a big day

Today was "lumbar epidural injection" day with cortisone....I've been counting the days waiting...and I won't go into details...because it IS a 6 inch needle...not sure why because if it went in 6 inches it would be poking out my belly button...and it didn't...but it felt like it might...and it really hurt! 

I will go on about just a few wild things that happened.

• First, my "Interventional Neuroradiologist"...came in looking um, like a 25 year old tan "surfer dude" (he's actually a 42 yr old Dad)...we picked him after numerous physician interviews and "opinions" from the medical community...I waited a week just to get into see him..after being told 99% of all the referrals go to him...he was delightful and talented....but he wore no white lab coat and took notes on his "palm pilot"...uh, his hand.  Said he would certainly not lose those notes....with those  notes he  marked my back up designating where the needles would go in....really? In the end, he was an amazing physician, perfectly professional, and an expert in his delivery of pain relief!

• After getting ready in the x-ray room he went out of the room, came back in and said I was being upgraded to the MRI room...seems there is better lighting in there....oh really?  Ok, perhaps it was the Mistah's presence in the room...not sure...but I'll take it.

• So...onto the injections....it's kinda like the dentist....so many injections to numb the area you are thinking to youself, "why bother...I've just had 8 injections....BUT, I digress....the ultimate sensation when the cortisone starts flooding into your body....the sound of a freight train begins SCREAMING in your ears....your tongue goes numb and you IMMEDIATELY feel as if you just choked down 3 um, straight bourben shots...I'm not exactly sure if that's what it feels like but I'm guessing bourben would have the biggest effect.

• in the fog I do remember him apologizing (with the repeated movement of the MRI guided needle) saying "my anatomy is such that he is having difficulting navigating around my bone and  he needs to numb it"  what? can you do that?  I asked what he was talking about?  His response?  "Oh, God makes us all different"  What does that mean?  Was he calling me fat?  not sure.... :)

• I embarassed myself because I started speaking really loudly bc of the train in my ears...AND bc my tongue was numb and my brain was fuzzy...all my loud talking was slurred and had lots of pauses ...keep in mind....no one else is the room hears the train or is loopy....so I am the entertainment and I can't stop.

• Then we go back to recovery.  I need to go to the bathroom...but my legs don't work....the nurse AIN"T going w/me I decide so I wait...and almost wet the bed...pride does that to you.

• After about 10 minutes, surfer dude comes in to check on my progress....wearing a white lab coat....for me.....the nurse just laughed after he left...said in all her years she's NEVER seen him wear one...thought it was for the Mistah.....we just laughed.  It did make me feel better to see something with the Hospital's logo and his name, followed by an MD on it.

.....have spent the day on the couch bc my legs AND head still feel loopy AND my body feels like I'm coming off a 3 day flu virus....weak...but...pain level is at a 2....woohoo....first time in 10 months.

that's all!

becoming a local

It's happening...I'm becoming a Floridian.  I am having new and unusual thoughts.  It's mid-September, in the 90's everyday still...and I find myself decorating my house for Fall...and of course, there are NO signs of Fall here...FL does NOT have Fall...sometime in mid Feb all the leaves fall off in one weekend and Spring comes the next weekend and we get all new lime green leaves.

I'm also getting out of bed in the morning and throwing open the bedroom doors in hopes to feel  cool, brisk, mountain air....what?  I hate cool, brisk, mountain air....now I'm disappointed when the weather is somewhat cooler...but still muggy...and mid-day you will get sun burnt.  I really do want to feel the cool, brisk, mountain air.  (surrrrprise!)

#2  It was 82 degrees the other day...I thought to myself...."ooooh, cool day, I'll put the top down on my car....really?  82?  I think 82 is cool?

#3  This morning I put a jacket on when I woke up and tonite I had on "slipper sox"....I know it's in the 80's outside.

crazy stuff...just crazy....but Cyndi, you would be proud.  Oh...almost forgot...went to a "Premier jewelry party" last nite....wore my cowboy boots....another women there had hers on too....it's Fall in Fla....how do we know?  We look at the calendar date and just know.

oh...and these are my plants....the Mistah chopped them down on Saturday.....of course he did. 

they started out this size...

And he announced...."looks so great"

the kids

at breakfast...

during during morning coffee...

at snack time....

morning TV news time...

layin out "partners"...3 on ONE  chair...I'm not feeling the "lounge" here....I'm feeling CROWDED!

Love my "kids"....they love me more....whereEVER I am...they are too....no matter if it's HOTTER than ever...they MUST be close....keep in mind...in this particular pic we are ALL sweating...

observations, ponderings & musings...

love it!!




