My How Time Flies

Holy Smokes,I just realized how long it's been since I posted last. Sorry about that!

We have received the check from Progressive Insurance and Rick has already gone out and found himself a truck-he's getting a 2003 Dodge Ram. He is suppose to pick it up today. He is doing well,his shoulder is still a tad stiff,but fine.

The Plague seems to have abated and everyone seems to be healthy. We had quite the Arctic blast here for a few days. Temps with the wind chill went below zero for a couple of days,and in the teens a for a couple more.I am thankful for the wood stove,because we ran out of fuel (our oil tank's gauge is broken).Our tank is outside,so we have to use the mix,which is a bit more expensive. We had the tank filled yesterday,and the driver told us the last time we had it filled was in Sept.Four months is pretty good,considering I have heard of folks who have gone through a tank in a month's time.

The other night was gorgeous-at least,looking through a window in a warm house! It was bitter cold,but the moon was as bright as day.It reminded me of the section in "By The Shores Of Silver Lake" when Laura and Carrie go outside to follow the moon path and wind up going all the way to a wolves den...and seeing a big old wolf. I could see wanting to be outside in the bright moonlight. Of course,it was -12F at our house,and no amount of brilliant moonlight could persuade me to go for a stroll outside!

Zach has a two hour delay from school this AM. Last night we got some snow and freezing rain,so the school district showed some good judgement and delayed opening.

Yesterday I picked up a couple of cross stitch embroidery projects. I was hoping to find a book for beginners for reference,but Ben Franklin's didn't have what I was looking for.I picked a couple of patterns that came with thread,needle,and instructions. I bought an embroidery hoop. It should be interesting. I would love to design my own sheets and pillowcases with embroidery and lace/edging.

I have made a master list of things that need to get done around the house,and have posted only two things:

1) Move all the stuff from the bedroom into the garage that is in the garage pile

2)Measure old ladder and space in front of the kitchen window to see if a pot rank is feasible.

I have been thinking about how I want the bedroom,and I keep coming back to the colors white,turquoise,and green.

The other day we went out to gather eggs,and found these two specimens:

Monster egg and baby egg!!! The baby egg was the size of a robin's egg. We don't know why,but we did lose one of our Girls. Rick went into the coop and found her dead. There was no blood or anything like that,so the other chickens didn't gang up her or anything like that. It looks like she just died. Poor Girl.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Totaled

The truck has been officially totaled by our insurance company,Progressive. If anyone out there is looking for an insurance company,we are very pleased and impressed with Progressive,even if we haven't spoken directly to Flo ;)

We should be receiving a check for the truck either today or tomorrow,and we were quite happy to learn that,with the exception of five hundred dollars to cover the deductible,we will be getting back  what we paid for it. Rick has been online checking out trucks to replace it with. He is doing much better. His left shoulder is still stiff,but overall he is much much better. Thankfully he had his seat belt on!!!

I am feeling better,still have a bit of a cough and tiredness,but I am feeling more like my old self. I even drove for the first time in almost two weeks on Sunday morning to grab a few items at the supermarket. It's amazing how things fall apart when the woman of the house is down and out. Apparently,I am the only human in the house who knows how to clean a toilet,though I am not the only one who uses one. ( Can you hear the sarcasm in my type?) Seriously though,it takes me to be sick for an extended period of time to realize how much I do and how,in all honesty,I am the glue that holds the household together. I am not saying that dishes,sweeping,or laundry didn't get done. Certainly the Menfolk did care of the basics,of course,but it was just the basics (well,most of them,anyway).

I look around and I can see that things just aren't homey when I am not on task. Stuff doesn't get put away. Things don't get wiped. Dust accumulates. Bear in mind,I am not the perfect homemaker by any stretch,but at least I dust! :)

Right now,our bedroom is in a state of flux. We began cleaning out our closets. Rick did a great job,winding up with three bags of trash and three bags of clothes to donate. He was also able to put some things that he wanted to keep up in the attic. However,I fell ill before he could get the pile that needs to go into the garage actually into the garage,and he didn't want to disturb me by going in and out lugging stuff,which I appreciate. Then of course,he fell ill for a couple of days,then he he was in the accident,and too stiff to move the stuff out.Now,however,he is feeling better as well as I,so we will be able to get back on track very soon.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!

Ailments and Accidents

I am here,still fighting the plague,though as of today I am feeling a bit better. It all began a week ago Tuesday night. I wasn't feeling right,and during the night,my body started aching terribly and I felt wiped out. The aches lasted a day or two,and I have had a fever ranging from 99.3-100 since then.  I have had off and on again stomach upset,coughing,congestion,some stuffiness and sinus pressure. My head feels like it's stuffed with cotton. The first few days I slept a lot. I am usually up in the AM,but wind up back in bed within a few hours. I was hoping to avoid it,but alas,it found me. 

Yesterday was a scary day. It was snowing and the roads were slick. Rick was going to Union to the convenience store when his truck (which was in four wheel drive and he was going slowly) hit a patch of ice on the incline of small hill,and the truck spun out,went off the road,down a small embankment,rolled onto it's roof,landed in a small stream,and turned back over onto the drivers side. Luckily,there were fellow drivers who saw the whole thing and came running over to see if he was OK,and to help him get out of the truck. He called the house,and Brother B answered the phone. He borrowed our neighbors truck and went down to the accident scene and sat with Rick until the police and the ambulance showed up. Rick called back and spoke to me,and told me he was OK,but they wanted to admit him just in case he hit his head,because he couldn't remember if he had or not. ( He was wearing a seat belt).

The truck,from what Rick remembered,had a dent on the roof,on the drivers door,a broken window and smashed drivers side mirror.

