What a day…………….

  

What a day, what a day! First, I had my orthopedic appt for my right knee. The one I just had surgery on. It continues to look good.  I no longer have to wear my leg brace and I’m allowed to drive. I’m still on low activity. No exercising at all. I will have PT 3 times a week for 2-3 months. He told me PT will be very painful. He wants me to take a pain pill before PT and then one after PT. I can’t bend my knee yet. It just won’t bend, but he tells that’s the way it should be and PT will slowly work with it and get it moving again. I start PT next week.

Just knowing that I’m no longer a prisoner in my home makes me feel so good.

I made an appt with my weight loss surgeon. My last appt with him was in April. Due to my knee surgeries I wasn’t able to get back to him. My appt is set for next Wednesday at 3pm. I talked a little to the woman on the phone about not being to exercise and I’m stuck at this weight now for 2 months and I’m frustrated. I told her I was thinking I may have the gastric bypass anyway.

She informed me that she’s pretty sure that unless I have a good medical reason, the insurance company won’t pay for the gastric bypass after they’ve already paid for the lapband. That figures!  I plan on talking a lot with the surgeon and maybe my knee problems will qualify me for the bypass.

If I would have had the bypass instead of the lapband in November, I would have lost all my weight by now.  It’s so frustrating!  I need this weight to come off!

My neighbor is dying. I feel so bad for her, her husband and the kids. This family has been our neighbors since Kevin and I first moved back to Shillington back in 1992. Way back when I was in middle school, their daughter, who was 2 years older than me, wanted to kick my butt. She hated me. Now we’re all friends.

My neighbor and her husband are the same ages as my parents. I’ve always thought of them like our adopted parents. There is nothing this family wouldn’t do for you. I will always love them.

A few weeks ago my neighbor was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Her husband told me her body hurt her so much she couldn’t walk anymore or even get out of a chair. I was thinking maybe she had Fibromyalgia like me. The hospital ran loads and loads of tests and they were all coming back normal.

My neighbor has been in the hospital for 3 weeks now and she was just told she has cancer thru out her whole body. There is nothing anyone can do but make her last days here on earth comfortable.

It’s so sad. It breaks my heart. I want to get over to the hospital and visit her before it’s too late. I need to let her know how special she is to me and Kevin.

I’m not sure what her husband is going to do when his wife dies. His life is his wife and vise versa. Don’t get me wrong, they had their fights, but I can guarantee you that they never went to bed mad at each other.

Onto other news……..Nicci’s at an amusement park today. I haven’t heard from her except she did send me a text saying the park seemed a lot bigger and lot more fun when she was 10. I chuckled and then sent a text back to her saying everything gets smaller as you get older. I left my text open to interpretation and I’m still waiting for a funny text back from her. Think about it? LOL

I mentioned this next subject on FB today and I have the need to post it here too. Yes, it’s political and I’m sure some readers will disagree and that’s okay. Leave your comments in good taste and please don’t attack each other over your views. We don’t all agree on the same things and that’s okay.

As I wrote on FB, tomorrow is the big day. Arizona’s Illegal Immigration Law goes into affect. What’s the big deal?  If you’re a legal citizen of this country you have nothing to worry about. If you’ve been living here in my country for 14 years with no papers, I hope you do get caught and sent back. If families get split up and parents get sent back to Mexico and children get sent to foster care, who cares! I don’t feel sorry for you. You should have come to this country legally. I welcome anyone into this country as long as you do it legally.

My family came to this country and seeked citizenship to be legalized Americans. They had to learn our language. They had to get a job, had to go to school. If they could do this, so can all illegal immigrants.

I’m tired of paying for illegal's to have healthcare. I’m tired of paying for healthcare of the babies born here of illegal immigrants. Speaking of babies, There’s a bill that’s being worked on (and hopefully will get full support) to stop letting these babies be Americans just because they were born here. At least one parent will need to have American citizenship for the baby to be considered an American.  I’ll be a full supporter of that law too.

