Happy Birthday Son and Maybe a Reprieve for Me

Happy 26th Birthday Son! We can't believe our youngest is another year older! May all your birthday wishes come true excluding praying to the porcelain goddess. We have a tradition in our family of allowing the birthday person to pick a restaurant of their choice and we all go out to dinner. This year it has been postponed until I am more mobile. Happy Birthday!







The Possible Reprieve for Me:
I have learned not to wish for things now as they can come true. My wish was to just stay in bed and not work and relax. It's Day 10 of doing this and frankly, it sucks! Hubs and I are currently in discussions of the possibility of my returning to work tomorrow. In the meantime, I am currently trying to find yet another position to sit with my leg elevated and not involve being on my rear. I feel it spreading every hour. Maybe I can slide down the stairs on my already sore rear and make brownies to sweeten up my husband and make for son's birthday.

Although I do have to say that I am enjoying hubs doing all the cooking and buying of the groceries and cleaning (well, I can't for sure say this is being done since I am relegated to my bedroom and am not allowed down the stairs). I am willing to bet that there are measuring spoons in the silverware drawer. I am trying not to think about things like that.

Foot/Ankle Update

1 week post surgery. Still on my rear. Saw the doc today and he removed the splint (I actually already had because I had the itchies like something horrible - didn't take off the dressing area near the ankle but cleaned the leg of the betadine and of the synthetic cotton they used to wrap the leg. I think the combo of the 2 gave me a rash but more likely the synthetic cotton). Hubs used our cotton and rewrapped the leg and it was a lot more comfortable.....that is until today.

Today I got the pink cast after x-rays and 2 doctors forcing my foot into a flat position rather than a toe pointing position. Here are a couple of pics of what my ankle looks like.






The outside:

The inside:


Yeah it hurts about how it looks.

This is me again. I am banned to my bed and frankly, this surgery has been a lot more painful so I live from pill to pill. I haven't really felt like being here much.

I got descrewed - they removed the one screw on the inside of the ankle and the 2 on the outside of the ankle. The docs then (hubs was the assistant surgeon) then cut out the lining of the horse part that was used to make me a new ATF ligament. It did its job so was no longer needed and my body was rejecting it (I kept telling my husband I wasn't a horse).

Then they did the arthroscope and that is where they found all my pain. Normally an ankle is full of synovial fluid which cushions the ankle joints and allows them to slide effortlessly around. My fluid had thickened and looked like raw beefy skin - yep the whole joint. My ankle was so full of this stuff that the normal fluid was being forced into the inside and outside of my ankle, putting pressure on my post tibial tendon and peroneal tendon and big toe tendon causing them not to function. They cleaned up all the inflammation and put me into a non-weight bearing cast but with the knowledge that with all the trauma that was done to my ankle when I fell in Philly that it will never be the same and I will always have this problem. Great........just what I wanted to hear - that this might happen every few years.

I gotta say that this surgery has literally put me on my butt. My ankle hurts like a...well let's just say it's on the pain scale of 8 to a 10 all the time. I live for my pain meds right now although I can't take codeine so am on Darvocet and anti-inflammatory and ice packs. I take the Valium to get sleep. I did finally get up enough to take a shower last night so at least I smell better.

Surgery in the am

The scooter above is what I will be in again as of tomorrow. It's official name is a turning leg caddy. This surgery will still be on the right foot. They are doing an ankle arthroscope to clean out the ankle joint again and see why it won't move. Then they are removing the one screw on the inside of the ankle and 2 on the outside of the ankle, then repairing the post tibial tendon, tightening the ATF ligament that was repaired in the 1st surgery in 11-07, then opening up the back of the outside of the ankle to repair the peroneal tendons and the other tendon that will allow my big toe to go down again (it will only go up not down).

I don't know when I will feel up to posting again and that will also be depending on whether or not my son and husband put the computer in the bedroom for me or allow me downstairs. I will be at their mercy. Pray I tolerate them or better yet pray for them cuz they will be experiencing my wrath if they piss me off. One of my office girls will post here to let you know I am ok after the surgery and then you can always follow me on facebook where updates will also be.

Be good!

I.Done.Did.My.Duty.

Today was just so interesting that I felt compelled to share my experiences with you.

I took FIL and MIL for a special luncheon hosted by their local senior center. The luncheon was to honor veterans in their area. I didn't really place much thought into what I was getting into when I said I would take them. In the future..yeah we shall see. I think it is something their sons should enjoy with their parents.

The process of going to this luncheon actually started a week ago when I started getting daily phone calls from MIL about what time she thought I should be there to pick them up and what time we had to arrive at said event. She wanted to be the first person parking in the closest handicapped spot and the first to pick out a table, etc. Well, I refused to be somewhere 3 hours early to satisfy her being 1st. I also had to inform the home that FIL is in to have him ready and to please make sure he was dressed appropriately and had taken a shower that morning. I even warned MIL to make sure she took a shower too. Didn't want to smell old people.

