Wednesday, November 30, 2011

And the winner is...

I couldn't decide what to title this. I had so many ideas, including these...

"I'll take 2 ribs for $200, Alex."
"That'll be 2 ribs... Not McRibs."

Yep... he's got two broken ribs. Not feeling too great today.

My mom's in the hospital in KC. She's got nearly carbon copies of the same diseases that Ron has, except she still has both of her feet/legs and she's 81. She's more frail because of her age. Her visiting nurse insisted today that she go so my SIL took her. She didn't want to be admitted but she's there to get some fluid drained off. She's got so much fluid that it's formed blisters on her feet and legs. Ron's been down that road.

Speaking of Ron...
Back in the day when Ron was much younger, he knew a bunch of people who are now famous and successful people in the entertainment industry. One is Sinbad (he got his start in Wichita through a TV station where Ron was part-owner) and another is Martina McBride's husband, John. Martina (with George Strait) is coming to Wichita in February and Ron really wanted to go to the concert. I think he was hoping that somehow he'd be able to see John again and say hello. I've been watching Select-a-Seat and, so far, the tickets are not available there. But, another retailer has them (GetTickets.com or something like that) already and I got all excited thinking about surprising him for Christmas/birthday. We don't really do much for each other for Christmas - usually go shopping together and just pick something out. But I was going to see what I could come up with on the tickets.

No way, No day!!! The cheapest tickets are $90 EACH and that doesn't guarantee anything but a seat. I can't specify handicap accessible or wheelchair access. The "better seats" are well over $100 each. I'm sure he'll get over it but at those prices, there's no way he will be going to see the show.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

He fell again today - but he's OK.

Landed on his right shoulder, with his arm tucked up under his rib cage. Said he heard a crunching noise but he doesn't want me to take him for x-rays. We shall see how he feels in the morning. When he fell the other day, I told him that he should make sure he falls in the kitchen or bathroom next time so he can get the cleaning supplies out from under the sink and clean the floor. Of course, that was after I'd determined that he hadn't hurt himself and said totally in jest. After the fall today, it no longer seems funny.

I sold some cards today based on my Christmas card for the kids. I'll be burning the midnight oil this week/weekend. I promised them to her by Monday so she can get them in the mail. I told her $7.50 each, which I think is fair.

On my shoulder... Got a couple of cortisone injections which hurt like the dickens but I did OK. The needle got stuck in the joint (sounds gross but I didn't look) so she had to use a hemostat to get it out. I actually thought it was quite amusing. I have a good sense of humor when it's something that I don't feel or have to see (by then, I was numb from the local and I had my eyes closed because I knew it was a big ole needle).

I will be having an MRI arthrogram. Sedated, of course. It'll be worth it to find out what is going on inside the shoulder joint.

Hope you all have a great week! We've got a busy December planned. This weekend I'll be doing cards, next weekend we're visiting some friends, the next weekend we're going to KC to see my mom, and the next weekend is Christmas! December will be over before I know it.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Good Monday (evening)

Ron had a good time this past weekend with his friend. Tiring, but enjoyable. He walked more than he has recently so he's in quite a bit of pain today. Plus, he fell last night and landed hard on his right shoulder. Ouch... his leg came right out of the socket. But, he rested up today so I think he's back on the mend.

I see the orthopedic specialist tomorrow about my left shoulder. He's the same doctor who did Ron's total knee replacement and we think he's really good. I had rotator cuff repair in July 2004 and it was a rough recovery, but my shoulder felt so much better afterwards. I had bone spurs and the rough edges had begun damaging the muscle. I was told then that I "could" have a recurrence of the condition so I won't be surprised if that is the issue. My only thing is I need anything he's going to do taken care of in December so I don't have a big deductible beginning January. Plus, effective 1/1/12, I'll have a larger co-pay.

This past weekend (while Ron was out playing), I played in my craft room. I'm NOT an artist, but I have ideas in my head of things I'd like to see. I just don't know how to get the things out of my head and onto the paper. Thankfully, Provo Craft has lots of artists who are able to create images of things that I can get out of my head.

I had decided (last year) that I wanted to do a panorama card but didn't know exactly what I wanted. I started working Saturday and worked off and on all weekend on this. My first card will be going to WA to my grandkids up there.

The inside left panel has a cat on a red pillow in a chair; the stockings on the mantle have Alexander, Katy, and Zachary on them. And, there's an oil lamp on the mantle. The middle panel has cookies and milk on the table and presents under the tree, some with name tags. I drew the table and cut it out freehand (but it was an easy thing to do). The right panel has Santa with a bag full of gifts and one in his hand. The whole card is 12 x 6 and folds up to 6 x 6. The "body" of the card is made with two complete sheets of 12 x 12 paper.


If you look closely, you can see Rudolph's red nose...



