...since I've posted anything. A long long time. But it can be taken that things have been going good, or I've been too tired to sit and type. I've had a few of those days lately. And it could take awhile for me to get this all finished since I'm rarely allowed to sit for any length of time either because Gabby's bugging me or I get distracted with other things like housework and such.

I've finally started reading again. When I had Talina, I didn't have time to do much reading until she could read and I had more time. From time to time, I'd read; mostly Stephen King books since I was in the club to get his books. Of course, they took quite awhile for me to read. When I started working, I found that I didn't have enough time to do any quality reading. And now that Gabby other things to play with that don't always require my attention, I've found myself with time to read again. Over the last month, I've read 2 books, both of which I absolutely loved. The first one is "Good in Bed" by Jennifer Weiner and the other is "The other Boleyn girl" bu Phillipa Gregory. This last book really caught my interest and when I was finished with it, I searched the internet for more information on Mary and Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII along with his other wives and a few other people I came across in the book. There's been a movie made from the book but I've yet to locate it. The first book I mentioned was one of those that I could not put down. And after I was finished with it, I went to the author's website here. I found that she'd written a few other books and that there would be a sequel to the one I'd just read. It came out on April 8th, so it's still quite new.

A couple of weeks ago, I got caught up in a bunch of links. I thought I would share some with you.

• The Official U.S. Time - This site is great if you have clocks around your house that all tell different times, and a great way to know exactly what time it is.

• Time Ticker - Not that everyone needs one of these but it's awfully nice to have when you have friends outside of the U.S.


• Truth or Fiction - email reality check. You know how you sometimes get emails and you wonder whether or not they're the truthful kind or not? Well, wonder no more! You can find out if it's truth or fiction on this website.


• Top Websites--Most Visited Websites--Website Ranking - Ever wondered how popular a website is? This site ranks the top million websites (with Live Journal coming in at 905)


•  Random website dot com - I absolutely love this site. I sat for hours clicking "randomlink"; it was most addicting. And you find all kinds of sites, sort of like "Stumble-Upon".

When I was finding all these links, I kept thinking that I would post them because some of them are fun, some useful, some not. But I have one more for you, especially if you like reading, music or movies. The name of the site is Swaptree. It's a fairly new site and although it seems similar to other websites that sell books (not Amazon.com or those, but personal "stores" for people to sell their wares on), nothing is sold here. Everything is for trade. Check it out. I'm a member and have already traded a book I have for a book I wanted. The only thing you pay for is postage.

One of my LJ friends, tawneelynne, decided that she would take a "road trip" for various reasons. Her first stop on her journey was my place of residence. We've known each other online for a couple of years now, and it's the first time I've met an LJ'er in real life. She came in on Wednesday night and left very early Saturday morning; continuing east on her journey. While she was here, she took some pictures of Gabby and myself which she posted on her Flickr account. Of course, more were taken of Gabby than me, but that's okay with me. Although Tawnee said otherwise, I feel that I'm not good picture-taking material. She did get a couple of good ones, though. And here they are: (These were all taken by Tawnee and I've used her captions.)



I showed Tawnee some of the jewelry I made and she took this necklace and photographed it for me. It sure made it look great!


I quit smoking again and I'm having a harder time at it than before, but I'm carrying on. Mike also quit and so did Talina. Let's hope I'm not the one who starts first.  *grin* 

And, in case I don't post again real soon, let me say "Happy Mother's Day" to all mothers on my flist.

Nope, I shouldn't brag about how good I'm feeling. Because right now, I feel down (not depressed, though) and achy as all get out. I haven't even done anything--no heavy lifting nor too much standing. It's even been a good day with Gabby. But my back and legs are aching and no amount of pain meds get rid of that. It absolutely sucks!

I find I'm also tired and not very hungry although I haven't even eaten anything since breakfast. It's hard to make a meal when you're not hungry, but since I know I don't have to eat, I don't mind too much. I'm cooking for Mike and Gabby (she'll be here for a couple more hours).

Speaking of Gabby, she's been doing a lot of laying around today, not being the ornery little turd she usually is everyday and quiet for the most part, too.

Mike went to work today, the first time since about 2 weeks before his surgery. He's a little sore, but told me he was feeling that way a bit before he left for work this morning.

Edit: Talina came and picked up Gabby before dinner was done, which was unexpected. However, there will be leftovers!

