Day by Day

A Day In the Life of Recovery....

2007-02-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

7:15 a.m. - Wake Up and make sure Son C gets the ice off his car before leaving the driveway to go to school. Also repeat rules of the road for driving on ice and snow at least 2 times before hearing "I know Mom, I know."

7:20 a.m. - Crawl back in bed.

7:30 a.m. - Watch Hubby K dress (highlight of my day) and get off to work from the bed.

7:30 - 8:30 a.m. - Toss and turn - can't get back to sleep.

8:30 a.m.- Get up, slowly - let dog out, let cat in. Eat some strawberry oatmeal (uck!).

8:45 a.m. - Phone call from doc's office cancelling my 3 week checkup! (Snow!)

9:30 a.m. - I need a shower!

10:30 a.m. - Bob Barker told me to "COME ON DOWN!" so my hiney gets firmly planted on the couch.

10:45 a.m. - Phone call from Daughter T and 11 month old Grandson "Bee". Have a lengthy conversation with Bee regarding his fever and stuffy nose. Grandma's always understand baby talk, right?

11:00 a.m. - Y&R (soap)

12:00 p.m. - All My Children - (hiney still firmly planted on the couch)

12:30 p.m. - Hunger gets me - fix a lunch of tuna and crackers - (Yum Yum)

1:00 p.m. - One Life to Live (see hiney notation above)

1:30 p.m. - Son C calls from school (on friends cell phone from restroom). "Mom, can you call and check me out? No one is here (snow day) and we're only going to watch TV in 4th block." Sure, why not since they aren't watching important things like OLTL.

2:00 p.m. - General Hospital (am glad Sonny doesn't know how big my hiney is!)

3:00 p.m. - Snack time - V8 Fusion - I SO love these!

4:00 p.m. - Son C pops in and insists that I come look at the tires and wheels he's purchased second hand from someone he met at Auto Zone - me thinks this is another reason to check him out of school early??

4:30 p.m. - Lounging on the couch with Coco watching Oprah - with intervals of gazing out the window watching the snow and wishing Hubby K would hurry home.

5:00 p.m. - HE's HOME! Yea - Yea - Yea!

This has been almost my normal day for 2 1/2 weeks recovering from my hysterectomy. Somehow, I've lost 7 pounds - amazing. But I've been eating pretty good thanks to Hubby K. Not much junk at all (except for the 2 Reeses that he brought me.)

Save ME! I'm so ready to go back to work!

I have a good excuse!

2007-01-29T19:08:00.001-08:00

Yes, again, I've been gone, but I do have a legitimate excuse! I had a hysterectomy on January 15th. Yep, it happened and I've been home recovering every since. I was by choice (long periods, weekly periods, painful periods, need I say again LONG periods.) I was so tired of something ALWAYS coming out of me! This is not a good thing since I still consider myself a newlywed! So I decided to get it done, a total hysterectomy (total because my doc kept using the term "at your age". So now I will not have ovarian, uterine or cervical cancer. I'M KEEPING MY BOOBS! I'm quite fond of them.

My hospital stay was SHORT, to say the least. ONE NIGHT. I would have liked to stay another day, but INSURANCE companies SUCK! I couldn't pee on my own and had to wear a catheter home, but hey, I was well enough to go home, right? NOT! I had wonderful nurses though - and I got good care while there. But OMG, I am wondering where $22,000 of medical care went!!! I had to sit down and do some deep breathing exercises to get over the bill. That insurance better start treating me right - right NOW! We'll see how it all comes out.

I found a wonderful site that I have been living with for the past few weeks. HysterSisters! www.hystersisters.com This place is wonderful, not only for those of us who have had hysterectomies, but anyone having menopause or hormone problems also. The information here is excellent and I got to hear from women who have actually been thought it, not just talking to a doctor or nurse. This site was a blessing to me.

As for my recovery, it's going slow. Taking it day by day. I'm down to very little pain and am not even taking pain pills right now. I just have a lack of overall energy. I go back for a checkup on on the 1st of February and find out when I can go back to work (which is a whole other blog post in itself!). Also, when I can take a bath, drive and, most importantly, go to Walmart! Hubby K has been great - cooking, cleaning and giving me all kinds of support. I've started using the patch for my hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and so far so good. It's simple - change it twice a week. I'm just not good at taking pills and I am not all that excited about taking a shot once a month either.

That's about all I can muster for this evening - I'm pooped (and it's only 9:00 p.m.!)

2006-12-20T06:29:00.000-08:00

WOW! Where have I been? Right here, over there, at work, reading other blogs, shopping, cooking, cleaning, shopping some more, and OH! in front of the television in the evenings watching SoapNet! Okay, so I'm turning over a new leaf (check the date, this is not a New Year's resolution) and I'm going to blog daily - really! So, it's December 20th - I've got MOST of my shopping done. Apparently, after work each day, I will continue on that venture probably up until Saturday. Nothing like the PRESENT for getting things done.