I'm going to make one for Isaiah and Anna, one for Amy's nephew's Dalton and Hayden, and then some for some other little family kids (my nephew has two kids, and two of my nieces each have two kids). So, I need to get busy. But.... I wrote down what sizes worked and what cartridges I used so I can more easily recreate these. They are still time-consuming and not a cheap undertaking, but I love it and I know the kids will love seeing their names on the stockings. I'll make the cuts and then put them together in assembly-line style. Once I get the images cut out and put together, it'll move pretty quickly. The card bases will all be different. I don't know exactly what "wall paper" each one will have, but I think they'll be nice. If I have time, I actually have some other people I want to make one for but I'm not holding my breath. I still have regular Christmas cards to do.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Mr. Impulsive Stikes Again!

Twice... yep... twice!

First:
The guy who made Ron's prosthesis and makes adjustments to it added a soft leather piece to the back where his knee "folds" over it and one on either side of the interior to help cushion his leg when he walks. In the beginning, he thought they were really helping but then felt like his leg was in a vice after about 10 minutes of walking. So, we took one of the them out the other day.

Let me tell you, these things were GLUED in with some industrial-strength stuff. My fingertips are all messed up from the darn weather (just gotta love split finger tips this early in the season) and my left arm is having some issues, so it was very difficult for me to get the thing out after he had started on it.


The part folded over the back is the leather piece that cushions the back of his leg.



The red arrow shows the leather piece. The two odd shaped "boxes" show where the interior side cushions were located. I say "were" because I had to take the 2nd one out last night because HE decided at 11:00 PM to start taking the 2nd one out. I knew that HE was not going to rest until the piece was out and if HE isn't resting, you know that "I" am not resting. {sigh} I was not happy. Especially since he dropped his leg on my foot about 20 minutes earlier and it was throbbing.

It might be kind of hard to see, but those discolored areas are bruises and a knot. I took this picture tonight and he dropped his leg on me Wednesday night. That is a very heavy leg. It hurt to wear my shoe both yesterday and today.

I did remember something about when they need to form and re-form Ron's prosthesis and that is the use of heat. So, I decided to get out my embossing gun (it gets hotter than a hair dryer) and try it. It worked! The adhesive softened enough for me to be able to pry it off and it only took me about 15 minutes.

Second:
It's my day off. No alarms set. No reason to suspect that anyone (if you know who I mean) will think I need to get up for any reason.

That would be negative. Of course, he had a reason to wake me up. Of course, it wasn't on purpose.

He was trying to get Maisey's attention.

By rubbing MY stomach as he called her.

Yeah... right... that's not going to DISTURB me at all.

I was seriously ticked.

Me:  What. Are. You. Doing?
Him: Trying to get Maisey's attention.
Me: And you think rubbing MY stomach is going to get HER attention? (she wasn't even on my side of the bed)
Him: Mr. Blah Blah emailed me back. They don't want to trade the keyboard.
Me: So, you really wanted me to be awake so you could tell me that.
Him: I've been up since 5:00, got dressed, put my leg on, and I've been waiting for you to wake up.
Me: It's only 7:00 AM. I don't have any reason to have to be out of bed for any reason for at least an hour.
Him: Oh. Do you want me to go into the living room and leave you alone?
Me: What do you think???

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Black Friday

This will be the first Black Friday in a long time that I don't go out shopping. I have to say that I ENJOY getting up on that one morning of the year and going out with either Amy or Kris (those are the two people I usually go with; I've gone with my step-son's ex-wife one year). I don't go alone. It's just not as much fun.

I stand in the lines, pick out things, and put them in my cart. As I go through the store(s), I decide if what I want is really in my basket or not. Sometimes, I see people who were really, really looking for 'that' particular item, so I'll give it to them. I figure I have it on a "maybe I want to buy this" and they might have come for that ONE item and I have the power to make it a reality. So, I do.

Anyone who knows me very well knows that I love to buy, give, or make things for others. That's just how I do things. Many times, I'll buy something because I know that I'd like to receive it as a gift and I know that "so and so" would also like it. So, I give it to the other person. Usually, I can only afford to buy one of the items so giving it away is the right way to go. Eventually, I may (or may not) have an opportunity to buy one for myself. Usually not, but sometimes.

I haven't got a lot of money to spend on Christmas presents this year and I have extra babies now to spend money on. I have been buying used items from a FB page where Shaun and Jenny live (for the Navy families to buy/sell/trade items) for their kids. It keeps things out of the landfill, puts a little money back into the Navy families' wallets, and is saving me money on gifts. That helps a lot. I've spent less money on more things that I know they'll be happy with because I'm running everything by Jenny first. I'm saving postage because the trades are local for her. It's a win-win situation.