We are the only country in the world that puts up with illegal immigrants. We’re the only country that gives citizenship to babies born in the country.

I think anyone who knowingly hires an illegal immigrant should be arrested for aiding. If it wasn’t so easy for immigrants to get jobs here, maybe they wouldn’t have a reason to sneak into the country. Besides, those are American jobs and should be given to us Americans.

Do you know that illegal immigrants get worker's compensation when they’re hurt? They don’t pay taxes, they don’t pay SS, but they can get worker’s compensation when they’re hurt on the job.  This has got to stop!

It’s time we (The American Citizens) take back our country.

I am a true Tea Party Patriot. I think all Republicans and Tea Party Patriots need to band together and show our leaders that we’re serious about taking back are country.

So there you have it. I have once again voiced my opinion. If I have offended you…..to bad. It’s my blog, my space on the internet, my thoughts, my opinions.

Remember, I welcome all comments whether you agree with me or not, but be respectful to everyone!

 

 

Continuation of FB entry……

Yesterday I wrote an entry on Facebook regarding a friend of Nicci’s. I was surprised at all the comments I received. I believe opinions on the situation were 50/50. No one really fell in between. You either agreed with me or you didn’t.

Nicci hadn’t hung around this girl for a few years. Believe me, I was happy about that too. Since it was a few years since we last saw this girl, I thought perhaps she had grown up and I was actually looking forward to seeing her.

Now for some background information. This girl had a baby at age 14. Thank goodness she gave the baby up for adoption. It took her 3 extra years to graduate from high school. She graduated at age 20. She could never hold a job. She was always being fired for one thing or another. This girl used to cut herself and if my memory is correct, she had tried suicide a few times too.

When this girl came to our house last night, I thought it was a joke!  She has purple and green short hair yet somehow managed to get what hair she had in pigtails. She had her whole bottom lip pierced with hoops. There must have been 10 hoops on that lip. I’m not even going to get into her makeup.

Now, I’m all for self expression. Nicci herself went thru the Goth stage when she was 14 and 15. I have nothing against tattoos, nor do I have anything against body piercings as long as they’re in good taste. After all, I did have my nose pierced and I have a few earrings in each ear.I also have 3 tattoos.

This girl actually complained to me that she can’t find a job. No one will hire her. Well, HELLO!  Take a look at yourself! Who would hire someone that looked the way she did? I sure wouldn’t hire her. She’d scare all the customers away.

Even Nicci’s employer has a strict body piercing, hair color and tattoo policy. All tattoos must be covered, no outrages hair color and no facial piercings except the ear and they must be regular earrings and this is just the Dollar Store.

Life is tough enough for the newer generations. Why would a person deliberately make life more difficult by dressing like a clown? I’ll never understand I guess. There comes a time when you have to grow up, take some responsibility, and do what you need to do to be successful in life.

I asked Nicci if she was embarrassed to hang out with her. Her answer to me was no, but even if she was embarrassed, she’d tell me no just to spite me.

We did tell Nicci last night that we did not want this girl to come to our house ever again. I’m not ashamed to admit it…………….. I don’t want my neighbors to see her walking into our house.

If this girl was my daughter, I’d have to give her the ultimatum of dressing and looking like an ordinary individual, or move out. I don’t care how old the child is. If you live in my house, you follow my rules. Especially if you don’t pay room and board.

On to some other news……………….

Our weekend was pretty much boring. Saturday both Kevin and Brandon had Chiari headaches. I spent the day on the recliner watching TV and sleeping. Kevin had given me strict orders to “not” do anything since he learned I took my brace off and did some shopping on Friday. I also got in trouble by my parents too. They still have a way of making me feel like a two year old! LOL

Today was not as boring. We tried to go to the grocery store before a line of nasty storms hit us. We got down the street when an emergency announcement came over the radio about the storms and there was a possibility of tornadoes. Needless to say, we decided we would just go home and wait until the storm passed us before going grocery shopping. No matter how old my kids are, I didn’t feel right leaving them at home alone knowing nasty weather was on it’s way.

