Hectic Day

I must say that yesterday proved to be a most hectic day for me. I began with my scheduled yearly doctor's appointment. That went well.. except for what I weighed on the scales... would you believe with my boots, socks, shirt, pants, and jacket I weighed 10 lbs. more on the doctor's scales? And we won't even go there. The funny thing is that it did not even upset me. I know that the lack of exercise has had an impact on my weight, but it is what it is.. and I have been too distracted with my cleanout activities to be focused on my exercise. But I will... soon!

So, I went out to our hunting camp, 669, because I am hosting my unome (you know me) girlfriends this weekend. There are supposed to be 9 of us in attendance, but there will probaby only be 8 (more about that later). I got out there and began one chore, and then saw.. oh I need to do this.. and that went on and on. I cleaned the bathroom as well as moving all of dh's toiletries. You see there is one bathroom and we will need all the counterspace. I cleaned and cleaned out the refrigerator- new fun food coming tonight! I had already changed the four beds upstairs in the loft. It was done last week. I changed the sheets on the queen and the two twins downstairs. I straightened the kitchen cupboards. I decluttered the mantle. I swept the entire cabin, as well as the front and back porch. I removed all the Bowhunter, The Rifleman, Duck's Unlimited, and Fish and Game magazines. I had so many interruptions ( more on that later). So let me just finish while I am on the subject of 669 telling what I have to do out there today. I plan to cook my sausage and put together my breakfast casserole for tomorrow. I am going to vacuum the rug out there. I am taking more coffee cups and another coffee pot. I am taking some "girl" magazines- Fitness and Southern Living as well as a few inspirational books. And also some fun DVD's like Mamma Mia, Baby Mama, and The Holiday (my new favorite DVD). So all of that should not take me too long.

Okay, about all of my interruptions. My granddaughter went to the ER two weeks ago and had the croup. She has not bee back to daycare but maybe one or two days since then. Her croup got better, but she came down with a stomach virus. It was not a continual vomiting and diarrhea, but she would vomit maybe once a day and the diarrhea stopped. Along with her sickness, my daughter also had a cold. So my dd goes to the doctor yesterday and gets antibiotics and a steroid shot. Meanwhile her dh and her mil (who has been taking care of gd) let her know that after she left, d gd vomited again and after her dr. appt. the doctor wanted her in the hospital for IV fluids due to dehydration. So... off to the ER they went again. They spent all day in the ER with the baby having an IV in her arm (it took 3 x). They hoped to come home, but since it took so long for her to have a wet diaper, they were told they had to stay the night. So while I am cleaning, I am going back and forth with her with texts and phone calls. I could not be there because I am hosting my gf. And I could cancel except that one is flying from Midland and two are driving from Houston. The rest live nearby. And then... I get a text from the one that I said will probably not be with us tonight-her hours old newborn granddaughter is not breathing well, and they are life-flighting her to Houston. So I am texting all the unomes back and forth telling them about this. I was praying all day long for these babies as well as parents and doctors and nurses.

So tonight's agenda is to go to the nearby university and see the Beatles impressionists called Liverpool Legends. We are all so funny and corny. We found these Beatles tshirts that are the picture of them on their first album- Meet the Beatles. We are all wearing them tonight. I will certainly include a photo later of this. Oh yeah.. also, I told my friends we would all get a photo made to go on "the honored wall" at 669. We will all wear camo for that. I told them not to buy any but to bring a shirt if they had one. Well... after cleaning up out there and investigating, we are like a Cabela's store- camo tshirts, sweat shirts, jackets, coats, pants, waders, caps, and gloves- you name it, we have it! I will include that photo later too.

Okay, time to get moving and start my busy day. Please keep all of these in your prayers.

My Retirement Thus Far

Okay, so my retirement began officially on December 30. Since I only worked on Tues and Wed, that was my last Wed to work. You could say that I am now starting my 4th week of being retired. Everyone keeps asking me, " How do you like retirement?" Honestly... I have not gotten into that mode of thinking yet. I can say that right now I am definitely not enjoying it because I have had so many unforeseen and stressful events come into my life. I mentioned the car accident and my grandbaby going to the ER. I had to take my mom to the doctor last Monday. I was able to get up in the attic at my house and bring down all the "banana boxes" that were stored with all kinds of things. I think I did that on Monday and Tuesday. Well, on Wednesday, I was getting a cough. And also, I pulled my back out when I thought I was quite strong enough to lift that third seat in my suburban all by myself. So I had a pulled back and a hacking cough. I planned to go to Galveston to meet with the contractor who is putting our beach condo back together. I also was able to deliver the paintings to my uncle's house that my mom was giving to my cousins. Yea!! getting stuff cleaned out and organized.
I called a friend who lost their beach house at Crystal Beach. She drove down from Sugarland and we were able to meet early. It was truly a business trip because I was going back and forth to the condo and Home Depot... making decisons. It did not take me long to spend 2K on new appliances. We went to my favorite local restaurant - Shrimp and Stuff. I had the boiled shrimp po-boy and some gumbo. The gumbo had a thick rue.. almost like a stew... which is not what I prefer. I like my gumbo more watery. We had time to go and see her lot near San Luis Pass. They decided to rebuild there instead of Crystal Beach. By the time we finished with talking to the contractor and viewing several condos at Seascape and running our errands, we had spent the afternoon. We stayed at the Comfort Suites which was very nice. It was also great because we could walk to the movie theatre. We decided to eat down at the dock at Fisherman's Wharf. I was in such a mood for some good fresh fish. I had the grilled red snapper with mixed vegetables and rice. I also had two glasses of Pinot Grigio. It was a great dinner. So we made it back in time to see two movies. We saw "Leap Year" which was cute, but quite predictable. And then we saw "The Lovely Bones." I had heard this was a good movie. Well... definitely not my kind of movie. I may read the book as I heard it was good.. but then again, if I did not like the movie, chances are that I will not like the book either. However, let me just say the young girl who played Susie Salmon did an excellent job. Now I am not going to spoil this for you, but there was a time when she was in a place that she regretfully knew she should not be in. This young actress made you feel the fear that she was having. It was an outstanding performance by this young girl. So.. it was midnight when we got out of the movies. We got back to the hotel.. talked a little, watched a little TV and were asleep by about 1:30. We were up early for our continental breakfast, and I was on the road back home by a little after 9:00 a.m. on Friday.

