Last October...

Last October, my sister Amy at Love That Bee said she was going to blog daily.  It wasn't a challenge for me, but I accepted none the less.  After all, any thing she can do, I can do....er....also!

So I started writing daily.  And I loved it. I kept it up past October and as the months ticked by, I was surprised that I was still finding time and material and enjoying it.  I loved finding other blogs to join and I still remember the very first post I ever read by Judy, it was about a dog and I was hooked.  I'd never thought to comment on someones blog before, but I started to on hers and it opened up this great community of bloggers that I visit daily.

What have I been doing this last year?  I've been writing, because I can't help myself and my purse is a wasteland of scribbled thoughts on scrap paper to prove that to be true.  It's not always literary, and  it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's mine and I am so glad my sister spurred me on to find this part of me I had only been tending half-heartedly!  I may have slowed down from daily to (right now) about once a week, but  that's just because real life reared up and needed attention.

I had wanted to blog daily this October, but that just couldn't happen.  That's okay, I have filed away some wrinkled papers with bits and pieces of ideas for the moment when I can dream them out into full grown posts.  And that is why I love writing!  A word or two winds its way into my attention and I trace the thread to the end.

Thanks, TangledLou, for writing of her last year of blogging and inspiring me to do so too.

And thanks to my sister, for doing what sisters do best and challenging me!

A Gal Could Get Used To This

Having my husband home 27/7 is something I could get used to very easily....

His alarm isn't blaring at 4:45am, mine is the one to wake us up at the decent hour of 5:45.  We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together.  Mochas have been known to make surprise appearances on my work desk. The dishes are washed and errands are run without me.  We've caught up on our favorite shows, and we sometimes stay up late just because we can.

I'm looking at this silver lining of his recovery from surgery, and I'll be honest, it's moved past silver and it's looking pretty golden.

I could get used to this house husband thing!

What Every Modern Car Should Have

I have discovered, thanks to riding around in my son's '67 and my husband's '70 pick up trucks, that old school treasure: floor vents.

With a handy move of my foot, my good-not-sprained foot, I can open a vent that allows fresh, cold air to blast onto me.

I could use that in our modern family car, and by modern I mean a '99 Tahoe.  Too often I am hot, or partially car sick and I need cool air blowing on me.  Opening the window means my poor daughter suffers with the wind wiping past me to hit her.  Turning on the AC seems a bit extreme in 58 degree weather.

But the miracle of the floor vent is cool air right on me, no hassle or worry.  It's a luxury that should never have been made obsolete.

I shudder to think how I will handle hot flashes in the future.  Maybe I'll take to riding around in the convertible all the time.  Top down and no worries about floor vents or windows or AC!

Thursday Happenings

This is what I've been up to today.....

Two weeks ago, I almost took a tumble as I left the hospital after one of my husbands test.  I caught myself before I hit the pavement, and figured I was fine (no scrapped knees this time!) Last week, after my husband was finally home, and I was doing more than just sitting by his bedside, I realized my ankle hurt a bit.

Oh well, I'll just power through it.  Ice it a bit, take a few tylenol, call it good.

Except, it wasn't good, and the pain went from bearable to excruciating as I walked.  So I went  to the doctor. I was told to ice it, take some ibuprofen, and come back if it still hurt.  I realized I had to come back when I wanted to cry as I walked down the hill to our office.  After the xray showed nothing wrong, I was sent downstairs (man, I love where I work) to see the podiatrist.

Today I learned that there are several grades of sprains, mine being a simple grade 1, but due to the ligaments being so loose (sickeningly loose), I now have a wrap bandage thingy to wear for an entire month, complete with laces and velcro.  

The good news is that since I was wearing black today, it matched my outfit perfectly.  The bad news is, I don't have enough black to wear for a month.

I'll worry about that on Monday!

The Trouble With Supernatural

My daughter has spent all summer watching episodes of the show "Supernatural."  It has never been a show I watched, not because it was too scary.....back in the day I never missed The X-Files, although I changed my  viewing habits when I started to wonder exactly what a sixth month old baby absorbs as my sixth month old baby stared raptly at the TV one Sunday night.  Turns out, he absorbed a love of horror films and has helped his sister find her love of the same.

My daughter has watched episode after episode, and gives us a synopsis of each, and sometimes I have come home from work and find that she'd been crying because the show was that sad.  I understand.  I still tear up when I think of the last episode of "Angel."

I don't object to the material of the show, or the nightly recap of a show I have never watched, or the emotions she has tied up in these two brothers.

No, what I find troublesome is that she now has a dream car, thanks to the brothers, and she wants a '67 Impala so badly, I'm sure she can taste it.  Before she started watching "Supernatural," she wouldn't have been able to pick out a '67 Impala from a sea of Toyotas.  Now, she is a fount of knowledge concerning this dream car, and can be found searching Craigslist on the off chance that one can be found for an affordable price.

FYI: it can't be found!

It doesn't have to be '67 Impala, but it should have two doors, and the same muscle car shape and the cute '69 Dodge Dart I found was knocked out of the running because it was too cute and had four doors and a vinyl roof and my daughter knows exactly what she wants......her Dad is so proud!

My Thank You Speech

I'm sure it's not just me, but most people carry around in their mind the thank you speech they'd give if they won on Oscar.  Not that I'm doing anything to win an Oscar, but, you know, I've got a thank you speech on deck, ready, just in case it's needed.

Since I'm feeling full to the brim with thanksgiving, I'm going to break it out.

I want to thank God, the Big Guy Himself, who makes all things possible.
I want to thank my Mom for everything, for chicken soup that is good for the soul and tummy, for little treats to uplift my spirit, for phone calls, texts and hugs to let me know she had my back.
I want to thank my Randy for sitting in the parking lot of two hours waiting for the tow truck to get my broken starter car home.
I want to thank my in laws for visits at the hospital and starters being replaced and how blessed we've been that their visit home happened to be a time we really needed them.
I want to thank my sisters for texting me, for visits, for making me laugh when I was stressed and worried, for much needed Dr Pepper and for bringing a book I had forgotten I was desperate to read.
I want to thank my kids for being great kids, for taking care of things at home, for funny jokes at dinner that made my nights sweeter.
I want to thank my Grandparents for calls and visits and love, for making this family so good from the start.
I want to thank all our friends and family that have prayed with us, worried with us, rejoiced with us.
If I missed anyone, don't feel missed.  I'm thankful for every person that has been with us this last week, in thoughts or in deeds.  Thank you!!

Home Sweet Home

After a bit of emergency surgery (it had been set for Monday but Sunday morning found our hospital calling in the surgical team to get it done asap) and a wonderfully gruesome picture of what they found that was causing the bleeding (from here on out referred to as a 'nubbin') and a few days of drug bliss-ed recovery, my husband is home!

There really is nothing like the power of home, even in its unswept, unwashed, undone state.  It is home and it is were healing rest can really begin.

For me too.....as my husband dozed on the couch, I curled up on the love seat across from him and napped.  I've missed hearing his snores as I drift off to sleep!