Thankful

 Thankful for a day to sleep until 11AM and then shower and relax the rest of the day.  We watched a couple of movies.  The Last Word and Everybody's Fine the last one is a bit sad.  

I was just too tired to venture out for Thanksgiving Dinner with the Grands and Jen and Andy.  Paige and Cole hosted this year at their new home.  They gave us a video tour.  We missed seeing them all.

I made some grilled cheese sandwiches and peaches for supper...easy peasy.  Sadie was happy for the company...but she slept most of the day. 

My sister sent a photo of the Headwaters of the Mississippi at Itasca State Park a photo she took last Sunday.  I am sure it looks different now after the snow. 

Far Side

Visitors and a nap

 I am a tad tired after the busy week.  I spent most of Friday resting and doing quiet things.  I tended to a few things on my list of things to do and had a nap. 

Niece Katie, Hunter and Aubrey visited us they are here from Western North Dakota.  Aubrey is a Senior this year and has been accepted into the Nursing Program at Minot State University!  She will be an awesome nurse!! ( Aubrey is my other baby brothers Grand)

Far Side

Slowing down

 Another busy day on Thursday, the last of the appointments and a grocery run.  Laundry and some house work and I was done for the day. 

I reached my stop sign about 3PM and headed for the couch and slept and dreamed for almost three hours.   Freezer was for supper...Far Guy chose Spaghetti and I made some nachos for myself and fruit.  Watered tomatoes and flowers after supper and folded the last load of laundry.  It will be an early night.

Friday all I have on my list is to cook up eggs and potatoes for potato salad for a gathering on Saturday. 

Far Side

Brown

 Brown in all shades...at least mud brown is gone so we can walk to the mailbox ...mud and ice are all gone. 

It was a gloomy day.  The Juncos stayed all day...I wish they would go where ever they go...North...and stop being snow storytellers.

The Trumpeter Swans are here and the Canadian Honkers too.   They fly over on their way to the grain and corn fields...there must be some open water down at the lake.

I had a fairly rotten day yesterday...just not myself yet.  I had a long nap in the afternoon.

Far Side

Happy Spring!

 Taking it easy is hard when you are used to being busy!  I did some laundry and we ran some errands in town, we recycled and then dropped off old medications at the Sheriff's Office...they dispose of old medications properly.   Someone once told me it is more fun for them to identify medications so I tore all the labels off. 

I ordered some seeds in December we will grow two kinds of tomatoes, carrots and several varieties of lettuce.  The containers I used for lettuce worked just great last year and kept us in lettuce greens all Summer into the Fall.   We purchased a Sheep Tank ( a short water tank) it is galvanized  and will be placed on some landscape timbers out by the Sauna...Far Guy will come up with some kind of fence for it so the Deer can't help themselves to tomatoes and carrots. 

Our weather is so Spring like...we have to contain our excitement a bit because we do live in Minnesota and we could still get Winter in our Spring.  One of my old friends planted her tomatoes and pumpkins already...I can only imagine those vines and limp tomatoes:)  We cannot safely plant gardens here until June 1st.  Before that you may have to replant...or be dedicated to covering stuff up.  Luckily we have the old greenhouse /woodshop to use for a bit of early planting...like May 1st.

I worked on my Mosaic Crochet project and watched Anne with an E and then had a nap.

I feel much better, still tired and my tummy is a bit "off" ...I wouldn't call it nausea.   The headache is mostly gone...and my arm is still a bit sore.  I feel like my body is trying to fight something...guess it must be making antibodies to beat the band!

My Mom's Lilies and in the background Hollyhocks last Summer.

Happy Spring!

Far Side

Recovery

 I am recovering slowly.  We managed to pick up the groceries and get gas for the car...gas is up another 5 cents a gallon this week.  We disinfected groceries, had lunch and I crashed for most of the afternoon. 

Far Guy woke me up when my other baby brother showed up with three of his grands...Teddy, Vivian and Erwin...the older ones are excited about going to visit Aunt Katie...and no Vivian does not was to come live with us forever and ever.  Erwin just smiles and flirts with his eyes.   Fun to see them!  Their Grandpa had them all safely belted in the side by side so we just talked to them through the door. 