We were at an intersection behind a woman who was trying to make a left onto a very busy street. Most of the time, there is no way of making a left. There’s just too much traffic.

Suddenly, the car in front of us is in reverse and pow!  The car backed up into us and the car really rocked. Thank goodness it wasn’t my Saab we were driving! 

So there we are, out in the street, it’s starting to rain, the radio is beeping to warn everyone of the weather heading our way and Kevin’s car was just hit. I couldn’t make this crap up! LOL

The woman apologized to Kevin saying she never looked back. She was trying to back up so she could make a right instead of a left. She was genuinely sorry and then I felt bad for her. They exchanged insurance info and then we went home.

The damage to Kevin’s car isn’t too bad, but his front bumper will have to be replaced. It won’t cost us anything though since it’s Kevin’s company car.

We get home, we’re waiting for this “big” storm to hit and guess what?  We had some rain, a little wind, maybe 1 or 2 streaks of lightening and thunder. I love a good storm and this one left me feeling very disappointed. 

After the grocery store Kevin and I went to Kohls. I found a few shirts that were on clearance and Kevin found a nice pair of shorts to play Golf in.

Tonight for dinner Kevin made boneless chicken breasts on the grill. I steamed green beans from our garden which were really, really good. For dessert I made a Reese's Peanut Butter cheese cake. Yum!

I have no plans for tomorrow. I guess I’ll be on the computer playing.

Kevin is participating in another fund raising golf tournament tomorrow. I hope it’s not too hot for the players. We had temps in the 100s again over the weekend.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Until my next entry………………..

TGIF

I’m so glad today is Friday. It’s been a long, long week.

I’m currently waiting for Kevin to get some of his paperwork he brought home from work done so we can watch Shutter Island.  I was told it’s a good movie.

Yesterday, I had my orthopedic appt to check out my left knee that now hurts. Turns out I either tore the meniscus or a ligament with a name I can’t pronounce or spell. The doctor said surgery for either one is simple just like the surgery I had back in April. However, he can’t do that surgery right now. He needs my right knee to heal some more and he wants me to start PT in a couple of weeks so it’s best to leave the left knee alone for now. He advised me to stay off both knees as much as possible. Ugh!

To make myself feel better, I went and had a pedicure today. Shhh, I did a bad thing and drove myself. I’m soooo sick of being stuck in the house. Anyhoo here’s a pic of my toes. I had the flower match the color on my fingernails.

 

I had my fingernails done on Sunday. Kevin had taken me. I should have had my toes done then. Here’s what my nails look like. I wish the picture was better. I have a white swoosh, then a lime green swoosh and the top is a purple swoosh. I love having solar nails.

I stopped at a cute craft store near me to see if I could find some more decor for my living room. I did find a few things which made me happy.

This first picture is of a cute little candle diffuser with a cutout of a heart. My end tables are so big I felt they needed some more items on them along with lamps and coaster baskets.

I found this cute little bottle thingy with the star on it to add to the other end table.

I saw this tree and knew it would be perfect for my little table. The tree matches the candle wreaths and door wreath.

I still have a list of stuff that I need to look for. I’m hoping I can get Kevin to take me to a few crafts stores tomorrow. I need two pictures to hang on the stairway wall. I need to find a large basket to place under one of the end tables for magazines and books. I’m also still looking for two items to hang on either side of the big wall mirror.

Oh yea, I can’t forget to mention that our poor Mona who we had declawed last week now has an infected foot. She seemed fine when she came home but each day since being home she limps more and more. When I picked her up and looked at her foot, it was all red, bloody and pussy. I called the vet and for now she’s having me soak Mona’s feet in a mixture of Epsom Salt and warm water. It’s only 24 hours since we started the soaking two times a day but I can see an improvement in her walking already. If Mona’s foot isn’t any better by Monday, she’ll have a visit with vet. Even my pets have bad luck! LOL

We’re due for a scorcher of a day tomorrow. They tell us with the heat index our area will feel like 110 degrees. Lord don’t let our air conditioning die tomorrow.

