Tuesday, September 25, 2012

"So, I'm Here, Sort Of."

I've been so lazy since I've had this surgery. Lazy, lazy, lazy.
Haven't felt like reading books or blogs. I did find a Word Search puzzle game on line that I liked. I love word searches and have been doing quite a few of those.

I cheated for Katie whenever she would bring word search's home for homework. She hated to do them so I would do them for her. She say's she was never any good at them, probably because I did them for her, oh well. I'm sorry to all those teachers that sent them home with her. But it is what it is and she always got an "A" for them.

How about that Green Bay- Seattle game last night? I think that Ref strike needs to be settled. That was crazy stupid! The Packers won that game, I don't care what the Refs called. Not a big football fan but I do watch with my husband when the Packers play. He's a big Packers fan. I like Dance Mom's.

So I discovered these past few days that it is possible to do dishes one handed!! Don't freak out, I just got really bored and wanted a challenge. Jake was hovering over me all P.O.ed because I was even attempting it. The hardest part is washing the silverware. But I discovered that if you put a soapy, wet dishrag across the sink, you can wipe the silverware on that. Mind you this all takes a long time with one hand but it can be done damn it!!!!

I was able to go to church Sunday and my husband actually came with me, will miracles never cease? Pastor talked about our Baptism's and how we as Lutherans consider it a sacrament.
Later after service Jake and I talked about our own Baptismal experiences. Well mostly his as I was a baby and don't remember that day.

That same afternoon Jake and I went to my son's house for a B.B.Q. It seems so different now that he is separated but he cooked us a great meal and we had a good time with the grandkids.
It was a GOOD day. I just want my son to be happy. 
That's what I pray for.

I've been able to use my right hand pretty darn well. I just can't get it wet because of the stitches. I get the bandaging off tomorrow and then the stitches should come out next week sometime, not sure on that yet. This whole experience brought back a memory from the fourth grade for me. I was living in Chicago and it was a typical cold winter day. I remember looking out the window to see if the sidewalks were clear enough for me to walk to school without wearing my boots. The sidewalk just looked wet so I wore my street shoes. That's what we called them back then.

As I started my walk to school that day I realized that the sidewalks were covered in ice. So being that I only had my slippery leather shoes on, I walked more cautiously. There was a group of older girls walking behind me and I remember over hearing them say something to the effect that there was no such thing as Santa Claus.

I guess that statement erased my caution as I slipped and fell hard on the ice. Those same girls saw what happened and helped me walk the rest of the way to school and took me inside to the office. There was a very cranky secretary inside that kept telling me that I was being a big baby because I was crying while telling her that I broke my arm. I couldn't understand why she would not believe me.

Several hours later and a trip to Chicago Children's Memorial hospital confirmed the fact that I had a compound fracture of my upper right arm. I don't know what that bone is called but it was broken in half and nearly sticking through my skin.

I had to wear a cast that went completely around my arm and chest for several months. Needless to say it was then that I learned to use my left hand so well. I can even write with it. So now you know why  it hasn't been so bad for me not being able to use the right hand completely.

I am going to have Thanksgiving dinner this year. My son will be here and I do believe that my oldest daughter from N.C. will be coming up as well. I plan on making this a very special Thanksgiving as our family has been through a great deal this past year and we have a lot to be Thankful for.

I'm going to try and schedule my left hand Carpel Tunnel surgery for the last week of October. If the doctor will let me. He said we could set that up tomorrow. This way I should be all healed and good to go before the Holidays. Although my husband is a great cook and always helps me with the food anyway, I'd still like to be able to give it my all if you know what I mean.

I'm really hoping that we'll be able to have our grandchildren here as well but I don't know if that will happen as of yet. I will talk to my D.I.L. about it and see what she says. We are still talking, she's been like a daughter to me for 17 years. That just doesn't go away.

I've been around a little here and there to visit everyone's blogs. If I haven't gotten to you yet please don't take it personally. I just follow so many and have been tired lately. Next week my husband will go back to work from his vacation and I will have more time and hopefully more energy by then. Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

" Surgery's Over, I'm Home !"

Yay... I'm home from the Carpel Tunnel Release surgery and it went so much easier than I had anticipated.
My husband ended up taking his last two weeks of vacation this year so he was able to take me. We arrived at the hospital at 6:00 A.M. and were home by 9:00 A.M.!!

I was the first surgery and it went very well and quickly. All of that anxiety for nothing! As you can see I am typing and it's only 10:40 A.M.!! I am able to use my hand much more that I had imagined which made me very happy. I have stitches in two spots . A few on my palm and a few on my wrist. He also was kind enough to remove a huge wart I had on my thumb for many years so it also has stitches.

