The Agony of "Dee Feet"

As most of you know, my family has had a series of "runs" with the flu that had us reeling around here for a few days.  After a couple of relapses, I decided that a change of strategy was in order.  First step:  change medication to this..........

Encourage more rest......(those are my daughter's toes sticking out from her blanket)....:-(.

and keep more of these with some hot water, lemon and honey near by.....

and after a few more days of that.......PRESTO!  she was doing better and was grateful for the breakthrough....

And Scootard......well...he was doing better too....haha

I figured by now, I needed "therapy"!  The yard is always a good place for me to start......

I was ready to go.... Armed and Dangerous !  We even went to the store and bought a power saw with an extender to get the job done.  My trees ( Crepe Myrtles  which usually florish at 4-6 feet in my back yard had grown to about twice that during my absence since my move to Canada.  Something had to be done quick!  Having already put down bug killer and fertilizer, it was time to get started......

Scootard "McSAWMAN"......having already cut down two trees to fence level was ready to wax dangerous with his new toy......haha

 

Now, when I looked up at this thing after having hauled a few loads to our trailer, I almost decided on calling in a landscaping company to deal with the magnitude of this job.

but the further we went along, the more convinced I was that it would be much cheaper to do it all ourselves......

I was given an "outdoor" fireplace a few years ago that had never been used until this last trip back home.  We decided to make use of the wood that we had cut down and use it for fire when we light it again.  I snagged an old trash can bin that I used to use in the back alley for the trash man before they starting collecting in the front of the house.  It worked out pretty good after we got it kinda straightened out.  This is only "some" of the wood.  We ran out of space and still aren't finished yet.....
 

We were glad that we had our trailer with us.  Pulling the scooters on this thing came in handy for us.  We were equally glad that we had a very large tarp as well.  By the way, this is just one load out of what would prove to be many.   By the way, there is actually a trailer under that pile....haha.

So, here is the first side of the yard.  It was almost shocking to learn that I had neighbors!  hahaha. I probably scared the stew out of them too.......ha

It was hard to believe that something this small........two feet wide...

grew into this...............

after many trips back and forth with tree limbs, branches, aching legs and scratched up limbs (on us), we were ready to take the FIRST load to the city dump.

It was pretty easy.  You just go, tell them your account number for your water bill and they let you dump it in a designated spot for free!  yeah.  AND getting it off the trailer was a cinch since all I had to do was wait for Scootard's signal and then simply drive forward.  It all came off in one big pile.

After ........(wait for it) FOUR twenty minute trips to and from the city dump......my poor tennis shoes were coughing dust.....I was coughing dust, and it was time to quit.

My feet ached, and it was time to clean up and rest up.  It was a long few days with more trees to cut down tomorrow.  I think my toes went to sleep before I did!  But my whole "self" is grateful to God for bringing my family through that nasty sickness and allowing us to continue to live life....:-).  

to be continued........but for now....goodnight!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

It has been one weird weekend with sick folks around me during my birthday celebration weekend.  Scootard and our daughter Tracey have been ill.  Tracey was just starting her "throws" with a virus, and I was running back and forth taking care of things.  Scootard had moments of "normalness" during his vigilant fight.  Notice his facial expression?  Yep, that's normal...haha.  Tracey on the other hand, looked like she was about to "give up the ghost".....:-(.   Sorry about my laptop in the way.

But in spite of all of the illness in the house, all was not lost since I was taking the entire weekend to celebrate one way or another.  Tracey made me a basket some time earlier in the week and had it delivered to the house for me....:-).  It was a nice addition to the edible arrangement that I had received from our oldest daughter the day before......:-).

And a closer look revealed that there was even something in the basket for "Ms Vickey" when she takes her next ride in the spring......I'm thinking of naming him "Oscar".  Any suggestions??

I opened my cards to discover that some of them were musical...I have always thought those kinds of cards were very cool. Especially when they sing things like "Celebrate Good Times" by Cool and the Gang...haha

by this time Tracey had run out of steam and was back in her room in "quarantine".....:-(.

I'll bet she was VERY HAPPY that she was an adult when she saw me approaching with this.....haha.  You know how we sometimes do this with babies, right?  yeah....

A friend of hers sent this to help brighten up her day......:-).

Some ladies from our ministry planned a birthday get together and dinner for me. One of them made me an Italian Cream Cake and drove it all the way from Texas to give to me for my birthday....:-).  I thought it looked pretty cool in front of my birthday balloons.  Pretty cool- eh?

And then I got more cards.....:-).  Scootard held them for me while I took the shot.

And gifts.....:-).  This one came from one of the ladies who came in from another city......:-).

And the gifts kept coming....:-).  This will be very useful "whenever" we start to make our way back to Canada.  But with all of the sickness in the family right now, it won't be tomorrow as planned.  I'm glad they don't expire!  At least I hope not....:-(.

And a little something to keep me warm.....:-).  They know how I often get cold.....

I even got these "toe covers" to help stave off the cold......ha.  I call them my "Hoovian socks" because they look "Scandahoovian" like something that would have come from Scootards ancestors.

  
It was a good weekend in spite of all of the illness and lack of sleep that I had.  As soon as everyone had gone, I put on my old ratted out pj's and settled in for the night.

See you all next time.

Chicken Soup For The Sick Room.....:-(

Tomorrow is my birthday.  Today, I have spent the day trying to sanitize and take care of a sick family.  The bright side is that my oldest daughter sent me an edible arrangement for for my birthday that had a lot of things I needed to help in the battle of the flu bug.