I am still very tired bordering on exhaustion and the headache comes and goes as do the hot flashes.  My arm is not as sore as it was but I still ice it when I lay down.  Aleve was the recommendation from the Nurses that were giving vaccinations. 

It is still better than getting covid being on a vent and possible death. 

For the next few days I don't have much planned...some laundry and maybe I will clean the bathroom...when my body says rest...I will.

The Big Island January 2019

Far Side

Tired

 The flu shot made me tired.  I had a fever for a short time... and my bones hurt. I will live to see another day or so. 

Far Guy worked on his new old car...not sure what he did out there...something about ignition wires. 

I forced myself to work on Christmas Cards...and then I had a four hour nap.  I was watching The Great British Baking Show before I fell asleep...perhaps I will be a better baker now....although they make cakes and breads I have never heard of.

Thank goodness for meals in the freezer.  

Far Guy has no side effects from his flu shot.

Far Side

More about May

May was  a month!

Hey Mikey had a birthday!  He is three now!  The terrible twos are behind him now.

He has his Mamas eyes!  Maddie reports he is working on his colors and numbers...he keeps saying he is four not three...

Jonas the Foreign Exchange Student from Belgium headed home.  I took one last photo of him in his new boots.  I said "You will have to wear them on the plane because they take up lots of room in the suitcase."  He has been living with Jen, Andy and Adam the past nine months.

Jonas

Far Guys big sister had one of those milestone birthdays. 

This photo was taken 69 years ago when she was 6 years old...you can do the math.  She is still doing chemo treatments for breast cancer.  The first chemo treatments were real hard on her, the last treatments seem a bit easier on her....not that they are easy just less hard. She has about a month of treatments left and then they will figure out what they are going to do next.

I had the second Shingrix shot on Friday. Cross something off my healthcare list!
I am not as ill as I was with the first one. I have swelling about the size of a softball.   However I did clear my busy schedule for some down time over the weekend.  So far four hour naps are the normal.  I am a good napper.
The shot Nurse was awesome.  I explained Far Guys situation that he is high risk.  So they scheduled me as the first patient in the morning.   I touched nothing except my shoes to the floor...I was taken in almost immediately and ushered out the back door to avoid the waiting room where there was one person.  My regular Doctor works a few days a week out of a very small satellite clinic so  I usually go there to see her...it is a farther drive...but doable. 

Far Side

Yarn Chicken

I won at yarn chicken...it is always a gamble.  Now this shawl is ready to be blocked. 

Yesterday I did some laundry and worked out in the woodshop/greenhouse for awhile and I had three naps...short naps at that.  I finished watching Win the Wilderness on Netflix I give it a 9 out of 10.  I enjoyed it very much!   AND played yarn chicken!  I have one more skein of this shawl in a ball yarn to work up.

Not feeling quite myself...tired and achy...it might be the weather change or it may be my Chronic Lymes rearing its ugly head....I am back on Doxycycline daily...I hate it but usually it works well to put it back in remission.    I can lay down and put my feet up and fall asleep within a minute sometimes less. Naps and rest are a must!  I need warmth and sunshine!

Far Side

Going into March

I am feeling better almost normal...possibly a bit weepy ...but I get that way if I am tired.

I had only one nap on Sunday a long one 3 1/2 hours but after that I felt much better....and stayed awake the rest of the day.

I worked on a crochet project and my cards and between the two of us we managed to clean the bathroom!  Yeah for teamwork.

We have a busy week with five appointments this week.  It may be all we accomplish.

Far Guy is about the same...short of breath and coughing a bit...not better but not worse either.

Onward and forward into March...which seems like a very long month that can bring any and all kinds of weather to Minnesota.

Far Side

Tired

I am feeling very tired since early Friday morning.  On Thursday I had my first Recombinant Zoster Vaccine  or Shingrix.  I have been on the waiting list for some time as the vaccine is in short supply.