I'm done for the day. It's time to try and get comfortable.

Although it wasn't everything I expected (as I generally don't expect anything), my weekend turned out rather well. It was a weekend of "firsts". (I realize that doesn't even sound good, but believe me, when you've had weekends like mine have been lately, I wasn't quite sure how that first sentence should be put--my weekends are pretty lazy with me feeling like crap and that's what I expected. Hope I made that clear *grin*)

For the first time in 5 years, Mike didn't forget my birthday. Talina's birthday was last week, and knowing that, he knew mine would be coming next. He asked me what day it was (he has a hard time remembering birthdays except his own, his mom's and a few others) and of course I told him. But I never really expected him to remember.

I was hoping to have the whole weekend off from babysitting, but Talina was asked to work on Saturday. She had gone out the night before with her "sister/best friend" and ended up closing the bar down--not that they meant to. She didn't get to work until about 3pm which is about the time she dropped off Gabby. Earlier, Mike had asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday and we'd decided to go out for dinner. I wasn't sure we'd make it though, not knowing when Talina would be back to pick up Gabby and the fact that I kept falling asleep, even with Gabby saying "Grandma, Grandma!". (We had decided to have the dinner Saturday since it was Easter on Sunday, and we didn't want to get caught up in the crowds at a restaurant. I don't remember any time in my life when my birthday and Easter were on the same day.)

Talina came back around 4:30 or so and took Gabby back home. We decided there was plenty of time to go eat, at which time he asked me where I wanted to go. I kept thinking of this shrimp dinner I'd eaten a few weeks ago (right before his surgery) and told him that was what I wanted. When we got to the restaurant, there was a line of people waiting to be seated. I was willing to wait as well, so we parked, went in and reserved our seating. We waited about 15 minutes before we sat down. We both knew what we wanted and ordered right away.

Dinner was awesome. I had grilled shrimp over a bed of rice, baked potato and salad, along with dinner rolls with honey butter. I shared some of my shrimp with Mike and he shared some of his steak with me. I stuffed myself. I wasn't about to let any of it go to waste. When we got home, I ate a bowl of ice cream and promptly went to the couch to fall asleep.

Sunday, I went over to Talina's. As I took off my shirt/coat and sat down, Talina disappeared into the kitchen. Not more than a minute later, she returned to the living room, singing happy birthday to "grandma" (Gabby was supposed to help, but I think she didn't know the words). Then she handed me a chocolate cupcake with orange frosting and a candle to blow out. Of course, she had to make sure it was above Gabby and told her it was my candle to blow out. Gabby loves blowing out candles of all kinds.

The rest of Sunday was peaceful. I played on the computer and started another beading project which will, when it's done, be hung on the wall. I also strung a necklace last week. If I could just figure out the best way to photograph the things I've made, I'd put them up here for all to see. I guess I'll just have to work on that.

*************************************

I had intended on writing a post before the weekend came around but for now, I'll let it pass. Let's just say that every now and then, I realize some of the things that are going on with me and why I get so depressed like I do. But when I'm feeling good, like I am today, it's just not something I feel like writing about. It could put me back in that emotional state once again. I won't risk my good feelings for that. I'm sure that sooner or later, I will write it. One thing I can say though is that I've realized the morphine has a lot to do with it. More and more I think about getting off the morphine, but knowing what I do about withdrawing from it, it scares me. I just don't trust my doctor enough to let her take care of me while I'm doing it. Of course, I may have to go back on it if the pain is severe enough without it. Yech!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Happy Easter, my friends. (I realize this is a couple of days early, but better early than not at all!  *grin*)

I've put this behind a cut as the picture is quite large...

I've been quite neglectful in wishing Happy Birthday's to my friends here. I don't mean to be. I just never seem to have the time, nor the privacy to sit down and type. It always takes a bit of time for me to get a post written. I can start out early in the morning, and by the time it gets posted, it's late in the evening. I feel like I'm always running this way and that, and never feel like I've gotten much accomplished. So, I'd like to wish all my friends a Happy Birthday, belated or early. I've always been bad at that, even in real life. By the time I remember someone's birthday, it's usually too late to do anything.

