Zoom Zoom

Just a few days left of recovery time, and how do I spend it?
...Burning up the road between here and Ephraim.

Jenny was dropped off on our doorstep late Sunday night, so I ran her back on Monday.
Tuesday, she left a desperate message on my phone - fashion 9-1-1.
(She had to go pick up a bridesmaid dress that was on hold for her.)

She was sick, tired and emotionally spent when she got home, so she spent the night... Which means I'll make another trip today.

On the up-side, I did finally get to listen to my new CD. (I've been saving it for the drive time.) And it's awesome.
What I love about my lil' Rascals is that every song is good - you don't just get a couple of good ones with the rest that are just filler like most artists.

Anyway, it's Wednesday now, and I'm just waiting for the little darling to get dressed - then we'll be heading down the road again.
Puppy has had enough rides to last him for a good long while.

Yesterday morning, I rushed out to get a copy of Disney's Tangled.
I never did get to see it in the theater, and I have been dying to, so that was the first thing I did when I woke up.

Jenny had to have her own copy, so she picked one up last night and we all watched it together.

When it was over, Melissa asked; "is that how the real story went?"

It's been so long since I read the original Rapunzel, that I had no idea.
So I Googled it, (isn't google amazing?) and read it.

No, it's a pretty far stretch from the Disney version.
(Those Grimm brothers were a strange lot.)

All the funny little side stories that the Disney folks always add - like the little toothless drunk who they dress up as cupid - and the mime.
He only got a couple of minutes, but definite show stealer.
Wouldn't it be fun to sit in on one of their brainstorming meetings?


I've been anxious to try out my new washer and drier - since I didn't get any laundry done last week. Unfortunately, there's a problem with the installation.
The tap leaks now, whether the washer is running or not - so now the laundry room is flooded.

*Sigh* it's always something... (Why???)

I'm giving up on chores till hubby gets home.

My neighbor brought me a book from the library - (a nice gesture, but still it makes me feel silly because I really can do those things for myself.)
Anyway, I haven't even had a chance to crack it open yet.

I'm just going to read the rest of the day.
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Morphling

It's been such a strange day.

After staying in for two weeks, it's kind of hard to keep track of what day it is.
I woke up today thinking it was Sunday, and that I was late for church (which is kind of ridiculous anyway, because church doesn't start until one.)

I walked into the living room to find hubby all upset because he had just got off the phone with his cousin, who had given him some bad news about her mother. (She's being sent home from the hospital today with an undefinable and aggressive form of cancer - not much hope.)
His brother arrived shortly thereafter in his big dark "hovercraft" (you feel it coming before you see it.) And they went to visit her. I'm glad he got to do that before he leaves town - they're only giving her a couple of weeks.

The new washer and drier we purchased the other day were supposed to be delivered today, within a 3 hour block, so we had to put everything on hold and stay close to home, while we waited...

I get edgy under those circumstances, so I puttered around the house and did a lot of chores that have been irritating me all month (because they haven't been getting done.) I'm finally feeling like I can handle a few things, so I tackled them - with a vengeance. It felt good.

My son came to help remove the old dryer, releasing a load of coins all over the floor that had been collecting inside. He laughed and said it was like being in Vegas - they just kept coming! $11.00 in quarters alone. Too funny.
Our old machines were older than some of our children, so I guess they've been storing up for a while.

There were two weddings we were supposed to attend today, but we didn't make it to either, because we were still waiting...

They finally arrived around 4:30, but it was dinnertime before they left.
I was worn out by then, (as was hubby) so we went to lay down for a bit.
I zonked, but he got up and left with the TV still running. Some HGTV show about a couple trying to buy a vacation home in Costa Rica.
I have been reading Mockingjay all day, and somehow the two things kept getting mixed up in my mind as I slept - I swear the people were trying to find a vacation home that could ward off enemy attacks.