I've bought local stuff here for Anna and I have a few little things here to mail for the three up there. One of the items I did for Katy was to take a tote from Thirty One Gifts and I'm making a "baby bed" for her with it. I had her name put on the tote and I bought a little baby blanket (had her name embroidered on it, too). I bought some little doll accessories off eBay and once it's finished, she'll have a portable baby bed, complete with doll and everything her "baby" needs. I have a couple of other little girls that I'm doing something similar for. I think they'll be a big hit.

I still need to get Isaiah covered and something for Alexander (I've only bought him one thing up there).

But, because I've got so much covered from other places, I don't NEED to go out Friday. But, I WANT to go out Friday. Amy will be out of town and Kris will not be here, either. So I guess I will be staying here. Bummer...

If I had all my shopping done ~ AND ~ I had lots of extra money ~ AND ~ nothing better to do, I'd probably be tempted to stand in line at Wal-Mart for this:


I do not need it, but it would be nice to have. The regular retail price on this baby is nearly $500 ($399 when you can get it on sale). I'm sure there will be TONS of idiots fighting to pick this little item up. LOL - I'd love to be one of them. Hehehehe!

(Just a disclaimer... I am not spending money I don't already have put back for gifts. Nothing is going on credit and I'm not taking away from other bills or living expenses to spend on gifts. I learned a long time ago that I didn't want to be paying for one Christmas during the whole next year.)

Monday, November 21, 2011

Monday Madness

I love my husband...
I love my husband...
I love my husband...

Really... I do...
And, most of the time, I even like him.

My cell phone rings at 6:10 AM and I answer but he can’t hear me – and I can’t hear him because he doesn’t have the blue tooth on (even though he thinks he does), so I get up and go into the living room… “It’s time to get up. You said you wanted up at 6:30.”

Me: It’s not 6:30
Him: 6:15 is close enough
Me: it is 6:10 and it’s not close enough if you’ve had a crappy night of sleep. I had my alarm set for 6:30.
Him: your coffee is ready.
Me: I’m not in the mood for coffee. I am in the mood to still be sleeping.
Him: you said you wanted to start your Wii program this morning.
Me: I did… but I had a bad night and I wasn’t going to get up before 6:30. (maybe not even before 7:00)
Him: Mr. Blah Blah’s not on Facebook. I found Mrs. Blah Blah and I found Daughter, but Mr. isn’t there.
Me: (getting my computer) Yes he is. I’ve seen him there.
Him: no he’s not. I requested Mrs. and Daughter and sent Mr. a message.

::::::::::::::::screeching brakes in my mind:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Me: how did you send him a message if you couldn’t find him? Are you saying that you found him but he didn’t have a “friend request” button?
Him: yeah, that’s right.
Me: (by now, I’m looking at Mr. Blah Blah’s picture on FB, and very clearly see the friend button.) Here is the button (show him).
Him: I know. I clicked it and then I got friend requests from all these other people.
Me: you didn’t get friend requests from them… they’re his friends and what you got was “suggestions” for other people you might know.
Him: Oh… well, I wanted to be friends with some of them because I know them.
Me: fine, but that’s not what you told me. You said “Mr. Blah Blah isn’t on FB.” You had to have sent a friend request to him to get the suggestions for all these other people. The whole reason you got me up was to tell me you couldn’t find him.
Him: No, you said you wanted up.
Me: but your impulsiveness made you get me up RIGHT NOW so you could talk to me. I heard you come in and leave the bedroom three times and we didn’t even go to bed until almost midnight. I feel like I haven’t even been to bed. I can’t take a nap today if I’m tired. You can.

He finally said that it was not very nice of him to make the decision for when I was getting up for me. I think we need separate bedrooms again. He loves the bed without the extra “cushion” on it and I hate it.

He gets a wild hair up his butt and he’s acting on it without even stopping to think about it.

He said he won't wake me up tomorrow... hehehe!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

I've been "outta here"

Life has been soooo busy around my neck of the woods. Work has been crazy with deadlines and everything that can go along with end-of-year deadlines. We have several guides and help files that have to go to print this week and everyone has been working diligently to get everything taken care of.

Ron's had a few appointments and is (overall) doing much better. He's walking around the house with only a cane. The visiting nurse is amazed at how well he's doing. He's been faithfully doing his range of motion and stretching exercises every day. I'm very proud of him.

Anna is growing and Isaiah is a very proud big brother. I bought him a shirt that says Most Amazing Big Brother on it. His current favorite word is "amazing" so I thought it was fitting.

Shaun's ship is at the half-way point for deployment. If all goes well, we'll be traveling to see the ship return when the time comes.

I've had my ups and my downs. I come home from work and don't really want to do too much except put my feet up. I rearranged my craft room because it just wasn't working and we needed a bed there. We found a sale for twin "back to school" special for $179 so that worked out very well. The rearrangement of the "cubes" makes the room much more functional. As soon as I'm finished putting things away, I'll have to post new pictures.