Well, He's almost finished....Mr. Scissor-hands has finished off his shrubbery perfection and has announced he is well please with the final product.  I want to cry...but he is so proud so I just say nothing....Here's the final before and after pics. 
Have you seen the T-shirt that reads "I have CDO"....that's OCD with the letters in the proper order"...touche'

FINAL "after"...The Mistah smiles and says, "My yard looks soooooooooo good"....hmmm?

Beautiful, full sidewalk lined mature shrubs...."before"...



Went on a walk this AM around the circle in my nay-bah-hood....and snapped a few photos...things I always see and think the same thing about ...but now I've captured them...hmmm, do I have OCD or CDO?.....

Can't really see the 2 little ducks in the background sunning and bathing at the water's edge...I'm sorry Texas...but it's been raining here for months...would like to ship it to you if I could....

You can't see it but this Paddock has the sprinklers going....really?  In a pasture?  I guess Horses fare better in the Co Club...

does anyone see ANY signs of regrowth here?

I know this picture is out of order...but today the BLOG does not want to cooperate and I cannot MOVE my pics...

"My Hill"...not a hill by NC standards...but it takes my breath away when walking or riding up it....??? It doesn't even look like a hill in this pic....

I have coffee every morning in my bed served to me by "The Mistah"...been doing this FOREVER....we are both served by this. I'm a sleepyhead in the AM's and He's a thinker....been awake for awhile and likes to "run things past me"...I'm not sure why he thinks is a good idea because he only waits long enough for my eyelids to flutter before he starts his very long, run on sentences of the latest and greatest ideas he has on ...whatever topic....BUT...I digress....AFTER he leaves I like to watch the news...he's gone by 7:30...but I hate commercials soooooooo, I turn on the TV then hit "pause"....do my morning "routine" then come back and catch up on the news totally commercial free.  Today I did this like I always do....went outside to water the plants etc., etc.,...was allllllllllll over the house.  Finished up and came back to settle in my bed for the rest of my coffee, my 2 pups and my commercial free news update....where's the remote?  Took me 30 minutes to find it after combing over every inch of the house and everywhere I had been.....except outside....which is where I found it....why on earth would I take the remote with me to water the OUTSIDE plants???  OCD?  CDO?  not sure...

TV selector...on end table OUTSIDE???????


The Mistah wants me to go to work...to rebuild the retirement account...don't get me started on Obama the US destroyer.......but today I had a great idea....you see I have entered the world of "pain management"...I thought that was for old people or out of shape people who lived on oreos all their lives...but now it pertains to me.  Physical Therapy, Massage Therapy, Acupuncture, Pain Killers, Topical Ointments, Tens Machine Shocks, Traction, Muscle Relaxers, Exercise, have alllll failed to bring relief to this silly buldging disc and inflamed nerve root....we've (me and the Dr.s) have ruled out surgery for now and are opting for cortisone injections.  Yep, (I know I should get to the point but there is a lot to say here) everyone has a story to tell about these injections.   I will just list bullet points of what others have said:

• You must have someone drive you home afterwards
• They numb the area first where the injection is given
• They give you a sedative before they give you the injection
• Find and use ONLY a Physician that utilizes x-ray guided injections (so as not to "miss"...whaaaaat?)
• they hurt like mad

Ok, I'm not feeling great about this but it is like an epidural when having a baby....at that point of pain everything is relative...I would give myself the injection if the needle was right here right now. period!!!

Soooooo all of that to say this....I can tell Mistah Millah that I do have a job.... I am a "pain Manager".....

that's all!

friends, worth their weight in gold...always

I have the best friends on planet earth...or any other planet for that matter.  And friends should NOT be taken for granted.  A few things I have learned.  Friendship takes time.....but good friends don't take LOTS of work...because that's what makes a friend...grace....you just love them...and they just love you...

Having just spent 5 days in Ashevegas and getting to see almost everyone...had the best week EVERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

I love these people...they opened their homes, put their families on hold and went out of their way to make me and Whitney feel loved and wanted...but that's what friends do...and boy do I miss that ease of life.

I want to say I am creating friendships here and nurturing them along ever so slowly...but there is NOTHING on the PLANET as great as a week with old friends.

Fab Tan and Computer Fun at Bella Sole'

Opens her home and frig as hostest with the Mostest!

T R O U B L E in the making!

sweetest women alive (minus me)

my favorite place on earth...by this gal's side!!