Speaking of books, I had a call from a neighbor today - my choir leader who is also the head of our book club. She asked how I was doing, then informed me that the book club had got together to purchase one of the books from my Good Reads list for my recovery.
When she told me which one, I had to laugh because it's the same one I just ordered from Amazon a couple of days ago. I couldn't bring myself to tell her, because it was such a sweet gesture, but - yeah. I'll have 2 copies now if anyone needs one.

I've been trying to expand my reading the last few months - branching into different genres and authors I've never read, but after a slew of dark and violent tales, I'm so done with them and ready to go back to my safe cozy fluff reads!
...There are horror fans in this household, but I'm not one of them!

Just when I thought things were quieting down (around 11 P.M.) someone pounded at the door. There stood my youngest with her pillow and blankie! We weren't expecting her tonight, but she dropped in just the same. Yay!

It's 3 A.M. already. I've been trying to sleep, but sleep is not to be had.
(I guess when you stay in bed until 10 and have 4 hour naps, that shouldn't come as a surprise.)
...It's going to take me a while to get back to a normal schedule.

Back to work this week - ready or not.
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*Morphling is a random word I pulled from the book - it refers to a disorienting pain medication - it just seemed appropriate. LOL

*Interesting and Humorus Title*

(Sorry, but I'm all out of them!) ha

Only a few days left of R&R, and then it's back to life as usual.

No more staying in bed until 10 A.M., no more schlepping around in my jammies all day. Planning to swing by work this weekend and see if/when I'm back on the schedule - that is, assuming that I still have a job...

Hubby was supposed to be done traveling now, but they have requested that he come back again next week. He's tired of traveling (as am I,) but in a way he doesn't mind it, because they treat him so much better out there than they do here.

The two of us went out to lunch yesterday, and ordered a new washer and dryer. The old dryer has to be run 3 or 4 times per load to get it completely dry - so it takes days to get the laundry done when we only have about 4 loads per week.
Crazy (not to mention expensive) so - it's out of here.

I finished my book Tuesday, and the library is out of the next one, so I'm going a little nuts today... Jenny has the one I need, but she's an hour away (and not due home for a couple of days,) so I'm going to have to be patient.
(Not my best thing!)

It's just as well, there are other things that should be done (albeit not fun ones.)
Just have to suck it up and keep busy.

It's officially Spring now by the calendar - we can only hope Mother Nature complies...
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Strange Things

Another quiet week, but not completely uneventful.

A few days ago, when Melissa stepped out to go to work, she found the hot tub uncovered and running. Apparently we had tub hoppers during the night.

Strange because you can't see it at all from the street or in any direction.
The only people who even know it's there are the really close neighbors, and none of them are the type to do a thing like that.

Weird.

Haunted by dreams again. A new one the other night that left residual feelings that I still can't really put my finger on.

I think I've figured out where it came from though -
I've been thinking a lot about the group I "hang out" with on facebook.
People from high school and my old home town. The funny thing is that these people are folks who never even noticed me back in the day. Not my group at all.

I've got a reunion year coming up next year, and I've been debating the thoughts of whether I'll go or not. (I've never been to one yet.)
I just don't know. I miss the old days, but the people who would be there were never a part of it. I don't really see the point in going.

...But then there was the part about painting my car a hideous pink - and my purse getting stolen. My purse always gets stolen. What the heck is that about?

I've been minding my P's & Q's on the road to recovery, but I took a wrong turn the other day and ended up in a ditch.
I hurt myself (in the tub, no less) and ended up swollen and looking even more ugly than before. ( If that's possible.)

I've been cussing myself ever since, and hardly getting out of bed for penance.
I'm starting to worry about getting my strength back in time to go back to work next week.

Hubby is home now, and won't ever be flying to that place again.
I'm so glad to have him home. We've gotten along ok the last three weeks, but it's just a more secure feeling having him around. He's a rock when things go wrong, (...and I'm like a chicken with a fox in the yard.)

He's got his Sunday music on this morning - nice, although it's cranked up a little higher than need be.

It feels rather peaceful - he with his stack of bills on the floor, and me with the laptop and the dog asleep on my feet.

For the time being, all is well.
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Shhhhhh......