Yea, husband is finally ready to watch the movie. Where’s my popcorn?

Until my next entry…………………

P.S. Look who I just caught drinking out of my glass! Merlin does this a lot. I wonder how many drinks I’ve drank after Merlin had a few sips?  Ewwww

Sharing some pictures

Here I am again, it’s 1am and I can’t fall asleep. Since I can’t fall asleep, I thought I would share pictures of the living room re-do we did last week.

The first picture is one of the new lamps. I really like the lamp shade. I purchased the small baskets and have coasters with different country designs on them in the baskets.

The next picture is the candle and candle wreath for the new table. We also bought the doilies that are on the tables. I wish you could see the wreath better.

Next I have our fireplace. The candle holder I had for years. I was able to buy the little wreaths for each of the candles and the wreaths match the wreath on the table. I then found the cute stars and the Faith decoration.

We were able to find a wall mirror to replace the gold one we had on the wall. I still need to find something to place on either side of the mirror.

The next picture is another lamp that I really liked. This lamp sits on the other end table.

I couldn’t find a door wreath that matched the wreaths in the living room so I did the next best thing. I made my own and it all goes well with each other.

In the next picture I wanted to be able to show the new curtain toppers and my Amish quilt we have on the sofa.

This is the new clock we bought for the wall. I love listening to the chimes. You can see part of the wall still needs painting. Kevin should get it done over the weekend.

Next is a group of pictures of things we purchased for our kitchen. I loved this framed print so It’s now on one of my kitchen walls.

The next picture is a wooden hanger with nine cute little plates that match the plates I have in my country hutch in the kitchen.

 Next is an awesome candle I found that smells just like a loaf of Banana Nut Bread.

I found this cute little hand sewn plaque that I paid $2 for and hung beside my fridge. I figured if it’s hanging right beside the fridge, the family is sure to see it.

We also found this cute hanger for our kitchen. It matches my kitchen theme so of course I had to have it.

Finally, the last items were these boat shaped dishes that matched the dishes in my hutch so once again, I just had to have them. I bought four of these dishes. 

Well, well. I’m actually getting tired now. Guess I should try to get some sleep.

Until my next entry……………..

Bad news, good news, bad news……

I can’t believe it’s a week since my last entry. Things around here have just been nuts, but if things weren’t nuts, then something would be terribly wrong.

Kevin had off last week. We had a new sectional sofa and coffee table delivered on Wednesday.  The new sofa purchase turned into a whole room redecorating project.

We purchased a really nice patch quilt for the sofa, which then led to new curtains and end tables which then led to new lamps and and lots of other little “country” decorations.

I do have pictures to share, but I’m not in the mood right now to upload the pictures.

With redecorating the living room came lots of headaches. 2 out of 6 curtains were not the same size. How does that happen?  So we had to return those and find 2 more that measured the same length. I took a “caution” sticker off one of the lamps and ended up tearing the paint off with the sticker. Go figure!  We purchased a beautiful wall hanging Grandfather’s clock. Would you believe we can’t get the pendulum to work? We love the clock but one night this week we’ll have to take it back to the store and either have them show us how to connect the pendulum or exchange it.

I still have one wall that needs painting.That will have to wait till the weekend.

Friday, while getting out of Kevin’s car, I hurt my other knee. With the brace on my right leg I have a hard time getting out of a car. I have to use my left leg to help push me up out of the car. Well, when I did this I felt a snap and then sudden pain.

I can’t begin to tell you the thoughts I had or even the words I used under my breath. Each day since Friday, my knee seems to hurt more and more and it’s swelling. So, beside limping with my right leg and the brace, I’m now limping with my left leg. I’m a total Weebles Wobble.

Today I had a post op visit with my Orthopedic Surgeon. I was excited to see him and have him tell me that I no longer need to wear this brace. No such luck. He fixed the brace so I can move my knee 20 degrees at the most and I need to continue wearing it. 