I was awake for six hours on Friday and slept the day and night away.  I was awake for eight hours on Saturday.  In a few more days I will be back to normal. Extreme fatigue and nausea are the symptoms I experienced.  Far Guy says I am pretty boring when I am sleeping and had to check to make sure I was breathing a few times.

I hate being so sleepy...but I would hate getting Shingles even worse. 

This is a two part vaccine and in 2 -6 months I will get the second part. I will have to schedule it when I can sleep the weekend away!

Far Guy finished with his series of the vaccine back in December he suffered no side effects at all....although he said his arm hurt for a few days.

  I have managed to do a few loads of laundry between sleeps but everything else will have to wait.

Far Side

Monday stuff on Tuesday

We thought we had an early appointment yesterday...and then it was cancelled.  So we are tired.  Far Guy was up at 5AM...me about 6AM...I am so not a morning person.

Then for my afternoon appointment we had to wait over an hour.  As I was going up to the desk to find out if there was a death in the Ultrasound Dept I was ever going to get called, the gal finally showed up.  The diagnosis...I have a cyst in my right boob that the Radiologist saw on my Mammogram and he was concerned.  Now he can sleep better as he was a real pest about it all.  He wanted another mammogram and I refused since I am black and blue from the one last week...so he settled for an ultrasound.

We did the weekly grocery shopping and came home and had a nap.

I worked on some cards and started painting some Christmas Ornaments....I think this first part will look just fine.  Part two is still in development stages ( still in my brain.)

Far Guy is back on steroids for his shortness of breath.

The Clematis has spread over to the wagon wheel!
Far Side

Almost a Wrap

One more gift to pick up and wrap and then I am done. 

All the pumpkin bread and fudge has been delivered to relatives and neighbors.  A few 2017 woodcarved ornaments to special people have been delivered.  Not sure what I am forgetting.

I have one “from the heart project” that may or may not be completed…I will give it my best.

I am tired.  It is cold here…and snowy.  I could use a long winters nap…or hibernation til spring.

I should dust…shovel snow…sleep…stress makes me sleepy and then nothing is accomplished. 

A long time friend has a birthday party today…she is 100 years old.  I hope to attend the party.

Our niece Megan and her husband Frank have had a sad week.  Frank’s father died  suddenly last Tuesday he was 68 years old.  The funeral is today. We will send a card to let them know we are thinking of them.

Anniversaries, birthdays, deaths, Doctor’s appointments and Christmas preparations…what a week.

Arm

I have been having some troubles with my arm, carpel tunnel problems.  I have been to physical therapy and was fitted for a night time brace.  It worked fine for many months and I was pain free.  Now the pain is back and not allowing me to sleep for very long at a time.  Brace or no brace it is still painful.   We thought perhaps I was wood carving too much, but after three days off it is no better…my fingers go numb and the pain goes all the way to my shoulder.  So I am off to physical therapy once again.  Bummer…the brace is a pain in the butt.  I have knocked myself in the head many times with it. ( It is hard plastic and is formed to the shape of my hand and arm so I cannot bend my wrist at all.)  I can also remove the brace in the middle of the night without waking up…it might be time to schedule the surgery.  Far Guy gives me a daily brace report..it was on. it was off. you were sleeping with your arm in the air again. where was your brace? (Chance had it one night…it was on his back)

I have many projects that I am working on…I am painting some of the Christmas Ornaments, I have 12 more to carve from scratch and about 6 that just need to be sanded.  Three more afternoons and I could be done with the carving.

I have two new hobbies/projects that require two good arms.  I have ordered supplies for one and the other I have most everything. But that is hobby “stuff”…

I have “stuff” that I have been working on outside that needs to be done before the snow flies.  I just don’t have time to baby an arm.

Zaps

It was a long week. 

I had some fancy smancy Nerve Tests done and there is news.

