Hello Monday

Hello friends and happy Monday. How was your weekend? Mine was really busy. On Saturday I did the grocery thing while Mark went out to cut some trees. We have had two that have fallen this past spring, one of them just a week or so ago. So I went to pick up my groceries and to the post office and a couple of other stops. When I got home Mark had already cut up the tree that had fallen near the lake and was cutting some brush closer to the house. It always makes me nervous when he is using a chainsaw and home alone especially where we live, an ambulance could be thirty minutes or more away.

So when I got out of the car with the groceries my hubs was eying this huge tree limb that hangs over our deck. My nephew was going to come up and help us cut it, to make sure it didn’t fall across the deck, but he just hasn’t had the time. Anyway Mark started telling me how he thought he could etch out a part of the tree to make it fall in the right direction. I said “look we are not tree cutters and we have no business trying to cut a tree that large and hope it doesn’t fall on the deck”. Luckily the heat won out. He was already tired from cutting all morning, it was hot, and he was ready to head into he house. I sighed a huge sigh of relief and prayed he wouldn’t attempt it one day when I wasn’t at home.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning my front porch and scrubbing the sidewalks. Mark had requested lasagna for dinner. Because of our different schedules we don’t get to have a lot of meals together so when he does want something special I like to cook it for him. I made the lasagna on Saturday and we had leftovers for our lunches for a couple of days.

On Sunday Mark had to work. Several weeks ago I had ordered a large shelf to put some of my yarn in. It came in a huge box and had to be put together. The box sat in our office for weeks. We just haven’t had a lot of time to put it together. On Sunday I decided I would put the shelves together. How hard could it be right? I can read directions after all I do read knitting patterns and can even knit socks surely this couldn’t be too hard. Wellllllll I carried all the pieces upstairs to my little den where I had planned to put the new book shelf. I had to carry them piece by piece because the pieces were fairly heavy. I got the directions, it was supposed to only take one hour to complete, I got all the hardware and tools I would need. And I have to say everything was labeled just beautifully. It would have been hard to mess it up. But let me tell you whoever put the one hour thing lied. It took me almost four hours to put that thing together. Now I did pull off a few times to do laundry and get something to drink and let the babies in and out but I don’t know who could put it together in one hour. Nope, no way. Anyway it is done and I have put a bit of yarn in it. I still have a full set of shelves full of yarn on the other side of the room. Not as big as this one but still a good bit of yarn. I am actually pretty proud of myself for doing the whole thing by myself. I am usually so impatient that I screw it up and Mark has to finish it for me.

The Daylilies are blooming and I love them. They are so cheerful.

So other than that and some walks with the babies that was my weekend. How was yours?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

June Is Here!! Ten Pounds Are Gone!!!

What a week. I know I have been a little MIA the last few days but work and life have both gotten in the way.

When I last left you I was preparing for a third blood test for my high potassium levels. My potassium wasn’t that high but higher than my doctor wanted it to be. All of my other blood work was good. The kidney function was good so it was a bit of a mystery as to why it was high. For about three weeks I have been on a low potassium diet and I have to say I didn’t realize how many foods were so high in potassium. Anyway my potassium level is back in range so that is a very good thing. As I mentioned before I am really trying to eat better and cut back on sweets and get more exercise. I am down ten pounds!!! Whooo hooo. I have a long way to go but it is definitely a start.

***Happy Memorial Day!!! Thank you to all of those who serve, who have served and sacrificed so that we may have the freedom we have.***

I had to work on Saturday because it was Memorial weekend and in tourism that is a big deal. Not only because of the significance of the day but also because a lot of people travel. I only took Sunday off and was back to work on Monday.

Monday night there was an AT&T area wide outage and we were without internet, phones etc. for most of the evening. It finally came back on around 8:00 PM. It’s not like we lost power but I seemed to feel paralyzed to do anything. I did read a book and that was a good thing.

My sister and I had our annual mammograms on Tuesday in Knoxville. It seems like all of my wellness checks come up at the same time. And then I spend a month or so getting them all taken care of. My sister and I always get our mammogram appointments really early and spend the rest of the day shopping. We had such a fun time. I bought several things and I will show them later on my Friday Favorites. It seems like the stores were a little better stocked than last time. I did buy another Orchid at Trader Joe’s. They always have the best selection and I have been wanting a white one to add to my collection.

***This is the one I picked and I named her Ophellia I always name them.***

***Several white orchids to choose from.*** ***Great prices too.***

Every store we were in had tons of gnomes. I like gnomes as well as the next person but good gravy that doesn’t have to be the only patriotic decorations. This was at Marshalls but it was the same way at Hobby Lobby and T.J. Maxx

***Just look at these two. This is Allie Cat and Sadie. They love being on top of the garage door.***

***Gus is taking it easy. He has really made himself at home.***

I have been using my quesadillas maker to make these quesadillas. I use cheese and pepperoni and cut them into corners and they are yummy and low cal. Also low in potassium.

***I had breakfast this morning with my niece and a good friend of ours.***

So that is what has been going on with me what about you?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!!

Weekly Happenings

I think that there is nothing that makes you realize your own mortality then the death of a sibling. I have lost three other siblings before my sister Pat passed away last month. But something about her death has hit me harder and made me take a long hard look at my own life and health. I guess it’s because I am older now. I have really been trying to clean up a lot of unhealthy habits in my life. With my weight being the main issue, as far as I know anyway, I have been working really hard on eating better and moving my body more. I am down about seven pounds so far and hope by this time next month it will be even more. I am not doing anything radical or taking diet pills or drinking shakes or anything like that. Just better eating and exercise that is what will have to do it for me. I have always been one to eat my feelings instead of feeling them. By numbing myself it is easier to avoid feeling bad. Well that is until all your clothes don’t fit and you can’t walk a short distance without being out of breath. There is a lot of life to live and I want to be the healthiest I can be to do it. I want to be better physically. I just felt the need to share all of that.