Kevin and I told the doctor about my other knee. He said it’s either a Meniscus tear or an ACL tear (once again).  He didn’t have time today to take x-rays etc so I need to go back on Thursday so he can really examine my knee.

I’m supposed to stay off my feet as much as possible. He’s worried about the ACL. He ordered me to use my crutches when getting up and moving and he prescribed some pain pills.

I’m so tired of having knee problems. I’m literally stuck right now. I haven’t lost any more weight since June.  I haven’t been able to exercise in months! My body will no longer lose weight without exercising.

I’m going to call my weight loss surgeon’s office tomorrow and make an appt to go in and see him. I’m going to ask what I have to do to have the bypass surgery. Having the lapband only works if you can exercise. I may have to wait until November though. I think my insurance company makes us wait a year from the lapband surgery before approving the bypass.  I should have just had the bypass to begin with instead of the lapband.

I’m just a complete mess and very frustrated. I haven’t been able to do anything or go anywhere this summer. I’m still stuck in the house, I still can’t drive. UGH!

Well, I just wanted to let my readers, know what’s been going on. I’ll post pics tomorrow so you can see the different changes in my living room.

Until my next entry…………………

 

Can’t sleep so……………….

I can’t sleep and the satellite keeps going on and off with the rain so I figured I might as well write an entry.

The past few days Kevin and I have stayed busy. We did a little shopping, gardening and picking veggies out the garden.

On Saturday my mom called to tell us she had a major water leak under her house. She said the water was running down the street. Kevin and I had just left her house and gotten home when she called, so we had to go back up and take a look for ourselves. Nothing was wet when we left the house.

Low & behold, she wasn’t kidding. The water was running at a good steady stream from under the house and down the street. It was a lot of water.

The little boy across the street had a good time playing in the water.

My parents made several calls to get someone out to stop the water at no avail. The water ran for almost 72 hours until someone finally came to stop the water.

I kept thinking about all the people in Africa who don’t have water to drink, and here’s thousands of gallons of water running down the street.

Two men finally showed up this morning and started digging up the yard.  The problem was a valve that was 3ft underground which broke and caused this secondary water line to spew water.

My parents didn’t even know they had a secondary water line.  My parents had tried several times to shut off the water to the house but it wouldn’t shut off.  Now we know why. The water leaking was the house water.

The water has stopped, the pipe is fixed. What an ordeal that was.

Kevin and I did some shopping. I wanted a bigger purse to carry my Nook around with me. Kevin wanted a few things himself.  I found one purse I thought I liked, and then at another store, I found another purse. I couldn’t make up my mind which one I liked better, so I bought the second one too.  I figured once I was home and filled the purses with all my junk, I could figure out which one I liked best.

Funny thing……………..I ended up not liking either one of the purses.

This morning I had to have my weekly INR blood test. Kevin and I got a late start waking up so I didn’t get to the lab until after lunch. I had a long wait. Monday’s seem to be a popular day to have blood work done. Luckily, I had my Nook and I was able to sit there and read for the hour I waited.

After my blood test, Kevin and I returned those two purses I didn’t like. We also stopped at Lowes and got some big wooden stakes to tie up our tomato plants. I should have put the plants in the tomato cages while they were pretty small and before my knee surgery.

We rushed home since storms were coming so Kevin could get the tomato plants tied up before it rained. We made it thank goodness. No sooner did Kevin get the fifteen tomato plants tied up, the clouds opened up and it poured.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with my Rheumatologist. I have a list of some questions for her and I’m anxious to get her opinion on the body twitching. I’m also going to ask her to change some of my meds and tweak others.

When Kevin and I get home from that appointment, we need to take apart our sectional sofa and get it out on the front porch.  Once the furniture is out of the room, Kevin will steam clean the carpet.

I can’t wait for the new furniture to get here on Wednesday.

Kevin has a golf game scheduled for Thursday, I think. It’s his vacation so I had to let him have a day with his guy friends.

