Under the knife

This posting will appear while I'm in the middle of knee replacement. I've been a very busy bee marking off as much as I could of my list. I'm happy to report that about 3/4 of the list got done. My kids have promised to put up Christmas decor while they are here for Thanksgiving and I have most of my shopping done, but just need to get everything wrapped. I figured wrapping could be done from a reclining position?

Now my biggest worry is what goes on at home while I am away....

I'm sure there will be some bending of the rules....
Some looking for Mommy...

And just general mischief..

So life will go on and I'll go with it...

35 and still alive!

Yesterday, was No. 1 Son's 35th birthday....boy, does that make me feel old. But he wasn't dining on fine Mexican cuisine he was chasing down that one and only deer he is allowed to shoot. Seems he's already met his limit on a buck, a doe, a fawn (I kid!) and whatever the third one was. And now he is in search of a Spike.... I googled "Spike" and got not one picture of a deer...but I did get lots of this....

Anyway, back to the birthday. We celebrated his birthday last Tuesday and EVERYONE in the family was able to make it! It's always loud and fun when we all get together and that night was no different.

I made it through allergy testing (so many allergies it's going to take 3 or 4 injections per visit, which are twice a week for a month and then once a week and spirals down for 5 years until my system is immune to the allergens....run on sentence?) and upper and lower GI with out any problems.

Now to change the mood and just because I'm feeling daring and my DD told me too, I proceed with a short commentary....

Exactly what other way would one want their condoms???

This has bugged me since the day these places went into business! First of all why did they ever move out of the pharmacy shelves (I'm sure they're still there but you know what I mean?) or men's restrooms at gas stations or wherever else they are or have been.

I guess it's just a nicer (did I really say that?) way to promote or name a sex shop? I've never actually been in one, but I assume they don't sell just condoms?

GIVE ME A BREAK~~

My heart goes out to the poor parents that have to explain these things to their children at way too young of an age.

Monday

There is something about Monday mornings I just hate. I'm usually a Pollyanna, glass almost full kind of gal, but Monday's bum me out.

Well, it's really Sunday afternoon when it starts and it's been that way since school days when I was young. The routines of Sunday night as a child just put the dread in motion.

Now when the kids were young and I was a somewhat Stay at Home Mom it was a little different...."YEAH!!!!!!!!!, the kids are back in school." But considering the spacing of my children it was FIFTEEN years before they were all in school at the same time!

It's just hard to imagine a time of retirement of getting up when you want and doing what you want and not having the obligations I have now, or that dread that tomorrow is MONDaY!

But as time continues to go by it does seem that those obligations are less or I'm finally figuring out they aren't as crucial as I thought they were....all but that earning the almighty dollar part...

Well, this week is starting off with a BANG as this afternoon I have a full round of allergy testing and tomorrow I'm spending the day at the hospital having an upper and lower scopes done. (that's putting it nicely...not medically) Since both parents were taken by cancer and polyps seem to be a fad in my family I must surmise every 5th year to this joy. If I could just get my siblings to get their head out of the sand and take care of their medical business I would be a woman at peace. Oh well!

Have a happy week! and TGIM!

Garage Sale Saturday

I made a vow (given my long list of things to do in 10 days list) to not attend, search out or go to any Garage Sales in the next few weeks. But here are some from weeks past.

It all started out innocent enough....I was going to drop off some of our junk at the local resale shop.

We seem to have an abundance of hospital drinking glasses...go figure!


Here are some things I stumbled upon...

Gonna spray paint that little pillar black and not sure about the frame...the tray or pan they are sitting on is going to become a mirrored mosaic.


I love these face wall sconces..should they remain the same or be painted??

Also some vintage dishes that will be worked into a mosaic birdhouse (stay tuned) and the "J" shaving mug goes to MFSIL for his toothbrushes...

I have a little collection of small interesting boxes and I picked up these two for 50 cents. The one I am holding has "Made in Italy" on the back and a handwritten price tag .

This is an old stamp holder for those rubberstamps that required a ink stamp pad....Only a DOLLAR!

This is a box of 3 tiered Christmas trees brand new in the box (regular price $39.99) I snagged for a mere $9

A wooden plate?

A travel size scrabble game with tiny little scrabble pieces...probably going to use these pieces in a creative way of some sort....

This past weekend DD and I went cross country (or maybe I should say cross cities) stopping in at random sales between Granddaughter's morning soccer game and making our way back home (about a 20 mile stretch). We found some bargains but not what we were in search of....she was looking for a desk and no one seemed to be selling them, but we found one at "the local resale store" this past Tuesday....I think her plans this weekend involved painting that desk.

Hope everyone is having a thrifty weekend...I'm keeping blinders on and only sticking to my list!

Knee Surgery

In just 10 short days I will bite the bullet and go under the knife and have my other knee replaced. YIKES!!! After all the ridiculing and wise cracks I've punished my hubby with during his surgery now is going to be payback time.