A busy weekend over here. On Saturday my sister and my nephew helped me clean out some things in my mother in law’s house. We know that realistically she will never be able to live at home again and the house has needed a good cleaning for several years. We worked for several hours and then I went to visit my mother in law at the assisted living village. Her short term memory is getting so bad and she asks me the same questions over and over or tells me the same story over and over. I just pretend it’s the first time I have heard it. She loves for me to show her pictures of the babies. I try to take several throughout the week so I will have plenty to show her. She has so many stories of when she was a young woman, newly married, riding a greyhound bus to Knoxville every day to business school. The trip was over an hour each way. She studied on the bus and the bus driver always flirted with her. She can still tell these stories like it was yesterday and I love to hear them. Sometimes I start asking her questions so she will tell me one of those. She has such a look on her face when she tells them like she is still seeing every memory and I am sure she is.

***Look at this pollen. It’s been crazy!!!!***

After our visit I bought groceries. I am amazed every week when I see the price of groceries. Of course having seven babies to buy for isn’t cheap. Scruffy and Molly have to have canned dog food because their teeth, or lack of them, makes it hard to chew hard food. Also dog food and cat food have become really hard to get. I know you have heard the horror stories about baby formula.

Sunday my sister had a cook-out at her house for my nephew Tyler, he graduated from college last week. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to go. He only got four tickets and his mom and dad of course went. My brother in law, his grandfather, couldn’t go so I was able to get his ticket. My sister and I went and sat on the bleachers in the gym for three hours. It was more than worth it. We all went out to eat afterwards and had a really good time.

I have been doing a lot of walks with the babies. It has been really hot here so we don’t go far. I have also been working on the temperature blanket. I am still a little behind but working on it when I can. I can’t wait to show you what I have.

***I love daisies they are my favorite flower.***

Work continues to be busy but manageable. I am trying to get my house de-cluttered, I think that is an ongoing process and that is o.k.

***You knew I would have to sneak a kitty picture in somewhere.***

That is what has been going on in my neck of the woods, how are you doing?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!!

May Day May Day

Hello and happy May Day. Can you believe that May is here already? Well it is. And full summer will be here soon. April was not a great month. My sister got sick in late March and passed away April 8th. It has been such a hard time for everyone in my family. But my Birthday and Wedding Anniversary were both in April and that was great although bittersweet without my sister.

When my sister passed away her neighbor and friend made me and my sister a “Pat” angel. She gave it to us at the funeral and I put mine in my pocket and didn’t open it until after the funeral when me and hubs started home. I looked at it and and I couldn’t believe that she had so perfectly captured something about my sister in this little angel. My sister wore a purple sweater a lot of times when she was sitting outside at the apartment complex where she lived. The angel is made of clay and it is perfect. It has brought me such peace having it with me. This sweet lady makes lots of things from clay especially animals. She has made clay animals of all of my cats. She is so talented.

Work has been absolutely slammed. I have to leave tomorrow for a few days for a meeting in Johnson City. I will be meeting with our attractions group. It should be a lot of fun. I know they have some great adventures for us and a couple of really nice restaurants. I stayed late on Friday at work to get caught up to be gone for a couple of days. I’ll take lots of pictures of everything and share them soon.

We are still working on getting Gus, the new kitty, used to the rest of the family. The only one who is still not very friendly is Kitty Kitty. I know it will take time. We have been keeping Gus next door at my father in law’s house. We can run over and visit and feed him and love on him several times a day. Last week we started bringing him over slowly to help all the inside babies get familiar with him. So for the last few days we have left him here in the house for most of the day. He hasn’t spent a full night but I think when I get back from my trip we will just leave him here all the time. The visits have been a great help in getting Scruffy and Molly adjusted as well as Gus. As I said Kitty Kitty is still not a fan.

***Gus seems perfectly content and is making himself at home.*** ***His hair has started to grow a little from where it was shave***d.

Our weather here has been crazy. We have had some very chilly mornings and then warming quickly in the afternoon and evening. I think we may have been in Whippoorwill Winter last week because the Whippoorwills were calling like crazy at dusk and then first thing in the mornings. The changes in the weather have made some interesting changes on my temperature blanket. I am a little behind on it but I’m working hard to get caught up. When I have April finished I will show you what it looks like.

And in my own true fashion of getting ready for a trip I have saved everything for the last minute. I planned to pack earlier this afternoon but started doing some other things. I absolutely hate to pack and will probably wait until first thing in the morning. I spent most of the day binge watching Ozark. If you watch it then you know the last few episodes of the last season came out on Friday. It was so good. I also worked on my temperature blanket while I was watching.

So that is where I am on this beautiful first day of May. I had some great walks outside with the babies. A nice May Day. I am heading up to start packing or at least put a few things in my suitcase. It’s a short trip so I won’t need a lot of things, said no woman ever. HA!!!

***This is Izzy. Doesn’t her color blend in with the woods?***

Have a wonderful week. I wanted to share this poem I found online last week. It has brought me a lot of comfort and I don’t know exactly when it popped up but it was obviously just when I needed it.