The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong in the broken places.
Ernest Hemingway
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I FELL DOWN AGAIN … TWICE!

4/22/2019

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YOU WILL FALL MANY TIMES IN LIFE, BUT YOU WILL PICK YOURSELF UP AND BECOME STRONGER AND WISER FOR EACH TROUBLE YOU PASS.
                                                                                                     Leon Brown

Yup, Janene went down twice in one week! This problem with walking is, well, getting to be a problem.

First incident was behind our little barn at the end of the yard. It is right beside a small creek, I was raking around the hostas that surround three trees down in that part of the property. I decided to rake a bit behind the small barn, which was entirely stupid, because I'm the only one who ever goes down there and nobody else ever sees it anyway.  As I walked along the bank, the slight incline that begins as the yard starts to slant toward the creek was my "down-fall". I started to totter toward the water, and tried to get my balance. In doing so, I stumbled forward about ten steps, all the time thinking "I'm gonna break my other leg, I'm gonna break my other leg!"  Fortunately, I still had my rake in hand, and used that to sloooowwwwly fall down. But, then, I started to roll! Yup, I started to slide toward the water, on my back, head first. I grabbed a chunk of grass and stopped my momentum. We have a very heavy, wide bridge plank that we use as a convenient walking bridge to cross the creek. I was close enough to that to reach up and grab hold of it and pull myself up to a sitting position. Since I can no longer get on my knees, it took me a bit of time to struggle to my feet. But I managed. Whew! Close call.

Then, Saturday I was out raking and picking up sticks along our lane. My hired help, Alec (for two bucks and a small Pepsi),  was with me. Suddenly, I stepped back and tripped over  a small tree staub and fell back and down  onto my booty. Poor Alec kept saying, "Are you all right? Are you all right?" Yes, I was all right, but sure glad no one else saw me land on the ground.  Again, it took a while to get me up, since my leg muscles are so weak. Jeepers!!! This crap is getting old. 

It has been so nice out that I want to get a bunch of yard work done. And I am accomplishing that, but very sloooowwwwly. A few years ago, I would have all this stuff knocked out in no time. 

Hey, something kinda fun occurred. Last fall I bought a white flowering Japanese something-or-other tree on clearance to plant at my Woodbridge Building. I never got the time to get it in the ground. So, I brought it home and stuck in down in my closed-in patio area and  forgot about it. Evidently, Hubby periodically put a bit of water on it over the winter. I looked at it the other day, and it is actually budding and has some white flowers blooming on it. I brought it outside, watered it, and am prepared to get it planted. Huh, nice.

Remember when I was said I was going to have my own little Book Club. Well, I had previously only critiqued one book, so I thought I had better do another. Karin Slaughter's THE GOOD DAUGHTER is well worth reading. I told myself that I wasn't going to read any dark, heavy books (just to keep an upbeat frame of mind), but right from the start, this book drew me in and was a real page-turner. I give it a 9.

And commercials! It's been forever since I commented on TV commercials. Two that really appeal to me are the Volvo commercial with the red car. The music and drum beat are actually haunting and whenever I hear that ad's music, I stop and listen. I don't know what it is about it, but I love it! The other commercial is again for a car, Mazda. I like the image of the lady floating in the air, hanging on to a red balloon. It looks so beautiful when she drags her hand through a cloud in the sky. Amazing.

And, the Mueller Report is in. Who can guess how all the details will play out. Very, very interesting.

​                                       GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY

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PUTTING IT ALL OUT THERE

4/16/2019

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MAKE THE MOST OF YOURSELF FOR THAT'S ALL THERE IS OF YOU
                                                                                                    Ralph Waldo Emerson

Early Friday morning, I got up and spent 45 minutes working on a post for this blog. I was preparing to go to the oncologist at 11 AM to find out what my Wednesday's CT scan had shown, and was spilling my emotions out on the computer. After getting all my worries and drama written, I hit the wrong button on the program and all my work disappeared. I'm kinda glad it did. It's out there in cyberspace somewhere. And it turned out that there was no need to moan and groan about what might be. 

EVERYTHING IS FINE!   Thank goodness. It appears the node thingy on my lung is very common, especially in Midwesterners, due to the farm chemicals and such that we breath in. After all, I was a farmer's daughter and probably sucked in a lot of that stuff when I was younger. I guess that's what they mean when people say "Don't sweat the small stuff . . .  'cause it's all small stuff!" You got to roll with the punches and take what comes your way, And lots of time, it's a good outcome and you've just wasted a bunch of precious energy worrying. 

So, onto my every day boring stuff. I have gotten into the "cleaning out" phase of my life. Yes, I am channeling Marie Kondo again, I tied into my closets again, determined to get rid of all the things I have not worn for a long time. Remember, if it doesn't give you a feeling of joy when you hold the item, get rid of it. Okay. That's harder than you can imagine. Here comes the difficult part. I actually took picture of my closets. And I'm sharing them with you!! Brave, aren't I?  Now I don't have big walk-ins like most people do, with their modern homes. My little house was build in 1938 (started out as a horse barn or some such thing), and it's been added onto a couple of times. Therefore, our closets are minimal. Hey, maybe that's the root of my problem. Anyhoo, I am sick of everything being crammed into a too-small space. It's like shoving 10 pounds of sugar into a  5 pound sack. So . . .  here goes.  The dreaded BEFORE pictures.
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Yup, that's a whole lot of crap. Then, I worked feverishly for several hours (actually just a couple) and deleted a large portion of things.  I am so proud of myself. Marie Kondo would be proud of me.
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My only questions is WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THE STUFF THAT'S LEFT OVER? Where am I gonna put it?  sigh
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I did what any smart thinking woman would do. I went into town and bought some big plastic tubs and stashed the overflow  in them and hid them in our storage area. Let the kids figure it out when Hubby and I are gone. hehehe.