It's so quiet around here this week. Like tomb quiet.
One forgets one is deaf when there's nothing to hear. Ha ha.

Hubby had to go out of town again, so it's just me & the dog during the day, sitting around, listening to our arteries harden.

I can do that when hubby's away, and not feel guilty. When he's around, he blusters and billows about like a tornado - the man can not sit still.
It makes me feel like such a useless lazy creature. It's probably a good thing that he's not here, because I intend to follow doctor's orders.

My neighbor has been taking such good care of me this week. She pops over at least once a day bringing me treats, things to read - or just to say "Hi."

I sure do appreciate it. Good neighbors are such a blessing!

Went in for my check up today. The Doctor removed the bandage from my throat, and - Yuck. I look scarier than the spooks on my daughters ghost flicks.

It's kind of fun to go to the store and freak people out. :P Makes me want to lean in close and whisper to them - "pirates."

The Doctor had the pathology report already - all clear. Yay!

I only hope that some day my energy comes back. I had all kinds of things I wanted to do with this time off, but I just don't feel up to much at all.

Anyway, just checking in - it's been a while.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

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I'm Back

I survived the surgery.

I was a little surprised when I woke up, to find that it was 5 hours later. I didn't think it was going to take that long.

They said everything went really well, although I look and feel a bit like Nearly Headless Nick (Harry Potter.) They didn't have to take all of my thyroid - I still have a bit of it left, for what that's worth.

I was looking forward to some R&R, but hubby is home and tearing the house apart.
He moved the family room around last night, and today he's in my craft room.
Good grief, how am I supposed to relax with all that going on?

I keep telling him just to go back to work, but he won't listen... LOL

The girls have been watching the earthquake/tsunami coverage 24-7.
It's a bit overwhelming.

I'm going to hole up in my room with a book.
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Tossing and Turning

Sleep has been evading me this week.

I'm not so much nervous about the surgery - it's all the little things I wanted to get done before hand. It's had me feeling anxious.

I only had one day to accomplish everything, and I'm going to miss the mark, but I did make some progress.

My paycheck was a disappointment this week too, I had to whittle down the expectations - a LOT, but it's all good...

Every time hubby leaves town, it seems that something breaks down.
Last week it was the washing machine and the internet/cable (no computer, no TV.)
This week, the heat in the basement quit. It's freezy down here - have to put on a coat to type. Brrrrr....

Speaking of cold - it snowed again this week. I can't complain - it's all my fault.
I mentioned the "S" word (Spring) way too soon, and jinxed things. Mother Nature is an evil being - she likes to play mind games on us in this region. And the so-called Spring season is her weapon of choice.

My little buddy is home for spring break, so we went on a little shopping spree on Monday. (Gathering up books & magazines to fill the recovery time.)

My mother and I used to take those little trips all the time, and she always took me to the same little greasy spoon for lunch. (It's a nice one, as junk food goes, clean, good service, etc.)

I took Jenny there one day when she was much younger, and told her about it - since then, she always asks to go there. It's kind of nice to have that little mother-daughter tradition carry over to the next generation. (And they have sweet potato fries! Yum.)

Today is a work day - and I work a little later than usual. Hubby is supposed to fly home tonight - not sure how we'll get him home from the airport. We are short a car this week - and mine is running on fumes.

We'll have to see how that one goes...
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Wishes and Fishes

It's Sunday again, and hubby is in the sky as we speak - flying back to the place of people and trees.

They offered him a job while he was out there last week, but like he said, if it were just he and I then, maybe, but that is just too far away to be from all of our kids. The grand kids would grow up without us, and that is unthinkable.

He would have stayed out there over the weekend, but he had to come back to lay off half his crew and to work his other job.

The lay-offs were not a surprise - they all knew it was coming. Still, it had to have been a sad parting - some of those people have been with the company since its beginnings.
...But, it seems, that all good things must end.

I was whining to my daughter last night about being the only unsuccessful member of my family. (Poor girl, she's stuck with me a lot lately.)
She said "Excuse me? ...and in what way is so-and-so successful?" Going through and naming names.