I know what I face and have no regrets I'm just ready to get it done and get on with life.

What REALLY scares me is that Christmas is just 41 little days away which means I will be laid up during the later of those 41 days so in the next 10 I am trying hard to accomplish the following:

1. Christmas gifts for everyone.



2. Christmas cards done and sent.



3. Cleaning the house from top to bottom.



4. Granddaughter's birthday gift (Dec. 11th)



5. Oldest boy child's birthday gift (Nov. 22nd)



6. Several people's birthday cards sent.



7. Grocery's for a month (including Christmas).



8. House decorated for Christmas. (I may pull kids in on this at Thanksgiving...)



9. Outside lights put up.



10. Clean and wash all vehicles



11. Sell Jeep.



12. Put out pansies.



13. Train temp. employee at work



14. Get all paperwork turned in to HR department



15. Get all preop work done (labs, x-rays, pre-admit)



16. Turn loose of everything involving Thanksgiving to the girls



17. Bath dogs



18. Make a to-do list for hubby.



19. Turn in all paperwork for Aflac from hubby's surgery.



20. Kiss up to hubby for good measure of love during my recovery.
    

Well, if I do two of these a day I'll have them all done by the day of surgery. It doesn't count that at least half of them will take more than a day or two to complete and I've thought of a dozen more things since completing this list.....time will tell and life will go on and I'll go with it whether the list gets done or not.

Wish me well!!

Manicures

If you need a laugh this should do it....I'm sure you may have seen it before, but I crack up everytime I see it....hummmm, maybe I do have too much time on my hands?!






We have a new nail place in town and I almost drove off the road when I saw it...


I'm sure they're raking in the money... I just wonder where you have to go to have the other eight fingers done???

Just Pitchin In

I'm so behind on blogging... bear with me as I backtrack...

Every now and then we take time out and drop in on DD and MFSIL and pitch in to help. If you don't know they purchased their first home a few (well, several) months ago. It was a bank repo and they have completely restored it into great condition. There is still a list of little odds and ends that need to be done and she is over anxious (and rightly so) to get everything "put together"...


Hummmm, what's wrong with this picture??

On a recent visit I convinced her to not replace this lamp and let me see if I can bring it back to life...so here's the before picture and this is after it's been taken a part and washed.

This will hang in the entry hall. MFSIL has installed almost all of the lighting and replaced all of the light switches and other outlets. See, he just doesn't sit around all the time...

We hung a clock on this visit and...



put together her half bath. Now check this curtain out...she picked it up at Ross for a dollar!

Here is the hall bath all clean and ready for decoration.

And this is where MFSIL says I have too much time on my hands.... an idea for the office! Not too much time just a bad case of A.D.D.

This is the actual room, but before new carpet, a new ceiling fan and a fresh coat of paint. The lower half of the wall is a dark shade of beige and the upper section a lighter shade of beige. DD has some creative ideas for the furniture in this room.

Sometimes she has trouble thinking out of the box and that's where I come in....we seem to balance each other she pulls the reins in on me and I try to steer her out of the box when I can.

Boy, I'm I looking forward to her taking care of me in my old age....we've been making plans for that too!

Maybe this will be my room?!?

The Pink Shelf

At least a year ago, and maybe even longer ago than that...a couple of girls that I work with and I were at the local resale store. One of them bought this pink shelf and ask me to paint it a lighter shade of pink. Well, she completely forgot about it and I completely took liberty with it, by covering it in broken glass, beads and other adornments.



I just wish I had taken a picture before I covered it, but I didn't...so imagine it without all this pink stuff glued to it.

I filled it in with a white grout and then sealed it.

I'm quite proud of how it came out. I think my co-worker liked it too, I just hope it didn't pull the sheetrock off the wall when she hung it.

Rodeo

Darling daughter and my favorite son-in-law help me drag Mr. Gimpy leg out to the Stampede Rodeo this weekend.

I really think it was more than he should have been doing being only two weeks out on a total knee replacement, but I promise you he would give anyone willing, a race with his walker. We lucked out and only had ONE step down to our seats! We did have some walking, but not too far. I would have forgone the starched jeans but he insisted and claimed he was fine....so far be it from me to interfere....wink, wink!

There was a grand intro with a salute to the troops and our fine country....

And then it was ON WITH THE SHOW!!!

This was pretty amazing this guy rode standing up and they went pretty fast too!

This little guy really cracked us up. It's a small monkey dressed up like a cowboy riding the dog as his horse and he actually herded (is that a word?) sheep.

Of course, the mutton bustin was a hoot too...

Of course it wouldn't be a rodeo without the clowns.

Some calf roping.

Barrel racing...

Slobber slinging bull riding.

Then the final farewell from all the winners!

But that's not the end my friend this great rodeo was followed by a wonderful concert with Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.

It was a FUN Saturday night!