Thanksgiving cards are not going to happen this year. But, maybe it's not too late for Christmas... We shall see.

I've been doing shopping for my WA grandchildren online - 2nd hand and like new items. My DIL connects with the sellers and pays them. I send her the money to cover it. It's working out quite well. No shipping. I have 2-3 things that I've purchased here to send to them. I bought a set of ears and paws for Katy and Alexander from my friend Jenny over at Knees and Paws. She has an Etsy shop that you should check out. She's very talented and the stuff she makes will encourage creativity.

Anna is bought for. There's not much you can buy for a newborn. Can't share what I bought (Amy sometimes reads my blog) until after Christmas but I know it will be a hit. Isaiah - now, he's a different story. No clue on what we're getting him. The teenagers will get a bit of cash. They like that better anyway.

Thanks to all of you for sticking around in my absence. Thanks, too to the new folks. It's lovely to have you all  here. Life will slow down in the next 2-3 weeks and I can get back into the swing of things.

May God richly bless you all today, tomorrow, and always.

Teresa

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Ron update

Ron is doing so well that it is nothing short of amazing. He feels like he has a new lease on life. In fact, he has decided to join the blogging world and created a blog. It's called In His Service - TRC Audio. He only has one post there now (he's still learning) but if you wanted to pop over and leave an encouraging comment, I know he'd appreciate it.

Ron is going to start touring with our friend, Chuck Haukos, and be a part of the gospel group Closer Than Brothers. Chuck writes the lyrics, soundtrack, and sings. His brother, Mike, also plays guitar and sings harmony. As Ron gets stronger and learns the songs, he'll be playing bass guitar with them. In the meantime, he'll be doing the CD sales desk. (You can listen to some of Chuck's music by clicking the above link.)

He's walking around the house with a cane. He's even walked a bit out and about with a cane, too. He's lost his balance a couple of times. {sigh} But... he's doing great.

Hope you all are doing well.

Hugs...

Teresa

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Catching up

I'll catch up with you all tomorrow but wanted to share two pieces of news....

Amy and Rex had their baby tonight. Anna Catherine Schertz arrived at 4:58 PM weighing 7 lbs 8 oz and 19.5 inches long. She's beautiful.


Ron is doing great. He's walking around the house very well and using his wheelchair very little. Very good.

I got my processor yesterday. I have worn it most of the day yesterday and today but had to take it off tonight because my head was hurting. I put some antibiotic ointment on just to make sure everything is ok.


Keith thinks I should bling it up. LOL - probably not.

Anyway, I'm pretty tired so I'll hit the hay and try to catch up tomorrow.

blessings to you all.

Teresa

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

700th post

This is my 700th post. I would have been at this number sooner but I've deleted a few along the way. Oh well...

Ron is coming home tomorrow. He's doing much better - amazingly so. We're all surprised.

My son posted this on his Facebook status today. I thought it was so nice.

When I was younger, I was a fan of Country music. I blame lack of access to Metal and Classic Rock, but that is beside the point. For my birthday, my mother (who worked second shift, did most of the chores, handled all the bills, and still found time to cook dinner) waited outside of a Dillons from the moment she got off work til 6:00 AM the following day to purchase floor tickets to Garth Brooks... (my favorite, at the time). We were not rich, and the tickets were not cheap, but I was too young to truly understand this concept.



At the concert, I could not see because everyone was standing and I was so short (hard to believe, some 15 years later, right?). I stood on a chair, and was able to enjoy the show somewhat, until the security guard forced me to get off of the seat. The music was so loud, that I couldn't really understand what was being said. 10 minutes into Garth Brooks' portion of the show, I left the floor and waited in the hallway. My mother bought me a Garth Brooks hat and took me home. I was angry that I didn't get to enjoy my present. I was selfish, and I cannot blame it all on not knowing any better. My mother just smiled and drove me home.


I complain from time to time that my life is not as good as it could be, or even that my life is horrid. This is unfair. No matter how bad it may get, I am one of the lucky ones that still has both parents (happily married, mind you) who love their children without cause or question. For that, I am blessed.


For a mother who does everything thanklessly.


For a father who would give you the shirt off his back, or the shoes off his feet (if he had feet, that is).


For brothers and sisters who protect each other, even if they don't always get along.


My life is great, and I would do well to never forget that.


I'm not very talkative tonight. I've visited a few of my friends' blogs but I'm just not up to commenting tonight. Tired and my stomach is a bit upset.

Friday morning, I get my sound processor so I should be hearing all the things I've been missing. My surgery site is still very tender so they may postpone until it's better. We shall see...

Until then, good-night my friends. I do have a post for Halloween but it will have to wait.