One day this week Kevin and I want to go to Philly and take some lunch or take his father and stepmother out to lunch.  Kevin’s father is still recovering from his triple bypass heart surgery but he’s doing really well. 

I’m going to pick some fresh veggies from the garden to take with us and give to them. I thought I would buy a nice country basket and then fill it with the veggies. I think it will make a nice gift.

Speaking of veggies………………today, I picked a head of lettuce from the garden.

Doesn’t the lettuce look good?  It was really good!  I had a big fresh salad for dinner. I’m so glad we decided on trying to grow a veggie garden this year. Next Spring we’re going to add some fruit trees and bushes.

I’m thinking maybe we should buy a little farm.  I would love to have a gigantic veggie garden and take care of a few animals other than my two dogs and two cats.  I would love a horse or two, some chickens etc. I could really fall in love with that lifestyle.

WOW, look at the time. I better publish this post.  In three minutes it will be Tuesday. I can’t publish a Monday entry on Tuesday.

Hope you all have a great week.

 

Lovin my Nook

My Nook finally arrived today. I ordered it online with free shipping, but had I known how long it was going to take getting it, I would have just had Kevin take me Barnes & Nobles. The price was the same.

I do love it. It’s one of the greatest inventions yet. (Second to the iPhone4) I love the idea of no paper being used. I’m saving some trees and keeping our landfills a little cleaner. No more books will be thrown away from this house.

Here’s some pictures I took of my Nook.

 Next is the cover I bought to keep my Nook from being scratched up. First is the outside.

Next is the back of the cover.

 And then finally, the cover open with my Nook inside.

Nicci really liked my Nook and wanted one too, so when Kevin came home from work, we went to Barnes & Nobles and picked one up for Nicci. Before anyone asks, Nicci bought the Nook herself. She gave me the money for it. We did not buy it for her.

I bought my green Nook cover at Barnes & Nobles. I didn’t order one online when I ordered my Nook because I wanted to see the different covers that are available in person. This cover was only $30, but they had some there for $125.

I think I’m going to need a bigger purse to carry it around with me. My purses keep getting bigger and bigger. Gone are the days of carrying around a little purse with just enough room for my license, some money and a cell phone.

Our Barnes & Noble store is having a Nook class tomorrow night. The class is free. It’s basically to show you how to work your Nook, download books and newspapers etc. I don’t need the class but I think the class is a great idea.

The Nook would be a great for my mom since she’s a big reader but she’s doesn’t like change and I think she would want to keep with paper books.

When I charged up the Nook and started to enter my info, the Nook updated itself with the books I have on my iPhone. I wasn’t sure if it would do that or not. I was prepared to finish reading the two books on my phone. I was using the Barnes & Nobles application on my iPhone. I’m not sure if books would be transferred if you use Amazon or iBooks on your phone.

I was able to subscribe to our local newspaper and can read the whole paper on my Nook daily. That’s pretty awesome.

Being able to change the font is great too. I didn’t mind reading books on my iPhone, but the font is pretty small and I would have to use my reading glasses. No need to wear my glasses with the Nook.

I was checking out my veggie garden again today. According to my veggie schedule, my carrots should be ready to be picked any day. I’m glad I didn’t just start pulling them out of the ground. I pulled one out, and it’s a little small. Guess I need to keep them in the dirt a little while longer.  Here’s a picture of the little, little carrot.

 

After washing off this little carrot, I was able to eat it with two little bites. It tasted really, really good. I can’t wait until they grow some more.

I’m not sure what’s on the agenda for the weekend. Kevin may start tearing apart our bathroom upstairs. Kevin is now on vacation for a week. Since we can’t really go anywhere because of my knee, having the week off gives him time to work on the bathroom. He does have a golf game scheduled for one day next week though.

We do need to pick the string beans from the garden this weekend. I could do that on my own as long as Kevin opens up the rabbit fencing for me.

Time to end my entry for today.  Hope everyone has a good weekend.