My new venture, and hopefully one which will enable me to work from home someday is this: www.thesilkgarden.net

Please visit, look around, and refer me to anyone who might need beautiful things in the way of silk flower arrangements. I've been working on my website and hope to have more pictures of my work posted soon. SOMEDAY I want to retire, permanently, and just work at home - be a stay at home mom and grandmom, too.

Okay - another topic. I took my 21-year-old daughter to see the movie Happy Feet last night. Well, it was a very sweet movie - until a little over half way into it. Then, it got a little stressful, maybe even depressing? I just wonder if the other adults in the theather felt the "message" the movie was sending? I sure did, and my daughter did also. I'll let you all decide for yourselves. But I left the theater feeling guilty for every fish I had ever eaten. *SHRUGS* (We gave it 1 Thumb Up)

Merry Christmas!
Momma R

2006-09-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

There are probably many other ways that I would like to spend this day other than in a high rise office building. However, it’s where I work and I don’t have a choice. So, today I’ll keep it short and simple. Be thankful for what you have. Pray for those that have not. Pray for our troops in other countries. Pray for the families that have lost. Pray for protection from those that would harm us. Like a song that I heard this morning on the way to work – my position on this War is “kneeling”.

Creativity Abounds......

2006-09-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

Gosh! Turn around twice and it's September. The weather here is beautiful and you can smell Autumn in the air. And, you know what that means. A good reason for a trip to the local Wally World to get some fall things for the yard and home. I'm not a decorator - you only have to see my many bare walls to know this. However, I think I did something really cute today - kinda surprised myself. I'm not Martha (and don't want to be.) I've had this apothocary type jar for about a year (a wedding gift) and I absolutely love it. However, I never knew what to do with it. But today it just popped into my head. TA-DA! Put CANDY in it! Why didn't I think of this sooner? So my jar is now filled with candy corn and has a lil deco on it to boot.

Another good thing about the weather change is people get motivated to do things outside. People = the hubby. I'm delighted to say that he is building our storage building. ~does a cartwheel~ Why does this excite me so? Well let me tell ya! Number One - I get my carport back. I can pull my car all the way in. No longer will the camping equipment, tools, and Honda Magna 750 be cramping my new Mazda 3's style. Number Two - I get to use every square inch of my laundry room for LAUNDRY or whatever floats my boat. No longer will I have to share my folding space with the boxed christmas tree, MORE tools, and that black trunk, which, as I've been told, belonged to my husband's father when HE was in the Air Force. I'm afraid to look in there! So, in a few days it will just all magically POOF and be in the "men's den" OUTSIDE! Think I'll throw a party in my laundry room. Oh and can you believe this? I asked hubby if he wanted me to decorate/paint/make nice in there and he said "NO.... no foofy stuff!"

Gawwwwwwwwwwww!

Fingerprints and Flipflops

2006-08-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

They keep appearing - fingerprints. I wonder if sometimes I have a little ghost that follows me around and puts them right back from where i just removed them. NO, it's normally my son or husband. I've even found nose prints on my front and back door window panes. What are the looking for - waiting for? Who knows. So I clean them over and over, the darn things! But no one claims having even touched that door or window. Imagine that!

So - yesterday I found a new set. A smaller set of fingerprints. They were ADORABLE! You wanna know what? They are still there! I haven't swiped at them with the Windex AND I even took pictures of them. Yes, weird, but HEY these prints belong to my grandson, Braden. They are SPECIAL. So, leave them be. It's a milestone.

I'd like to discuss flip flops. The pros and cons. We all wear them, even men. But in the past couple of years, they have come close to being my enemy. Ok the Pros: 1- They are easy to get into and out of. 2-They are oh so cute and in so many styles and colors. 3-They clean up GREAT in the dishwasher and come out looking like new (Yes - try it with the rubbery ones!). 4-They are a great way to show off our summer manicures!

Now for the Cons: 1-They aren't safe to drive in (I kick mine off while driving). 2-THEY HYDROPLANE! I have busted my butt twice in them. Okay so I was going to down steps both times. But that had nothing to do with it. The steps both times were damp/wet from rain. My flip flop hydroplaned on the small puddle of water and WHAMMY! my foot slid out from under me and down I went, HARD! It seemed like it took forever to hit bottom and inside I was saying to myself "this is gonna hurt". I didn't breathe for a few moments. I went down with such a thump my son came outside to see if I was okay. Yea, sure - just let me see if I can breath! The second time - same place - same situation, only this time I was carrying an umbrella and NO, it didn't slow down my fall at all! I think I had bruises for weeks.

So ladies (and gents) be careful about those rubbery flip flops and approach all puddles, especially on steps, with great caution. Maybe they need to start making flip flops with aquatreads. Anyone have any flip- flop- flight stories?