I haven't been feeling good the last few days. The pain in my back has increased some. If I did what I was told (by one of my previous doctors, whom I adore), I'd have a very sedentary lifestyle. I'm not supposed to lift more the 10 pounds, no bending or stooping and things of that nature. And for the most part, just doing everyday things requires me to do those things. My back lets me know when I've overdone something. Going grocery shopping is one of the things I pay for in increased pain. But I've been considering trying to go off the morphine just to see how I would feel without it. Unfortunately, it's not something I can do alone. It would take constant supervision by a doctor (and I really don't trust mine that much) and possibly hospitalization (and without medical benefits, that could prove quite costly). The morphine has one side effect that is extremely irritating to me, but I've been able to put up with it. It's a decision I haven't made yet.

My left knee is also bothering me worse than it ever has. I can't kneel on the floor easily. It's slow-going all the way around. And when I do manage to get on my knees (mostly for Gabby's sake), it's rather hard to get up without having to hold onto something for support. I know I have arthritis in my knees, but somewhere inside, I have some inflammation. Bending that left knee causes quite a bit of pain. Stretching out my leg also causes the same discomfort. I've never taken medication for it and I still won't ask for any. I don't know what medicines are safe anymore when it comes to arthritis.

I did start taking my vitamins again.  Thanks again, Dovey, for the advice. I only hope I can notice some difference soon.

Gabby is doing well in some areas and not so well in others. We're still having issues with the potty-training. Some days it's not a problem to get her into the bathroom and on the toilet. Other days, she'll flat out refuse to have anything to do with it. Mom and I are both working on it. She's still rather ornery, pushing her luck when she's told not to do something. It's like she's got to have the last word (or to do one more time whatever it is that's she's been told not to do). However, she has gained more knowledge in reading, writing, and spelling as well as being able to sound out words on her own. She's also learning to add numbers. She's always asking "How do you spell ....?" And of course, we'll spell it for her. She loves to draw and paint (I got her some watercolors--she always wants to paint) and she does quite well. She loves to dance and she has good rhythm. As soon as she's finally potty-trained, Talina is going to get her into dance classes. She's also growing out of all her clothes. Thank goodness the warm weather will be coming soon. It's easier to make shorts than it is pants.

Mike is recovering well from his surgery. It's been 3 weeks now, and although he still can't do some things, he's getting around a lot better. He's even started riding his bike again. He's been stuck in the house for nearly a month now and it's driving him crazy. I'm glad he's able to ride, but he still has to be careful where he goes so that he doesn't push himself and end up with a setback. He thought he would heal faster, but he never realized that his age was catching up to him until now. He's hoping to go back to work in a week or so.

I'm feeling quite tired today. I forgot to take my sleep meds last night because I kept falling asleep while watching tv, and I figured I would be fine today. But it's just not so. I don't get "good" sleep if I don't take it. So, I think I'm going to have some breakfast (probably a big bowl of cereal), put in a movie and see what happens. If I don't get to watch it all the way through, at least I have it until Wednesday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Be careful of all that green beer. Take care and I'll try to write again soon.

Today in the US and yesterday in Australia would have been Fiona's 26th birthday. Even though she passed away last year, I still find it hard to think of her as not "being here" anymore. I haven't deleted anything concerning her: our emails, her name on my chat programs, not even from my "friends list" here on LJ. I just can't delete her from my life yet. I admired her in so many ways. She was a "fighter"; she never gave up no matter how hard things got. She rarely, if at all, had a bad thing to say about anyone. I still remember her voice; that Australian accent she had. We had talked on the phone a couple of times; talked about all kinds of things. I miss everything about her. I hope she knows how much she meant to me. 

The weather has been pretty nice lately; we had temperatures in the 50's most of the week. On Friday, it was in the 60's. On Saturday, we broke a record of temperatures in the 70's. When I woke up Sunday morning, we had almost blizzard conditions. It's quite cold this morning, but warm enough to be able to go outside for a few minutes. Last weekend, we'd also had a little bit of snow. I'd noticed some strange "tracks" in the snow that weren't from cats or dogs (there are dogs in the park, but they're rarely seen running around). It wasn't until a couple of nights ago that I realized who the tracks belonged to: a raccoon. I haven't seen them around for a long time. The skunks have been coming back around as well.