On the ride to their town, MIL calls me 5 times, worrying about what FIL is wearing and whether or not we will be on time, etc. I calm her down thinking I knew I should have taken extra Valium with me today because I can't have ibuprofen or Tylenol or anything but the Valium since my surgery is this Thursday.

So I pick up MIL and we go to pick up FIL together. MIL puts FIL in the back seat of the car and proceeds to douse him with Old Spice and herself with Jean Nate, then takes out a nose trimmer and goes to town on FIL. I turned up the music, turn on the air, and open the sunroof to let some of the cologne aromas escape.

We get to the luncheon a full 30 minutes early. We had the 2nd spot closest to the door and a table all to ourselves and watched the others wandering in (I firmly believe that was what she wanted - to watch who came in). FIL kept asking who we were and why we were there.

So the luncheon starts and they are short of help so I get up to help serve. So although FIL and MIL had taken a shower and didn't smell like old people, the other 118 people didn't get the memo. Plus the temperature was at least 100 in that room and someone complained about the fan blowing on them so there went any relief from the heat combined with Jean Nate and Old Spice and old people smell.

Lunch by the way tasted like Chef Boyardee's sauce over mostacholi with a salad and a roll and something that was white. Someone said it was tortellini in white sauce but truthfully it looked like someone barfed it up. I had the roll.

Now the highlight of the day: MIL got me an application to join their senior center so we (MIL and me) can take trips together. Seems their senior center starts at age 55. Um...yeah the application hit the shredder pile when I got back to the office.

Joy Joy......the things I do for my husband and inlaws. Yes, I am keeping track! I think today calls for a Purple Heart or at least 20 back massages and numerous "Honey what can I do to please you this second?". Yeah liking that.........

Happy Birthday Terri!

Happy 40th Birthday Terri! I give you a couple of quotes:

Thanks to modern medical advances such as antibiotics, nasal spray, and Diet Coke, it has become routine for people in the civilized world to pass the age of 40, sometimes more than once. ~Dave Barry, "Your Disintegrating Body,"

May you live to be a hundred years
With one extra year to repent. ~Author Unknown

Seriously - love ya and I wish you the bestest birthday eva'

Girly Girl vs Fishing

I couldn't resist this picture my niece sent me. S is the flower girl from my daughter's wedding who dived off our trampoline head first 2 days before the wedding and was sporting a black eye and cheek for the wedding. She is also the one we have nicknamed "Drama Queen" for her antics when she was punished (I posted in 5-08 Don't Mess with Karmic Law).

In the picture above, S was so excited to go fishing with daddy! She was even more excited when she reeled in the fish- until she actually saw it up close! She dropped her pole- and ran for her life!

Sony 505

I have an addiction to books. Have always had it even as a little girl. I get so involved into the book I am reading, the only way you can talk to me is to block my line of vision between the book and me. That's how into books I get when I read. This is why I limit my reading deliberately to those times I have the time to read, which now is an hour or so before I go to sleep (I deliberately go to bed early to give myself time to read).

But since I got the Sony, I can't just can't stop reading. Holding an actual book, one can tell how many pages one has actually read. The concept is actually simple - when one opens a book there are more pages on the right than on the left. As you read, the right handed pages are transferred to the left, physically showing how many pages you have read. I would read an inch or so with an actual book.

With the Sony though, there are no pages that go from right to left. There is a visual number at the bottom of the screen that does show what page number you are on out of how many pages in the book. But you are absorbed in the story. Your eye isn't pulled to the page number. I never noticed page numbers on an actual book - only the story. Same with the Sony. I see only the written word.

This has been getting me into a whole lotta trouble. Instead of reading for an hour at night before bed, I am finding myself reading 4 hours and into the wee hours of the morning, leaving me with little sleep. Little sleep plus old age do not go together.

One of my employees suggested a timer. I am thinking this might work. I will let you know.

BTW - the story I have been reading? The Twilight Series by Stephanie Mayer. I don't usually like vampire books. My first venture back to reading about them was Dakota Cassidy's Accidental Series which I will review after reading the next book out this summer. My daughter is the one who convinced me to read the Twilight series. It has captivated me. I started the series Friday. I started book 3 last night.

**sigh** I will be getting lots of sleep in a week after surgery so I can wait on the timer until I go back to work. But right now: I am sleep deprived!

Happy Mother's Day

Kids and hubs took me out to dinner on Friday night because they knew hubs and I had the weekend off and after spending almost every weekend working or with either set of parents taking care of them, they knew all we wanted to do was to be left alone.

Daughter's card: Thanks for all the lessons I learned growing up - on the inside: by being grounded for everything I did wrong, I learned how to be the woman I am today. Happy Mother's Day.