Okay, so maybe my life doesn't totally suck, but at least all those others have been able to be self supporting financially. All I can manage at present is 8 hours a week at minimum wage. Not exactly my hey-day.

I was laying in bed thinking about that this morning. At the height of my earning power, I still fell short of that.
I was working in the craft store by day, and painting samples for a tole painting publisher by night.

I loved that job. I think that's the only time I ever felt like I was really good at something. The hours were killer, but I loved what I was doing so it didn't matter.

The market fell through on that job, just as the scrapbooking one did.
That's the problem with working in a hobby related field - they phase in and phase out. Nothing is forever.

So here I sit. Having a mid-life crisis. Ha!

The sewing hobby is past tense for me, so there is no passion for my current job - and I refuse to even get into the jewelry thing...
There is no room in my house for another hobby.

Hence, I read.

I've been bullying hubby about being here for my surgery, but if you want to know the honest truth - I'm ok with him not being here. I won't be able to talk much, so I really don't want a lot of people hanging around making me feel like a total bore.

Last time I had surgery, the ladies in the ward brought in meals for almost a month. Every time they came over, they'd ask hubby how I was doing, and he'd make me come out to say 'hi'.
I felt like a freak in a side show. Ring the bell to see the gorilla and all that.
It was really uncomfortable.

All I need are some books, videos, a few small projects, and some pretty things to look at to cheer me and I'll be fine.

As you can see from my new header - spring is trying to make an
appearance here.

The majority of the snow has gone away, and what remains is dirty and gross and blends in with the ugly dead landscape.

But my tulips and hyacinths are poking their way through the debris, and soon (we can only hope) things will start greening up, and we'll have dashes of color here and there.

Life will go on, as it always does.

Ain't that grand?
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Thursday the Third

Another week fizzles to a close...

Hubby left early Monday morning, and I planned on just having quiet time at home - came down to check my email and found that my internet was gone.

I had a list of things I needed to do - emails to send, things to look up, lists to make... All filed under "no can do" without the computer. Frustrating.

I just finished all the books I've been reading, and the library didn't have any of the others on my list - really wasn't in the mood for housework, or artsy crafts - so I did a few errands.

I took the weekend movie rentals back to the rental place, and found signs plastered all over the windows "No longer renting - liquidation sale."
Are you kidding me? The only cheap entertainment in town?
Shocker.

I felt like my day was spinning it's way down the drain, so I decided to just get out of town.

Drove up to Borders and spent almost the entire day just looking at books and magazines. I shopped until way past lunch, gathered up a dozen or so treasures, talked myself out of them and put them all back...
(that's how I shop - don't laugh.)

I was starting to get shaky from hunger, so I made one quick purchase, and went in search of lunch - there had to be something there at the Riverwoods, right?
I drove around and looked - it was either Subway (Ick) or something exotic or expensive - nope, nothing here.

I drove through town - same thing. I did that all the way back to the home town, looking at options, then opting to find something closer to home.

I had decided just to grab a sandwich at Arby's, that I could just pick up and take home with me, but when I got to where it was, I decided why waste the money - I'll just go home and have toast & jam.
I'm not usually this cheap, but I'm living on hubby's savings this week, and feeling guilty about squandering.

The laugh was on me when I opened my big purchase, Country Living.
I browsed through the pages, thinking I had made the best choice, but when I got to the end my reaction was why did I choose this one again?

As far as I could tell, it was for just one picture that I saw and fell in love with - a huge full page spread of a flower. (It intrigued me, I want to try and paint it someday - there's often an imaginary painting involved...)

There had been 2 issues of Country Living on the magazine rack, and I wondered about that, but as I cruised the ads in the back, it became apparent - this one was the UK version. Everything there was priced in pounds.

...Anyway, that's what I get for making choices when all the sugar has drained from my brain.

Melissa laughed at me when I told her what I had done - she said "A Brittish magazine? How can you read it, it's in a foreign language!"