So Friday, I was feeling tired and still had my cough. Not only did I inhale all that dust in my attic, but also in the various condos due to the residue from the tile jobs we went in. So I got a double whammy of dust in the lungs. So I made a few stops on the way home- fabric stores and my favorite Mexican restaurant- lunch portion of chicken fajitas ( I only ate half) with some beans, rice, onions, and corn tortillas. I am still wondering why I did not get any guacamole, but that was fine with me. Friday evening I had some gf come by as my dh was at the hunting camp. We visited, watched part of a movie, and they went home.

Saturday morning, I moved slow.. still not feeling very well, joints kinda hurting, but not sick. I took about 15-20 more boxes to the recycling bin. Then I, along with faithful dog Roxy, proceeded to our hunting camp (669). My plan was to begin getting it ready for this coming weekend when my unomes came to visit. There will be 9 of us staying. But instead I layed on the couch. Then it hit me... fever, chills, headache, neckache, backache, ankles and feet and knees - you name it. I felt terrible. I went in and took a hot bath because that always makes me feel better. And it did. I held off on the Advil. Germs are being killed when your temperature elevates so I just kept telling myself that there was a battle going on in my body. I had extra clothes on along with a blanket. DH had cooked homemade venison chili, and I did eat that. All we had to drink was a Big Red, Shasta grape or Shasta creme soda. What a choice! I took the grape and later a big glass of cold water with a half of lemon. So I was kinda feeling better, and then it hit me again. Oh gosh... I am thinking.. I have some kind of flu. No stopped up or runny nose, but the aches.. ohhhhhhhhhh. So I decided I would take another bath. And while I was in the tub, I had dh get me extra wash cloths so I could put a hot one on my chest, on the back of my neck, and on my forehead. He made fun of me!! argh#@!!!! So I decided right then and there, no sympathy from you.. I am going home. I was not mad, just was feeling bad. However, after taking the bath, I took two Advil, loaded up the car and went home so I could lay on a heating pad and if need be walk around the house all night. And if I could not sleep I had cable, movies, and FB and the internet. Yesterday was spent laying around all day in the bed with the heating pad. Today I would have done the same, but I HAD to get a birthday card off to my sister who has a birthday tomorrow. And she will probably not get the card until Wednesday. So I did feel better- good enough to go to several places that I needed to go. I still have the cough and the backache. The rest of my body is feeling better. But I will say one thing... doing core exercises will stop you from pulling your back out. I have not done mine in over 5 weeks, and it is certainly obvious. Tomorrow I have to go to town to have blood work because I have my annual checkup on Thursday. I plan to get up early and make it there since I have to fast. Since I will be out early I will make the dreaded Walmart run to get some additional plastic bins. I am slowly getting all the stuff organized that I want to keep. There will be little going back in my attic because I do not want to continue climbing that ladder. It will just have to be nice and organized in the garage. So... there you have it. As soon as I am up to par.. it is back to exercise for me. Gosh.. it makes a difference!

Okay, I was quite the chatter today... I guess I should have written this in several installments.

Movie, Book, and Wreck

I had a friend of mine loan me the book "The Help". I know that should be underlined, but I am not sure how to do that on the computer. This book is written in first person by three women during the early 1960's. Two of the women are black and are "maids" to the white women of Jackson, Mississippi. No offense meant by the word maid... this was just what they were referred to as. Today we say housekeepers. But back then they were a maid.. or should I say handmaiden. Because they were so much more than a housekeeper. They not only cleaned the house, but they washed and ironed, cooked the meals, and served as a nanny to the children. Okay, back to the story.. the other person's view is written by a young white woman desiring to be a writer. She is sympathetic to the civil rights' of African -Americans, especially to black women. I will not relay anymore of the book so that I do not spoil it for you. I liked the book- I grew up during this time.. in the south, and yes, we had a "maid". I wondered if my white family behaved like some of these white families in the book.

Okay, I usually do not go to R rated movies. But I was assured this one did not have bad language in it. Well... there might have been a few bad words. The dialog was very adult and sex talk. There was a scene showing Alec Baldwin's exposed rear. But the movie not only had humor, but I thought had some depth. It showed the effects of divorce.. on the spouse that was left, the grown children still reeling from the effects, and even the one who was at fault who is now truly on the outside looking in. Any person considering divorce should see this movie and think much deeper about their lives, the lives the divorce will effect, and not just about the here and now.

I will soon be back to my exercise program. Just alot going on here at my house. My college son is here.. and when I say here.. I not only mean here at my house, but I mean here on this earth. He and some companions were in a terrible wreck last Friday night. The vehicle hit some ice and rolled 3 times. My son was sent to ER and only had glass in his scalp. I could have been receiving the news from the DPS that every parent hopes they never hear. Thank you Lord for being merciful to my family.

I will soon be back to my exercise. Needless to say, this has been an emotional time for all of my family. I went for a walk a couple of times last week, and also today. I plan to get myself back on schedule soon. Maybe I will be walking, maybe jogging, maybe P90X, or maybe a new video by Jillian. I have been working on my healthy eating now- no Dr. Pepper, drinking more water. I know what I need to do, so I better get 'er done!!!!