The doctor said that the nerve wasn't too bad so I should expect good results. I have to go back next Wednesday to have the wrapping removed at which time they will put some tape over the stitches. In the meantime I can't get it wet at all but I can drive and do anything that doesn't hurt. I am so relieved and happy!

I will get the stitches removed the week after next. At that time I will schedule the other hand. Now that I know how easy it was, I will be glad to have them both done and then perhaps get a good nights sleep for a change.

So that's it for now, I just wanted to share the good news!
Have a great day. 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

A Bit of This and a Bit of That and So on and So Forth...

I'm at a loss for words as of late it seems. So many things have been going on around here that my mind has been having problems focusing. So I am just going to ramble again as that seems to be all that I am capable of lately. I'm also going to post a few random photos of people, events and flowers of this past summer.

Mansion around the corner from my house. A girl can dream right?


I guess the main thing on my mind is my upcoming Carpel Tunnel Release surgery a week from this Thursday on the 20th. I've had Carpel Tunnel in both hands for close to 10 years now and it's come to a point where my splints aren't working anymore. To many sleepless nights, constantly dropping things and not being able to do certain things such as crocheting, has driven me to this.

My grandson Jack, turned four in June.
Judging from this photo I'd say it must feel pretty darn good to be four!!


I am not looking forward to the surgery at all but desperate times call for desperate measures they say. So hopefully all will go well and I can have the left hand done before Christmas. 
Katie will take me to and from the hospital for the outpatient surgery. My husband is taking the following week off of work to help me out. I'm digging deep for my faith. I'm really not looking forward to this.

I had another couple of visits from two toads in my yard again this summer. Before the horrible heat wave. Haven't seen the poor little things since.


On a good note, I won't be doing much cleaning for a bit.
Oh... wait, I forgot, I LOVE TO CLEAN !!!
I wonder if I'll be able to use my little finger to type with. Did you know it's the only finger not connected to the nerve that the other's are connected to? 

Katie playing "Dress Up" with our Pug, Ruby.
Poor dog.


I did manage to do some sewing today. Kate had a headband that she really liked wearing so I looked up a pattern for it on YouTube. 
I told my husband that I wrote down the pattern measurements and instructions. He asked why I just didn't print them out.
Is there any way to print out a video from YouTube?
No he's not stupid. He just didn't know where I got the pattern from.
I made two. They were quick, easy and cute. I haven't taken a photo of them, sorry. I was just happy to do something fun.

Hit and run accident that happened on my front lawn this past spring.
There is a reason I never park in front of my house. It's the third one I've seen since we've lived here.
The neighbors did get a new car.


So whilst I was having fun sewing, I was also doing something I hate. Cooking. I decided to make homemade Beef Teriyaki with rice. It came out very good, in fact both teens LOVED it !!
Which reminds me, when I went to the doctor yesterday to get my clearance for the surgery, he informed me that I had gained five pounds since June.

Daughters, Ginny and Katie.
Balloonfest  2012


I didn't even try to explain that he would have gained five pounds too had he been on a double dose of Cholesterol medication that made me want to sleep 24/7 during a heatwave/drought.
I was a slug, I'll admit it. And I did tell him that I felt like crap the whole time I was on it. I am doing much better since he cut it back.
Don't get me wrong, he's a very caring doctor but sometimes they need to take certain things into perspective.

Balloons get ready for the race.



I've been eating healthy again but still haven't started exercising again. No excuse really. Just laziness I guess.
Everyday I tell myself that I will ride my bike "Today".
Then I just get busy running around until I'm exhausted.
I think you all know what I'm talking about.
Motivation. Don't seem to have it.

I brought all of my Autumnal decorations out last week and decorated the inside of the house. I would like to have more as Autumn is my favorite time of year.
I've made quite a bit of them myself. 
Pumpkins are expensive again this year. I used to buy a lot of them for the front porch. I'm thinking we'll be cutting back this year.

Photo that my granddaughter, Sarah, took a couple of weeks ago while spending the night.


Sarah...


Since my son and and my DIL have gone their separate ways, I guess having Thanksgiving Dinner will most likely be at my house this year. Katie is planning a fancy cake for dessert.
I don't know who's going to cook the dinner. Hopefully both hands will be working by then. If not, my husband is an excellent cook!

I can't get enough of these beautiful Morning Glories blooming all down my fence. I have so many photos of them.
Some would probably say too many!


Tomorrow I will go clean my weekly house. It will be my last week for awhile until the doctor says I can go back to it. I will miss this job. My morning talks with Linda. But hopefully things will go well and I will get back to it soon enough.