First I am ageing…who knew… better alert the press…since I am old I have a foot that goes to sleep, just the inner half of my foot and leg which sometimes makes it difficult to walk normally.  I would never be able to do a walk the line test…which the Fancy Smancy Nerve Doctor found out. (It is the foot/leg I injured back in 1980 that they could not fix and they said you will walk ten years but no more…well they were wrong…but maybe since it has been 37 years my time might be up. I may write about that whole fiasco someday. ) I could have more tests done but the result would be that I am aging and I have a bum leg and must be careful how and where I walk. Since I am older I have some spinal stenosis which makes the whole leg problem worse. 

I have carpel tunnel in my right arm and will be fitted for a brace and I get to go to Occupational Therapy.   I think I must have good insurance. If the brace and therapy don’t help I get to see the hand surgeon.  Luckily it is the same surgeon who did my thumb that went in and out of its joint a few years ago. He is an older French Doctor and knows what he is doing and probably went to a real medical school.

They said the nerve tests were painful, just like electric fence zaps, I found them milder than an electric fence…not much milder but tolerable.  The most painful part was when he did the acupuncture needles into the muscles and then did the zaps.  By that time…it was a long session 75 minutes and I had lost all of my sense of humor and asked him if he was almost done because I had reached my pain threshold for the day.  He said three more minutes…well I made it.  He turned around and sat at the desk to put his notes in the computer and I just sat on the exam table, he finally said “you can come and sit in the chair next to me.”  I replied “Are you afraid that I am behind you?”  He didn’t answer so he must have been just a little uneasy.  He said I tolerated it well, so apparently I am not a screamer or swearer…he said many women compare it with childbirth…I wouldn’t. ( I may have said crap a few times or maybe even oh shit!)

He did a good job of explaining all my options of other fancy smancy tests that would just show how old I am.  My nerves are not dysfunctional …just old.

I was real tired after that Doctors visit, Far Guy and Chance came along for the long drive and waited for me in the Parking Lot because it was too warm to leave Chance in the vehicle by himself.  They brought me home and I had a long nap but I am still tired.  I still have some aching especially in my arm.

We will have a quiet weekend at home.

I put out a few glass ornaments.  Something to brighten up the woods.

The Spark

I think I have misplaced my spark.   I need to sleep some and just relax, since I completed the last 30 days of antibiotics for the Lyme’s I am doubly tired. I think I should have been taken off the medication gradually because I feel like crap really rotten. 

I have five days off of work…well really four and a half because I have to go into the office and make an appearance at the luncheon with a gallon of potato salad that I have not yet completed, but I will by the time it is needed.  I must remember to smile and not be bitchy. When asked how I am I will answer “Just peachy and you?”

A few nights ago the neighborhood “gang” was trying to make sparks…and they said they made some but they were too little to see.

Sometimes mine is too little to see too.

The boys gave the spark making a good try and suggested that perhaps I should take a movie of them.  It is probably a good thing that these boys are all in different class rooms.

I am sure my spark will be back in a day or two:)

A Day of Rest

I am tired and need a day of rest. I really need an entire attitude adjustment but that won’t happen in just one day. In my next life I want to be someone’s pampered pet..like Chance or these girls.

This pair was resplendent in their cute little shirts.  They were enjoying the ride in their very own stroller.  I asked if I could take their photo, their owner said Oh yes..then they promptly closed their eyes.  Some days I would just like to close my eyes and pretend no one is there. Ah..the life of a dog..close your eyes whenever you want, plop down and nap and save up ammunition just incase you need to pee on someone’s leg. Sounds perfect to me.

I know of a few legs I would like to dampen:)

Old Wagon Wheel

You know how sometimes you just feel like an old wheel..wooden with a metal trimmed hub..old..partly rotten, a bit rickety, it used to move along swiftly but it is turning slower and slower whilst the world turns faster and faster..and you just want to holler “Stop the world..right now..I just have to get off for a bit and catch up..rest up.. so I can hop back on again?”

That is me right now..I will be just fine..just wallowing in a bit of self pity because there is not enough of me to go around at the moment.

So I am going to be like this old wagon wheel and rest against the grain bin for awhile..I am not answering the fricking phone until I get a few moments to catch my breath.