Sunday, Sunday

2006-08-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well I find that I'm not getting any younger. Darn, isn't that supposed to happen at 44? I kept my grandson last night and WHOA - he is something else. Getting a baby up and ready for church on Sunday mornings is a feat within itself. But we did it. I feel good.

Yesterday, we discovered something new. If you plant grass seed, it will rain. And I mean RAIN! It will rain and your dirt will run across your driveway carrying off 80% of the seed. Okay - lesson learned. Also, that black sheeting stuff you put down underneath mulch which keeps grass from growing? Yea, that stuff. It doesn't work. We got the prettiest grass peeking through every where we do not want it! By next week, we'll have some nice tufts growing in our driveway, too. Oh, and another thing, that black sheeting stuff? - When it RAINS hard the rain runs underneath it and when you walk across it, it's like walking on a waterbed - a red mulch covered waterbed. GREAT. Note to self: "That landscaping book at Lowe's for $19.95 sounds like a real deal about now."

So, my husband is off "rock hunting" in an undisclosed mountainous location. They have to be ~holds hands up~ this size by this size and preferably flat, but big. Make sense? He is building a rock retaining wall on one side of our driveway (the one with future grass). We're trying to widen our parking area. However, right now we have one big pile of dirt, although nicely packed down. If it RAINS hard again anytime soon, his mound of dirt/retaining wall will become part of the west side of our yard. SWEET! But hey - the grass will be wonderful!

Ok, enough for a Sunday. I look forward to your comments or concerns.

A Grandmother's Prayer

2006-08-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share this with my best friend Tricia and all the Grandmothers out there.

A Grandmother's Prayer
Author: Barbara Burrows

Oh Lord, I do not ask for much,
Eternal beauty, or youth, or such.
Just give me a little hand to hold,
And I'll forget that I'm growing old.

I do not ask for cloudless skies,
A life that's free from tears and sighs.
Just give me a little face to kiss,
And anxious moments will turn to bliss.

For what is there, really, that means so much
As little hands that reach and touch,
As little eyes that search and see
Only the best in fragile me?

So let me grow more loving and wise
By looking at life through their wide eyes.
For through these little ones, you have given
This grateful grandmother a glimpse of Heaven.

Turn Them UP Please!

2006-08-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

So, when I met my wonderful husband and ventured into his kitchen cabinets, I saw that his were turned upside down. At work, they are turned upside down! This freaks me out. What you ask? Cups, glassware, mugs, etc. That’s what. This is one of my pet peeves. In our cabinets at home, you will find that the glassware is turned upright. I’ve gone over this with my husband and when I asked him why he preferred them turned upside down, he made a comment about bugs getting trapped inside the glasses and how gross that would be. Okay, yes - so if that happens, you’ve got bigger problems than dirty glassware. Bugs are gross. So, turn your glasses upside and the little bugs (IF you have them) can crawl around and around the lip of your glasses without getting “caught”. This makes me feel much better…. NOT! My problem is this: you’ve cleaned your glasses, taken them out of the dishwasher, and put them away with the part that touches your mouth down on the base of your cabinet. Is that clean? That sticky, spongy shelf paper in all the pretty colors is eerie at best. Oh, but you use the type of shelf liner paper with the built in bug spray? That’s comforting. I’m now drinking from a glass with possible pesticide exposure. When is the last time you changed your shelf liner? Do you use shelf liner? My cabinets are new and I have not felt the need to use it - yet. None of this frilly, flowery, plaid, or the new and improved spongy stuff appeals to me. Sorry!

So, be warned, if I visit your home and get a glass from your cabinet that is turned upside down, I WILL feel compelled to wipe or wash the glass before I use it. It’s just my thing. and in my house they are most definitely turned up!

Hummers and Bats - The Flying Kind

2006-08-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting outside this evening watching "our" hummingbirds. I find it facinating how territorial they are. We have at least two different breeds that come around - the ruby throated and the black-chinned. My husband and I call the ruby throats "red necks". There are as many as 5 at once buzzing around our two feeders. I have seen the hummers chase off other larger birds. We also have a couple of bats that come around at sundown. They are quite awesome to watch. Too bad they can't eat ALL the mosquitos. Perfect end to a great day!

Hiyaz and Welcome!

2006-08-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. I’ve been looking at these things now off and on for months. At first, I had no clue what a blog was. I thought they were just another avenue for chatting on the internet. Then I found a few blogs that I actually enjoyed reading and that made some sense - even offered some entertaining reading.

At some point in the “near future” (a quote used by my boss which I’m not sure makes sense) I will post a few things about me, my family and friends, work, southern life, food – oh gosh, who knows! I haven’t found a true purpose for my blog yet – maybe my readers will direct me in a more certain direction. I have a feeling my first trip to Las Vegas will enter here somewhere. (Unless my husband and I decide to leave it all in Las Vegas!)

Check back soon – maybe there will be more blabber when you return!