Favorite Neighbor Award....great great people!

Mentors and good good people! Love them!!

my favorite date for the wedding!

Sweetest Wedding Couple Alive!!

wild thangs

a collection of love

my fran Kat and her crazy man Ken

one of my favorite men

cheers from the Sondly Estate Vineyard!

So, here's to you, Cyndi, Kahroll, Kat, Dottie, Beth, Leslie, Jimmie-Lynn, Jeannette, Lynn, Ursula, Kenny, Mike, Andy & Bill.....LOVED my time with you!! And that's just those in these pics....had a WONDERFUL time with the whole Ashevegas Gang, as well as Cyndi's Central Florida fam.... I thank God He made sure YOU would be in my life!!  Delight!!

more Mistah stories

Week 1 of Empty Nesting

What I have learned....it IS enough to be excited about what your kid is doing...you REALLY don't have to be there..it would be nice BUT..it is enough. (as long as you get a FULL update at the end of the day...which, of course, I do, via Adrianne...Whit simply says, "I'm overstimulated, can I talk to you later?"  Of course you can...I've heard that line before (Mr. millah)

Whitney is doing RUSH this week...she is having a ball...she is learned that it is ok to be pretty in Tallahassee...it was NOT ok in Ocala..for whatever reason....it was bad here...so she tried her best NOT to look presentable...1 week with Adrianne...and now she IS Adrianne's twin...they went out on Sat shopping and she came home amazed at all the comments they received...how terrible it is for a kid to be amazed that people will actually be nice to her and compliment her???  Shame on Ocala!!

Ok, back to the original idea for the post.

I went out of town....again...guess who's baaa-aaaccckkk??  Yep, Mr. Shear Happy.  I'm including before and after pics AgAIN.....I do NOT understand this guy....our yard is inch by inch being turned into a dumpster lot...and he is so proud...different pages....again!!!

before

He has decided to make individual bushes out of our shrub-line.  Isn't the goal ALWAYS to make bushes INTO shrubs?  guess not....

after...grrrr

Also, note the STILL brown, no growth ground cover...I've convinced him we should just put down some "kills-all" and mulch over the top... it's not growing back...surprise!!

no regrowth here....except grass

Snackville, America

Also, he went shopping while I was gone...I discovered this while "online banking"...saw that "someone" spent $279 at Publix...what??  Surely there would be items like salmon fillets', filet mignon, champagne, etc., etc.,...so I went thru the cabinets....no meat, no wonderful drinks....so I asked...he couldn't really come up with anything out of the ordinary...he did buy his lovely wife roses....but that doesn't bump up that avg weekly bill by $150????.....So I look further..and there it was...Snackville, America...staring boldly back at me in the pantry....the only thing missing from this pic are the clondyke bars and 3 boxes of cereal, organic of course.....Why, you ask?  .....because they have already been eaten...never mind NOTHING inside the frig was touched in the entire 5 days I was missing.....Nothing on this counter have I ever purchased...and here, sitting, resting, resting, for his evening arrival is REAL food...steak, pasta, asparagus....food he is used to...but OBVIOUSLY NOT on his high list of preferred foods.   hmm!

real dinner...waiting on arrival of a certain Handsome Bread Winner...waitingwaitingwaiting....

Oh, Lord help me love Mr. on the other page Mistah!  He loves me more than oxygen...I find him extrememly curious! 

mad at the President

Alrighty...pretty upset with Mr. President...again...surprise!!  He's off to "Mathuz Vinyud" on a vacay....well, Mr. P...have a good time...you see my "Mistah" hasn't had a vacay day in 3 years...yep...because of the booming economy that you so carefully have crafted with all the socialistic nonsensical blah blah blah....the housing market is STILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLlll in the dumps.  Yep, Mr. P....we sell our vacay days to pay for that 2nd mortgage, 2nd HOA fee, 2nd set of electric/water/gas bill, 2nd set of groundskeepers (oh wait, we only have 1 set bc I am the groundskeeper here...well, if and when the Mistah leaves stuff for me to keep, haha).

This has not been a good term for you Mr. P...and certainly hasn't been good for the Millahs'...However, our God is still on the throne...keeping a watchful eye on His own...and He supplies all our needs. ...like money that appears out of no where...it always comes in...I wish I could learn to be quiet and wait instead of whining....because He has been 100% faithful.

I wish

Ok, I wish I could write a "self help" book of "tips"....because I just came up with the greatest one.