I have never had an edible arrangement nor have I ever sent one to anyone.  So, at first glance, I thought I saw ice cream on sticks like fudge sickles or something and told Scootard that we had to hurry and eat everything!  We rush the basket into the kitchen took an "ice cream cone" off of the top and discovered that it was chocolate covered pineapple....:-).  Cool...since there were four of them, that would have been a lot of ice cream in one sitting....:-(.   Funny how the picture makes it look like a cupcake..:-).

After spotting the Kale that was used as a garnish, we started to tear the arrangement apart to get to it for the soup I had to make.

I rooted through the fridge to see what else I had that I could through in the pot.  I had some fresh spinach, garlic, onion, chicken breast, cabbage, carrots and herbs. I also found some brown rice to throw in.  Now, it time to cut everything into manageable pieces.......

I had a total of 5 large chicken breast which I decided to split and cut into cubes.  Then I seasoned it with poultry seasoning and a pepper blend that I already had made up in a storage can.

My experience has been that if I add the chicken too soon, it will come out dry and tough even though it is floating in liquid.  So, I tossed all of the veggies in the pot first and brought them to a boil.

Then I decided to quick fry the chicken in some olive oil to seal in the flavor and help keep it moist while cooking.

After the carrots were done, I tossed in the chicken and let it cook until everything was tender and the chicken was thoroughly cooked........

And PRESTO!  Everyone had a bowl or two and I am hopeful that fever that my daughter has developed in the time I was in the kitchen will began to break.....:-(.

A Day In The Big City!

After having spent a few days indoors, the walls felt like they were beginning to close in on me.  So, we decided to head for the "big city" of Oklahoma City once again.

Our first stop was a store called Burlington Coat Factory.  I don't know exactly why they call it that since they carry a lot more stuff then coats.  I was personally on the hunt for more things for our bathrooms and some wall decor for our kitchen in Oklahoma.  Of course, when you are not familiar with a store, you find yourself winding through the isles looking at.....well...everything there is!  Now, I have NO IDEA what this thing was supposed to be.........

but Scootard thought he had it figured out......hahaha.  I, on the other hand thought I had discovered "Big Foot"!!

ok, so just when I was sure he had recovered from his identity crisis.......

BOOM!  What's a person to do??  I decided to well.....I don't know the guy!  hahaha  I made a quick exit to the next isle over for the purpose of insuring all possible onlookers that I was NOT with "him"! LOL

But, alas......there he found himself....basking in....shower curtains.....hahaha.  I figured, it must be time to eat or something.  People can get "strange" when they are running on "fumes".....

We headed to a restaurant that I had not been to in years.......  I love seafood, but had recently had (and was still recovering from) an allergic reaction to some shrimp that I had eaten a couple of weeks ago that left me with whelps all over my face and neck.  It also itched so much that I went through 1 1/2 bottles of Benadryl trying to get some relief from it.  But the thought of trying some crab overtook me.....so we ventured in.....  

This is a shot of the interior......And let me tell ya.....that was one huge shark.  And he was wearing a bib!  Think on that one for a minute! haha.....

I decided to run to the rest room before they came to take our orders.  Couldn't help but chuckle at the sign....:-).  Hey, whatever you call it, you CAN'T get confused about where you were..

You can't help but think you are going to be mauled by a catfish on your way out of the stall!   

Then menu was "cute" and full of all things "crab".......:-).

Now, to get this figured out.  What's a person to do??

While I mused over the menu, I noticed the buckets in the middle of the table that had been placed there to dispose of your shells.  They even offered a roll of paper towels to clean up with during and after you meal...

But I decided to eat lightly since I was not feeling that well or that hungry.  I ordered the crab cakes which were very good and mostly crab meat and not "filler" as I have found to be the case with so many restaurants nowadays.  I didn't finish it although it was very good......:-).

Next stop.... one of my favorite stores.  Bass Pro Shop......

It was chilly outside which always makes me have to run back to the bathroom.  I was amazed that Scootard headed for the indoor fireplace......:-).  You know, being Canadian and all, it is unusual to see him feeling..."chilly"......:-).

Then we started our adventure through the store again.....I have no idea what this thing is, but he liked it...:-).

I wasn't warm yet, sooooo  I found this....:-).  Nice- eh?

I guess Scootard wasn't either!  ???????....geeze....ha.  What can I tell ya....SOMEBODY HELP ME!!  haha

on the way out of the store, I stopped to have a peek at this.....:-)

yeah, baby!  So, how do I look?  Is it "me"??....:-)

oh well.  Maybe one day.....:-).

After browsing the store for almost an hour, we decided to go to our next favorite stop.....still on the hunt for some decor for kitchen and bath..

you gotta love this place.  There are rows of ....well, just about everything you could think of for home decor..

We hunted high and low for SOMETHING that would be suitable for my kitchen.  But, alas!  It wasn't to be....:-(.  So, we headed for our last stop of the night......

Just when I thought I had seen it all........Now, I ask you; can you image getting your "toes done" sitting in the lap of a bear?? hahaha...

After Scootard grabbing a quick (not really) bite to eat, we started our "date night" at the movies.  The show?  "Lincoln".  I recommend this to those who are not familiar with American history and the struggles that the country went through to get us to the place we are today.  Still a long way to go, but glad I was born 54 years ago and not 254 years ago.....:-).

It was a long but good day....:-).

See you next time!!