                                   GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY

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I'M BEING A "NERVOUS NELLY"

4/9/2019

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​IT IS HORRIFYING THAT WE HAVE TO FIGHT OUR OWN GOVERNMENT TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT
                                                                                                                               Ansel Adams

Hi, Kids! What's shaking?  Nothing? Same here. Thank goodness. Except for all the cray cray going on TV. You know . . .  government stuff. I'm sorry but I can't seem to get my mind off what is happening in our country. It makes me nervous.  Jeeze, I know there will normalcy once again, but everything is in such disarray right now. Since the weather is nicer, I find myself away from television more. It also helps that I can now maneuver and get out and about. Wheee! Better weather and getting healed up is a real game-changer.

Yesterday, I went to town and did some "junking". Love it. If you have a Stuff Etc. store around you, check it out. I find some of the neatest things for very little ka ching! I have been finding some cool pieces to put in the yard spaces at The Woodbridge Building. You know, lawn "eye candy". I've got a big enough open space, that we can do certain individual areas and make it look more interesting and homey for our visitors.

My social schedule is getting busy. For once. Usually it is just a bunch of doctor appointments. Blah! Anyhoo, I actually have two events coming up that are at the same time. One of our neighbors is having a wedding reception at Woodbridge next month. Hubby and I were invited to it. I accepted. Told them our choice of chicken or beef. Then Hubby reminded me that it fell on Mother's Day weekend, and we already had plans to spend it in Minnesota with son Dan and his wife. Dan has purchased tickets for all of us to go to a vineyard Mother's Day brunch. And I am excited to see his new house. Haven't been able to visit it until now. But, I feel bad that we will miss the reception, plus it means I won't be here in case there is some little glitch or problem with the building that needs my attention. Oh, well, I'll just make sure they have an ample supply of toilet paper for the bathrooms, and hope that they don't need me. 

I talked to son Dan yesterday on the phone. He was quizzing me on how I felt when I got hit with Vertigo years ago. Apparently he is having some odd symptoms of dizziness and getting light-headed. That makes me a little nervous. If any of you have experienced Vertigo, you know what I mean. The first time I had it, I woke up one morning and Bam! The bed was spinning so fast, I was clutching the sheets, thinking I was going to fly right out of bed. Yuk! Some of the symptoms lasted for three months. The more people I talk to, the more I hear that others have suffered from it. I never even knew what it was until I experienced it. huh

Good news . . .  maybe. When I was down at Woodbridge yesterday, I had a fella stop by. He was with one of the local major fundraising clubs, (I won't mention which organization it is at this time), but he said his club members in the community heard of our non-profit for autistic individuals, and want to write a proposal to help us get funding! Whoopee!!!!! He said it sounds very promising that we are eligible for assistance. Major news! Our board has already decided that we are going to have to build up a "War Chest" fund before we open the doors for our day-habitation services, to insure that we have the proper funding to keep going. In Iowa, we are again losing one of the Medicaid providers, so things may get kinds sketchy getting our clients' waivers paid in a timely fashion. In other words, we don't want to open the doors and not have the backing to keep going through bad times (late payments from Medicaid), if that should occur. So, we shall see what happens. This news makes me a bit nervous, too, but also excited. One can only hope!

Tomorrow, I have my CT scan, to check on that node, or nodule, or lumpy thingy . . .  whatever it is, on the edge of my lung. That should be interesting. I will get the results Friday when I go to my oncologist. Jeeze. It's always something, right? I am pretty confident that it is a nothing-burger, but it's best to get it checked out.  Not too nervous about that. Everything just seems to be a routine experience anymore. What happens, happens. There ain't much chance of changing things. 

Granddaughter Cate just bought her first house. She is getting excited about getting into it and doing the painting and decorating . . . you know, to make it her own. If anyone can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear (that's an old person's saying, for you younger folks), my Cate can. I have offered to help her do some initial cleaning, but I think my painting days are over. I need to do some of that around my own house, but I can't reach up high, can't squat down to reach down low, and there is no way in Hell that I am climbing on a stepladder.  UH UH!!!! I have no desire to create any chance at all of having to push the button on my emergency button necklace and call for HELP! 

You know, I can't believe that less than two years ago, BFSILPIC (Best friend, sister-in-law, partner-in-crime) Nina and I were running around Vegas on our yearly long-weekend vacay. I was doing all kinds of yard work in my large and hilly backyard, and lifting and reaching things around the house. It's really frustrating to not be able to do sooo many things that I have always done over the years. But I have hope that things will change, and I will get back into my groove eventually. Ya think?  :)

Anyhoo, have a good day. Don't be nervous. I got enough of that going on for the both of us.

                            GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY









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    Janene...

    ... was diagnosed with breast cancer on November 11, 2013. This is a place for all of the people who love and care about her to get the information about her treatment and her personal experience of kicking cancer's ass, (sometimes from her daughter's perspective). It's hard to stand by and not be able to do anything to help. Writing gives my mom an outlet and allows both of us to share information during this time. Therefore, we blog :) 

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