They brought him down to Frisbee Memorial Hospital in Rochester,with Brother B following him. I was  too sick to go. They ran a CAT scan,and everything was fine. His left side-arm,leg,back,shoulder,and neck- was very sore,and they were considering xrays in case he broke anything,but they determined that he was OK.They gave him some morphine at the hospital,and a prescription for some heavy duty ibuprofen and some Oxycodone to help with the pain. He was home within 5 hours.

He got the name and numbers of the witnesses in case he needed them for any legal issues (though they gave their statements to the police-they all said he was not speeding and the truck just lost control) as well as wanting them so he could thank them for helping him out. 

One of our police friends,who showed up at the accident,called Rick last night to see how he was doing,which I thought was nice.

Rick is talking to our insurance company right now.Hopefully the truck can be fixed. I haven't seen it,and Rick can't recall how bad it really is. He and Brother B are going to where it was towed to take photos after he speaks with the insurance company.

Stay safe and stay healthy,where ever you are on the Lovely Planet!

Got The Plague

I have been stricken with the Plague. It started last night-scratchy throat,and my body aches all over.  I slept very poorly. You probably won't hear much from me,but I do have things to tell.

Stay healthy!

Delays Are OK

Yesterday we had planned to begin the reorganization of our closets/decluttering of our bedroom. Rick wanted to go out hunting in the morning (coyote) first,which was fine. He told me Saturday night that he was going to go out early and we would get started on the bedroom when he came back. I said that was fine,but I did want to start by late morning at the very latest. I am one of those people who cannot begin a project in the middle of the afternoon. I feel the day has already gone by. He replied that he would be back by then. No problem.

Sunday morning,when I woke up,he was laying in his recliner still in his PJ's at 7:30 AM. I asked him if he was going to go hunting,and he said no,he changed his mind. Around 9:00 AM,he changed it again and said that he wanted to go,just for a little while,and we would start when he got back. OK,no problem again. By 10:00,he was gone with Brother B.

They came back around 12:00. Apparently,Rick had slipped on some ice on a dirt road,wrenched his shoulder,hurt his back, and dislocated his right thumb. He said he had to lay down for a while. He usually does take a nap after going hunting or working outside. He said he would be up by 2:30. I knew,of course,that he was not going to feel like doing anything afterwards,because he would be mighty sore from the fall,and I would not want to start a project of that size at that time of day.When he woke up,I was learning how to crochet a snowflake. No organizing for us.

Much of what goes on ( or doesn't go on) around here centers around how Rick is feeling,like I mentioned in my previous post. Of course,he took a nasty fall and hurt himself,which is out of the ordinary.I don't blame him for wanting to lay down-I would've done the same. 

When we plan things,I have to be flexible. I never know what kind of day Rick will have. He could have a great motivated day, a real up and at 'em-or it could be a day where he takes a long time to get going. In this case,it was a bit of lack of motivation, a touch of taking a long time to get out into the woods,and the rarity of getting hurt.

I have learned over time that I have to roll with each day. Things will get done,I just cannot keep beating over the head with it. I can certainly encourage and remind him of things,but I cannot push him. 

Today he is all fired up and ready to go. He has run to the store with Brother B  to get some storage bins so we can begin. I better get myself going as well!

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!

I 

Welcome To The New Year!

I hope everyone had fabulous holidays,whatever you celebrated!

We had a very nice Christmas. We got Zach a Kindle Fire so he could get all the books he wants.His room is small,so it saves room. He has been reading and watching "The Walking Dead" on it. That was his big gift of the year.He also got a few video games,a movies,some clothes,and some flavored hot chocolate.

I was down and out for a few days during Christmas break,thankfully after Christmas. Mother Nature decided to visit,and it was horrible. I lived on extra strength Midol and Advil Migraine for two days. It's been years,if ever,since I had such a bad time. Terrible cramps,migraine headaches,and feeling exhausted. I was in bed for two days. I finally got better just in time for New Years,thankfully!

I made no resolutions this year,as I never keep them. I am just going to keep on working on everything I am already working on. I know I will face set backs,but I am human and I will not let it get me down. It's easy when you see a brand new year stretched out in front of you to make all kinds of promises to yourself,but I know my track record.I throw myself all in, am diligent for a couple of months,then it all falls to pieces. Since Thanksgiving,I haven't done too much,but now that things are back to normal,I am in the swing again. Rick has not had much motivation,and he has admitted as much,so we have planned a couple of jobs around the house to get his feet wet again. I have come to grips with the fact that it will take a long time to get some things around here done,and that is OK. We are not going anywhere,so if it takes another 6 months to finish the kitchen,so be it. We are not trying to impress anyone,and I know my family and friends understand.Rick and I discussed getting him back in to the swing of things,and I am going to to make a list of what needs to be done to finish the kitchen and other things around the house,but I am not going to display the whole list as in the past. He finds that too overwhelming and it makes him feel rushed. So I am going to post one job at a time in order of importance.We are going to start small. Some of these things I am capable of doing,but you have to understand that Rick sees me doing a project that he was suppose to do and it makes him react negatively. " I told you I was going to do that,don't do it," he will say. He gets annoyed and frustrated,and he feels like like failure. This is why some things are taking so very long.

Most of my Christmas decorations are down,with the exception of our tree and some garland in the house,plus my outdoor decorations. Today,the tree decorations are coming down,and the garland.I will leave the outdoor decorations up a few more days.I will make a list of anything I need to replace or get more of ( like my popcorn tree garland) so I remember to get it next year.

Rick and I are embarking on a project very soon.It's not a huge one,but it should make things a bit smoother for him and help make our bedroom a bit better. I will post about that later in a post that I will call " A Tale of Two Closets."

Here's to a wonderful 2013!

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!