She's so silly. And thank goodness for her. She's my rock when hubby's away. I never worry when she's here - she reeks with awesomeness.
Her purse, car and room for that matter, are like Mary Poppins' bag. If you need it -(or not) - it's in there.

She worked as a night guard at a detention center while in college, so she is trained in street fighting. She knows what to do in any situation - earthquake, hurricane, volcano, zombie apocalypse - you name it, she knows how to survive it.



She also knows how best to comfort and entertain her mother. The other day, we were watching "When in Rome," and a thought came out of the blue - "I don't have any Italian fairy tales. (I've sort of been collecting them from other countries.) She held up a finger and went to her room - bringing back a HUGE volume of them. I should have known. ^.^
All that, and she's beautiful too... How lucky can I get?

I woke up this morning to see branches all over the lawn - the wind must have been crazy last night. Funny, I didn't hear a thing!

Today's a work day, and hubby flies home tonight.
I was so bummed when I talked to him last night - he said he has to go back next week! They haven't quite caught on to the system yet, and need more guidance.

Feeling heartsick (and a little... angry.) How much does he owe this company who is cutting him loose in a matter of weeks?

I told him that if he's not here for my surgery, not to bother coming back.
That may have been a bit extreme, and of course I didn't mean it - just lashing out after a long year of loneliness and feeling - well, abandoned while he took care of his brother and his dad - it's not my turn yet? Really?

Oy. What are ya gonna do? ...He'll be here, but just barely.

Been checking up on the youngest daily - she seems to be doing okay.
I guess what doesn't kill you does make you stronger. She's a survivor.
Thank goodness.

So thankful for all of them today.

Today would have been my mom's birthday - she would have been 90 something.
Happy Birthday mom - wherever you are. I miss you.

*My sister just reminded me that mom's birthday is the 8th, not the third...
Good grief - I can't believe I got that wrong - how embarrassing >.<
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March One

What a strange and disappointing month February has been.

Kicking it to the curb...


All of us were sick, vacation canceled, work cut backs, and hubby got sent back East by his company ...to train the person who is taking his job away from him.

Not only that, but when he arrived there, he found that his company hadn't pre-paid his room, so he had to max out his card for it, and he hasn't been able to have a meal since this morning.
He had to call his supervisor (from here) and have her wire him some money from petty cash to get him through the week

Niiiiice.

It snowed some more the last two days, and has been so cold, adding to the misery of being stuck at home instead of on vacation in the desert as we had planned. Everyone was able to get it off but hubby, so it was a no-go.
(This is exactly why we Taylor's avoid planning things - they never work out.)
...It's just as well though, it snowed in the desert too. We would have just been stuck in a motel room all weekend driving each other nuts.

My poor baby has had an awful month too - breakup, love triangle, lies, deceit backstabbing and betrayal - and that was only on Wednesday.
I had the hardest time sending her back there after this weekend. I don't know how she'll make it to the end of the semester. She still has to live with the... little darling. *ooozes sarcasm* [former friend and room mate.]

Holy crud.


On the upside - we celebrated my oldest grand daughter's birthday on Sunday.
She turns 9 today.
(We celebrated early because grandpa had to leave today.)
Where did that time go? I still remember so clearly the day she was born.
She's awesome, and a kindred spirit.



Make a Wish...

I saw the throat specialist today, and am scheduled to fall among his team of cut-throats on the tenth. (Thyroid-ectomy)
The lady who scheduled the surgery for me said that she had the same procedure exactly 25 years ago today. She said that she survived it and is still kicking - (and I scanned her neck and couldn't see a scar.)
Maybe it won't be so bad after all...

Doc says the recovery time should only be a week or two.

Anywho - Melissa drove her sister back to school for me tonight, so I sat here alone and watched "Ghost Whisperer" until she got back.
That was probably a bad idea.
Not so much that it scared me - it's just that it's been such a weird week, and the episodes I watched were so gut-wrenching emotional.

Now I'll have to stay up and see something funny so I can go to sleep.

My month in a nutshell - March can only go up from here.

*Knock Wood*
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