Grandson Jack.


As for my secretary job at church, I'm just going to see how things go. When I can drive, I can do most of that job with one hand.
I'm pretty sure I can get help from others while I'm out.

Altar.


I told you this was going to be random didn't I ?
Well I'm sorry for that, I've been scatterbrained lately!!
So I will end your misery and sign off for now.
I'm going to try and post at least one more time before next Thursday.

One of my yard Gnomes.


Oh I forgot, I've been doing some Thrifting lately.
I'll try and remember to post some of my "Finds"
soon.
Goodnight.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Just Rambling

It's Saturday afternoon. I rarely blog on Saturday afternoons or any weekend for that matter.
Two family members are sick. I think I may be too but I prefer to ignore these inconveniences.

You don't have to read this if you don't feel like it. As my title reads, I'm just rambling. Had to use spell check for "rambling". I'm a pretty good speller but never won any awards for it so I do like spell check sometimes. But there are those times that spell check doesn't understand me. That's frustrating. Has that happened to you? I end up thinking, "To hell with it." and use a different word.

My husband came home this morning for the weekend. He is sick and cranky. He likes to drink beer on the weekend. I am going to make him a cocktail. I have some giant lemons and some vodka. I can make a very good Vodka Lemon cocktail. They are small and tasty. They will help him sleep. 

I didn't sleep well last night. Been up since 4:00 A.M. I couldn't breathe very well and my carpal tunnel was acting up badly. I am going for a visit with the ortho doctor next week. We will schedule the right hand surgery then. Hopefully I can get the left hand done shortly after. I miss crocheting. I haven't been able to do it for awhile now. It's always been my number one creative outlet. I wish my girls would let me teach them more. They know a few basics, chain stitch, single crochet. But I would love to teach them to read patterns before I die.

My mother was 72 when she passed away from a heart attack. Her second one. She was healthier than I am. This runs through my head a lot. I'm 53.
It's funny how your mind works with things like that. Mom liked to crochet too. I taught her the basics. She could read patterns to an extent. Not hard one's though. I miss her. I can't believe it will be three years this December since she passed. I wonder if she watches over me. I would like to believe she does.

It rained here last night. Remnants of Hurricane Issac. It may rain on and off all weekend. It doesn't bother me. We have been in a drought after all. I would like to go for a walk in the rain. I want to go four wheeling in the mud. I went four wheeling last weekend. By myself. I did it. It was quite exciting. And freeing. At first I found it a bit hard to turn and was afraid I would tip over. But after awhile, I just wanted to go for miles and miles. I want to go again. My son has a four wheeler at his house in the country. I know he wouldn't care if I went out there and did it.

My son and his wife have split up again. I don't know what is going to happen, if it's permanent or not. My heart aches for him. And my Daughter-In-Law. I love her too. But it is what it is. I just want everyone to find peace and happiness in their lives.

This has had me very down lately. Understandably.  I was feeling down and extremely tired the past few weeks. And sore. My doctor raised my dosage of my cholesterol pill. He doubled it. I couldn't take  it anymore so I called him last week to complain. I said, "I can't take it anymore!". Whats the point of lowering my cholesterol a few points if all I want to do is sleep and ache all the time? So he cut me back. After the first day I felt much better. Also started taking B Complex. I have much more energy again. So I may not live as long as he'd like but at least I can do things and have fun now.

Oh my gosh, everyone is sneezing and moaning. 
I think I am going to have a cocktail or two myself tonight. Maybe that will help me sleep too. On a good note, since everyone is sick, I will have time to read everyone's posts.

Oh and speaking of Blog posting, I am just going to spit it out. O.K. here goes. I'm not reading anymore posts that contain all politics. I'm tired of hearing about the election. I'm not interested in hearing about it anymore. I always vote. I always read up on the candidates. I was a Board of Elections Judge for three years. I canvassed the neighborhoods on foot. I did my stint. The one thing I've learned is this, anyone can promise anything. It means little if nothing. The fact of the matter is actions speak louder than words and there is no way of knowing the outcome until after the winner has been elected.

It doesn't excite me anymore. So please don't take offense if I don't read political posts. I'm not one of those people that don't vote and then complains when things don't work out as promised. I vote every election. I just don't want it jammed down my throat 24/7 until November.

I'm sorry if this offends anyone but I do have the freedom of speech, well at least for now!

Well I think my husband wants some attention so I guess that's enough Rambling for now. I hope everyone has a fun weekend. I'll be by for a visit soon. Take care and be safe, Love Di ♥