Son's card: Everything I know I learned from my mother: Religion - you had better pray that will come out of the carpet; Logic - Because I said so, that's why; Foresight: Make sure you wear clean underwear in case you are in an accident; Irony - Keep crying and I will give you something to cry about; Stamina - you sit there until all that spinach is gone; Receiving - You are going to get it when you get home; Medical Science - If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way; Justice - on the inside - One day you will have kids and I hope they turn out just like you! Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

Spring

On my way to the dentist this morning, I was pondering what I was going to blog about. I couldn't think of anything so instead the flowers in a field near the forest preserve I passed caught my eye. OMG they were so beautiful. These were not tulips or jonquils or crab apple trees which are in full blossom right now and are gorgeous on their own. What caught my eye was the above field of dandelions.

I know they are the curse of my husband and he is the first to whip out the products to kill any that dare stray into our yard. But honestly, they have gorgeous and have sentimental values to me. They were the first flower I gave my mother and the first flower my kids gave me. And they are pretty - bright yellow against the fresh green grass.....

Then we had a riot when they did this:

I remember as a kid seeing how far I could get the seeds to blow away. We would have contests too. Life was simple then. When did dandelions become something to get rid of?

Here are some facts you may not have known about this gorgeous flower and might just change your mind on getting rid of them:

1. The dandelion is a hardy perennial herb. It spreads fast via their seeds. It is said to be a highly effective diuretic because it contains high levels of potassium salts.

2. Interestingly enough the French call it pissenlit —‘wet-the-bed’. The common name, however, comes from the French dent de lion, tooth of the lion, referring to the jagged edges of the leaves.

3. It has a long history as a medicinal herb in China. Eating or drinking dandelion in any form has the following effects besides being a diuretic: it is a mild laxative, a tonic, a blood purifier and a digestive aid. It is recommended for liver complaints, jaundice, gall bladder and kidney problems, loss of appetite, eczema and dropsy, and it can relieve the symptoms of rheumatism and arthritis. It is also rich in protein, sugar, vitamins, minerals and bitter principles. Modern research by herbalists has shown that a dandelion is effective in treating chronic degenerative joint diseases, by increasing mobility, reducing stiffness and decreasing the tendency to develop further lesions.

4. As an added bonus the root can be roasted and used as a coffee substitute. The greens are more nutritious than spinach, and are a delicious addition to soups and salads. The leaves and flowers can be made into dandelion wine, and the young buds make an acceptable substitute for capers when pickled.

Now why would anyone want to get rid of this beneficial herb?

Now me? I just love to look at them as one of the first signs that spring is here and reminisce about the good old days.

Happy 1st Anniversary!

Love brought you together as husband and wife,
And gave each of you a best friend for life


Happy 1st Anniversary

our dear daughter and our loved son-in-law

and many many more.

Guilty Pleasure

This was one of my birthday presents and one of the bestest things I have ever asked for....well the 4 griddle pizzelle maker is up there along with my IPod and my pressure cooker and bread maker....ok it is up there as one of my favorite presents aka guilty pleasures.

I had done some research before I finally decided on the Sony. The main reason is that the Sony will allow you to read books in the following formats: BBeB, PDF, TXT, RTF, ePub, LRX, MP3, AAC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, and RSS. This means that I am not stuck with just downloading books from one site but can go anywhere. Sony's booklist has grown even in the couple of months I have been going there and I hope that trend continues. I got 100 free classics with my Sony and I loved getting copies of some of my all-time favorite authors like Jane Austen, etc.

I think my reading has actually increased. I find the Sony easier to hold and turn pages than a regular book. I thought it might be strange not holding an actual book and reading but in reality I have learned that it wasn't the tactile experience of holding the book that was so enjoyable but what I was reading. I love the convenience and ease when you turn the pages. I love the idea that I don't have to get out of bed to find another book if I finish that one. I love the idea that if I get tired, I don't have to find a bookmark to mark my page - all I have to do is shut it off and when I turn it back on, it goes right back to the page I had left off. I love the organization of the books. I love that I can delete books after reading them with the knowledge that they are always stored on my computer and in one place instead of scattered all around the house. I love that if I run out of books, I just have to log on my computer and download a few more instead of making a bookstore run. I love that I am actually saving money although that is a little iffy right now because I have noticed the amount of books I am going through per week has increased. I love the simplicity of it all - the fact that I can carry it with me at all times and have something to do while waiting for doctor appointments, etc.

For those of you worried that the electronic words are blurry - rest assured they aren't. I love that the backlight on it isn't as bright as a reading light so it doesn't bother my husband yet it is bright enough for me to read. I love that I don't have to turn to the reading light but can lay on either side, saving my left elbow from its usual callous. Plus it is pretty light and comfortable in your hand.

As for how many books it holds, I am not sure. I haven't reached the max yet. In the 6 weeks I have had it, I have only had to recharge it twice.

Am I still buying books? Some. Not many. I have one collection in hard backs - Danielle Steele and I will continue that collection. But all others are now in Sony format.

I.Heart.My.Sony 505. It is one of my guilty pleasures.