It's raining....ok, like it does everyday....and Florida is hot hot hot...so much so that you almost have to water everyday...I know...even tho' it rains everyday...trust me, you have to becuase some of the plants are under the roofline.....BUT...if you time it right...you can move your plants OUT into the rain...and you won't have to water them.

But, when you water it's sooooooooooo hot you get all sweaty...so you can only water when you don't mind getting your clothes sweaty.

So here's the tip....take a shower...then, while still in your towel and wet hair...go outside and move the plants out from under the overhang into the rain...

VOILA, you still get wet...but you are not sweaty....and, you are in a towel...

Now, go inside and get dressed...AND, you are all soft becuase of the rain water.

Now I guess you can't really write a self help book of tips if you only have 1 tip...so, note to self...think up more tips....

The Mistah

I know we marry because of attraction...and we are attracted to someone who is strong where we are weak...but sometimes..well, that can be annoying at best...your brains live on different pages...at least ours do!

Today is my first day of "the rest of my life" without children in the home. I've been a little weepy and wondering out loud what life would be like without my girls in the house???....... I had been awake for about..mmm? 15 seconds...eyes still shut but alert...when Mistah Millah says, "Ok (keep in mind this is very businesslike and energetic), I know you must be really excited about going back to School and getting your degree so that you can go to work and help out in 2 years with the family finances"......what?  What?  We had tossed around the idea that I could get a job....then I reminded him I have no job skills (I dropped out of college to move near him because I was in love)....he suggested college...I was dreaming of extended visits in NC, Tally and IN....oh, and Charleston....

At first I was upset...then I thought to myself...hmmm?  School?  That will mean "back to School shopping"...Yes, I will need new School Clothes.  And, since I am old and going to School with youngsters...I will need a facial...oh, wait, no, I will need botox...and that trainer I've been meaning to sign back up with, oh and a full time cook ...the housekeeper will have to come more often and the pool lady will have to stay on....yes, this going back to School to earn an income will be a good thing indeed...I've got to get busy!!

Next,.....I've been gone for 5 days...this is very dangerous in our household....for whatever reason...and I cannot think of one....Mistah gets gardening shear-happy.  Yep, he was back at it...chopped DOWN some more hedges....to the GROUND....AGAIN. 

the former hedges were as tall as the ones remaining....

and this area??....from the last shear happy day....it's been several weeks now...still NO sign of regrowth...just brown...oh, and lots and lots of new weeds....that I HAVE TO SPRAY........

The Ramble....perfection...of course...but we can't live there.....of course!

I do not claim to be an expert on gardening or pruning practices...but in all my "observing" years...I've yet to see groundskeeper cut shrubs or anything for that matter...to the GROUND!!!!!  The last time he did that was in Biltmore Park...over 5 years ago....and I went by there on Sunday while in NC...and those things are still struggling...yep, the Ramble house's yard is in mint condition...here...we look like, well, trailor trash......argh!!!

handy dandy helpful Hal

I believe that was the name of a favored childhood story book...yep it was. 
Well, The Mistah, is a different sort of guy.  When he wants to get a job done...he does it 1000% bc in order to be efficient...you only want to do the job once...when he "edges"....he edges down the the dirt....

Recently he involved himself in 2 home "projects"....one he is very proud of..the other...well, we pretend it didn't happen, we don't bring it up and we never, ever, notice it.
                                          

#1  Before and after pics of the "ground cover" that 100% of the homes in our neighborhood have.  They vary in sizes because it NEVER stops growing taller.  At some homes it's 5 feet high...ours was 2 feet...now it is 0...and brown.....?? ok :/  I'm SURE it will grow back...in 2015....maybe....

                 Before...

                                                        

  After..

so embarrassed.... 

#2 ...since we moved into this FL house there has been a "stubborn stain" in our bedroom.  Shaped like an L...it was orange...like a piece of stained furniture that got wet had set there for years....so the Mistah got out his handy "bleach wrag"...and EVERY DAY he worked on "lifting the color" out...slowly the orange lifted lighter and lighter....then, he decided to "dye" it with RIT...didn't pick it up at Michael's nope, he ordered it online and paid $4 shipping......it came, he dyed it...not happy with the color...so back to bleaching, rubbing,  bleaching, rubbing,....now...as you can see ...it's very VERY white, no longer orange at all...but what is also obvious is that the carpet melted away and there is now a hole.  My question is this..."At what point do you start to notice that the carpet is disappearing before your eyes and you STOP the rubbing, rubbing, rubbing?"

I'm just so curious. But, I am not allowed to ask...we just walk over "the spot"

the "spot"