If someone has a crisis..mail me a letter:)

I suppose I am Tired

I am tired..and way beyond cranky.  I am having a hard time keeping my head above water.

I need a bunch of days off in a row..to catch up, to wash the windows, to vacuum out my car, to clean my garage, to write letters to friends without computers, to just stay in my jammies one entire day the rest of my life.

Everyday this week I have needed a nap after supper.  I am exhausted.  Perhaps it is the weather. Perhaps it is working in a very warm environment. Perhaps I have had my fill of people and I just need to hibernate for a couple of days weeks.

Far Guy had to wash and fold his own socks this week.  I am a failure.  I am not a good juggler..I have six more weeks of work. I suppose Chance will just put more nose prints on the windows. I suppose my car will stay sandy and hairy. I suppose my garage can wait six more weeks to be cleaned.  I suppose my friends will understand if I send them a card with a smiley face and a Hi.  I suppose I could just buy more socks for Far Guy:)

Lights Out

Last night after we got home, after a very stressful evening, the lights went out. Just like that no warning..no hint of a flicker..just blackness. Far Guy was in the bathroom..I felt my way over to the kitchen window where the yellow really ugly flashlight is kept. I hate that flashlight, it was designed by a man. If a woman had designed it, it would be some other color than yellow. I love yellow flowers, yellow flashlights not so much. Thankfully the little boy Grands have outgrown their flashlight years..we used to keep one flashlight out of their reach..so it would be ready in an emergency.


It worked fine, even if it is yellow. I was able to use it to find a candle to light. We settled down to silence, no TVs, no computers humming, no ice cubes dropping in the automatic ice maker. We went to bed, Chance was in the middle..lounging..panting..then licking, then sighing. I know he gets the sighing part from his master. Far Guy couldn't take it, he went to the couch. I just snuggled down into the new feather bed topper, hollering back and forth to Far Guy..sure is dark, sure is quiet..this hasn't happened in a long time. We have been spoiled by electricity. I dozed off..only to be startled by bright lights and the sound of my computer booting back up. Then I heard Far Guy running water..so I got up and had a bath..we live in the boonies you know, no electricity=no water.


I don't know what caused the outage, we did see a suspicious car at one of the sub stations on our way home..we thought it looked like a cop car..maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. We were both too tired to investigate..we just wanted to get home take a bath and go to sleep.


When I get stressed out, I either clean or sleep..last night I cleaned our oldest daughters laundry room and did many loads of laundry, Far Guy cooked supper for the girls. I helped with homework. Our eldest daughter who is coincidentally a RN was in the ER, a Doctor recently changed her medications, and she had a severe drug interaction..she suffers from Pancreatitis which is a result of Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction that she got after the removal of her Gallbladder. I am not sure if she fully understands how terrified her children were when she was whisked away by ambulance. Of course we, her parents were a tad terrified too. The grand girls handled the situation well..until they were alone..then they called Grandpa and Grandma..and they were very happy to see us an hour later. Shortly after that we got word that Trica would be OK and that after a few hours they would release her. So we waited, Jen our youngest daughter was dropped off at the Hospital, Andy and the boys joined us for the evening. Since they had further to drive than us..I am sure they are exhausted today. This morning I spoke with Madison, who was getting ready to go on a big field trip today, Paige is staying home from school and keeping a eye on her Mom, Savannah missed all the excitement because she is in the cities on a Class Trip. I am not sure what the answer to Trica's pain management is, I do know that she was very lucky this time, but with the amount of medications she takes it was only a matter of time before this happened. She has had many surgeries to repair this little sphincter, the one that has caused all these problems..realistically perhaps it is time to talk about one of the final steps which is Pancreas removal with a transplant of some of her Isles of Langerhans.. in hopes that they will take over and give her some pancreas function back.  I don't know, I am just the Mom..I do know that it is hard to watch your child suffer and struggle with pain.  There is absolutely nothing I can do, no magic band-aids, I can no longer kiss the owwies and make them go away.  Young Mothers have those magical qualities..old Mothers just clean and do laundry:(