  He had to drive another six miles  just to buy some ice.  You’d think all convenience stores would be open on July 4th, wouldn’t you?

(5) Our youngest son was baptized on the Friday morning before the Fourth of July.  He didn’t let anybody know he was going to do this, other than his wife, and the pastor, of course.  He chose to be baptized the old-fashioned way, in the river. This mother was a little bit disappointed that she missed this special moment in her youngest son’s life, but is happy for him, none-the-less.

(6) Speaking of special moments in one’s life–that same youngest son will turn “30” on this coming Saturday.  Where has the time gone?  It seems like only yesterday he wasn’t much bigger than his son, Evan, who will soon turn two!

Last year’s birthday celebration

A lot of things have changed since last year’s birthday celebration.  In addition to everyone being another year older, Ed’s retired, both Brad and Jennifer have new jobs, and Brad and Jennifer have moved out of their home in the city and back to our hometown.  None of these changes were expected, last year, with the exception of everyone growing older.

(7) Speaking of special moments and milestones, today is my daughter and her husband’s wedding anniversary!  They were married on a very hot July evening, fourteen years ago.  All anniversaries are special, but, I think, this one just might have a little more meaning to them than some in the past. I wish the two of them many more happy years ahead!

July 7, 2001

(8) I received my packet of ‘new patient forms’ [for my neurologist appointment, in two weeks], yesterday.  They’re a bit overwhelming, and it may take me the next two weeks just to get them filled out.  I’ve never had to ‘bubble in’ ovals (with a #2 pencil, no less) on patient information forms before!  I’m both looking forward to and dreading this appointment, all at the same time.

(9) Lately, we’ve been letting our newer flock of hens out to ‘free range’ late in the afternoons.  We give them about an hour, at the end of  each day, to roam out of their pen.  They seem to enjoy this time, and look forward to it very  much.  The two older red hens [who free range all the time] tried to act like bullies, at first, but things seem to be getting better now that it’s been a few days.

(10) It’s been three days since Ed’s seen “Trouble” the cat.  For three days in a row,  she’s been a ‘no show’ at feeding time.  We were sure something had happened to her because, normally, she’s always at the house, waiting to be fed.  Yesterday, we found out that she’s been visiting with our oldest son and his family, again!  He said that his little boys have been feeding her and trying to get her to stay. I hope she does, but I won’t hold my breath!  “Trouble” has a mind of her own.

What A Week That Turned Out To Be!

I’m sorry I’ve been MIA from the blogging world, again, but after I finish explaining the week we’ve just experienced, I’m sure you’ll understand.  Blogging has been about the last thing on my mind, lately.

Last week began with a doctor’s appointment for me, and one for Ed, as well–together.  As in, we shared an exam room together.  This was our second experience of sharing an exam room and the doctor at the same time.  I’m not really sure I like it, but I went along with it since it was Ed’s idea.  Whenever we share the doctor and exam room, it seems like we should get a discount or something, don’t you think?

Anyway, Ed and I both had fairly good checkups, but when we went to pay our bills, we discovered Medicare had neglected to send Ed a new card showing that he has part A and B on it.  Oops!  Ed wasn’t able to use the card he had.  Next, when Ed decided to try getting his prescriptions filled through mail order, there was a glitch with that, too.

Tuesday, after making several phone calls trying to get Ed’s Medicare and mail order pharmacy business in order, we decided to plant the rest of our garden.  It took us most of the day, but we got everything planted–by hand, with the exception of Ed’s row of peanuts.  And we said we were going to plant less this year…but that didn’t happen, of course.

Let me stop here and mention the fact that I’ve been experiencing some back stiffness, off and on, for several weeks, especially after sitting for a while.  Stooping over to plant all those garden seeds hasn’t helped the stiffness any. Then, I stepped into a shallow hole in the yard, on Tuesday afternoon, which jarred me just a bit, but I didn’t think much about it at the time.  Perhaps I should have.

On Wednesday, I woke up to a weird sensation in my left leg.  My leg felt tingly, like it was asleep, and it continued feeling that way the entire day.  Ed and I needed to do some work in the flowerbed, next to the house, so I ignored the feeling and went about my business.  A girl’s gotta’ do what she’s gotta’ do–or so  I thought.

Do you know how one job sometimes leads to another job?  Well, that’s what happened to us, on Wednesday?  When we started getting ready to plant some new plants, we decided we needed to put a  new coat of paint on the lattice underpinning surrounding the bottom of our house.  We spent most of Wednesday and Thursday painting and repairing that lattice!

By Thursday morning, my leg was feeling worse.  The numbness I’d been feeling had been replaced by what felt like occasional muscle spasms.  By then, I was pretty sure I was experiencing the symptoms of a ‘pinched nerve’, since I’ve had one in my neck before.  Oh, but that wasn’t the worst part of the day!  While removing and painting the lattice underpinning, that day, we discovered evidence of termites!  Not actual termites, just where they’d been dining on some of the lattice.  Then, later,  when Ed removed the dirt from a barrel planter, sitting beside our house, he discovered termites had eaten the bottom completely out of the barrel–and were still dining on the sides of it! There was nothing left to do but call an exterminator!

On Friday, I decided I’d rest my back (and leg) and see if it made any difference.  I spent most of the day on the couch, but I couldn’t tell that it made much difference.  As long as I sat still my leg felt fine, but whenever I walked any distance (like across the room) my leg began to have spasms that hurt like hell.  (Pardon my language.)

While I was resting, Ed called the exterminator, who came to check out our house for termites on Friday afternoon. Upon his initial inspection, the exterminator told us we had an even larger problem than termites! (he didn’t actually see any visible termites under the house)  He informed us we have mold growing under our house, which if left untreated, will soften the wood and eventually cause the floor of our house to go bad!  (Say it ain’t so!  That’s exactly what happened to the floor in our old house!)  Then the exterminator explained to Ed that his company is in the business of treating and preventing mold, in addition to treating for termites.  He explained the three-day process, then gave Ed an estimate for the cost of the services of treating for mold and for termites.  Ouch!  Let’s just say, it’s going to take two full months of Ed’s former pay to fund this project!  Ed told the exterminator we’d take the weekend and decide what we’re going to do, but as we see it, we really don’t have a choice.  We know how the story ends if we do nothing.

For now, I’m still laid up with this ‘pinched nerve’ thing which doesn’t really seem to be getting better.  I’m going to give it a few more days [of rest] before I give in and go to the doctor, because I already know, from experience, what seeing a doctor will entail, and I really don’t want to go there! I’m going to increase my dosage of Nsaids, continue resting for a few more days, and hope and pray for the best.

One funny thing has come out of this ‘pinched nerve’ situation, though.  Ed went to his mom’s house and got her four-legged cane for me.  He said if I’d use the cane whenever I walk, it will take the pressure off of my bad leg, therefore, helping with the pain.  Well, I must be the most uncoordinated person in the world because we’ve gotten more than a few good laughs over me trying to learn to walk with that cane! When I am able to use it correctly, Ed’s right, it helps.  The problem is using it correctly.  For me, it’s like patting my head and rubbing my stomach at the same time 🙂  I just don’t seem to be able to do it! Ha!

Have a great Monday!  As for me, I’ll be resting my back and trying to get the hang of this stupid cane–until Ed returns to his mom’s house and brings back her walker…