You're probably wondering why I have a Billy Joel icon. He's not only one of my favorite artists, but I got to go to a concert on Thursday. I won the tickets from one of our local radio stations. And believe it or not, I had a hard time finding someone willing to go. I asked Stephanie first, as I always do. She was all excited to go. By the time Thursday came around, she'd called me to tell me, barring unforeseen complications, that she would definitely go. That is, until I reiterated who we were going to see. For some reason (and I don't know how she did it), she thought I'd said "Billy Idol". When she realized it was Billy Joel, she canceled out on me. Talina was trying to help me find someone to go with me. I called Teresa on Wednesday, just in case Stephanie couldn't go but her phone had been disconnected. The next day she called me, and I told her about the concert. She had other plans but had managed to wriggle her way out of those and chose to go with me instead.

The concert was absolutely awesome! I never knew he had a sense of humor, but then I've never gone to one of his concerts before. Unfortunately, we were seated in what is called the "nosebleed" seats, but for free, I wasn't going to complain. They had the "jumbotron" going so it made it easy to see what was going on. He played many, many of his popular songs and there was only one I didn't recognize. He played for 3 hours, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I could have taken the camera, although they said "no cameras/recorders". But I was never searched while getting in, but in the end, I wouldn't have gotten any good pictures. You can bet I'll go to another concert of his!

It's been one week since Mike had his surgery. He's not healing as fast as he thought he would, but I'm sure a lot of that is because he's much older since the last time he had a surgery. He's getting around good, but he still can't drive. He's been taking walks since his 3rd or 4th day out. Of course, with the snow in the yard and on the walks, he probably won't get to go out today. He refuses to take any more of his pain meds, but he's still having some pain. Tomorrow, he goes for his post-op appointment and I, too, have to go to the doctor's. I'll probably take him, even though he thinks he can drive himself, but he can't even put a seatbelt across his lap right now. Other than that, he's doing good.

Well, that's all I have for today! Hope everyone has a good Monday, and I'll be back soon.

Take care, all.

What's wrong with me lately? Saturday was good. The weather was nice, almost spring-like as I'd gone out to get more bead findings and crystals. By the afternoon, I was tired and needed to take a nap for awhile. But when yesterday rolled around, I felt strange.

I get this shaky feeling in my gut; I can't think properly nor can I make decisions, even on what to do. I was still sleepy when I woke up but I couldn't lay down and get back to sleep until around 2pm. I had this kind of "terrifying" feeling which I rarely get unless I'm threatened by something. But I had no feeling of threat. I couldn't even keep my mind on much of anything for very long. I'd had plans for things to do this weekend like taking a mirror off a dresser, and tearing down Gabby's little bed, but it never got done. And it all would have been so easy to do. It's these kind of days that really suck, but I've been having them off and on for a little while now. It could be depression, partially, but I don't think so only because it doesn't feel like my depression.

Today, however, I am feeling better. I haven't a clue as to what has changed, but I guess I should be glad for it. Perhaps today I'll get something done.

Have a great Monday!

LAYER ONE: ON THE OUTSIDE
Name: Kathy
Birth date: 03/23/1957
Birth place: Denver, CO
Eye Color: green
Hair Color: currently: red (normally light brown)
Height: 5'4"
Best physical feature: eyes
Righty or Lefty: right
Zodiac Sign: Aries

LAYER TWO: ON THE INSIDE
Your heritage: German, Polish, English, French, Scottish
What Shoes:tennis shoes
Worst Habit: spending what little money I have on beads
Your fears: spiders
Your perfect pizza: thin crust with mushrooms and pineapple.

LAYER THREE: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW
Your most overused phrase: geez
Your bedtime: whenever I get tired, usually after 11, no later than 1am
Your most missed moment: living in Portland, OR

LAYER FOUR: YOUR PICK
Pepsi or Coke: neither
McDonald's or Burger King: neither
Single or group dates: dates? What's that?
Lipton Tea or Nestea: Lipton
Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate
Cappuccino or coffee: International coffee--Suisse Mocha

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU?
Cuss: occasionally, but I try not to around Gabby
Play any sports: No
Take a shower: yes
Like high school: no. Dropped out in 10th grade.
Believe in yourself: Most of the time
Get motion sickness: Never
Think you're a health freak: not even close
Get along with your parents: only my father
Like thunderstorms:  yes, with lightning
Have a gf/bf? It's complicated

LAYER SIX: IN THE PAST MONTH
Gone to the mall: no
Been on stage: nope
Eaten Sushi: Ewwww!
Been dumped: No
Gone skating: I used to, as a kid
Gone skinny dipping: never--can't even swim
Dyed your hair: yes

LAYER SEVEN: HAVE YOU EVER
Played a game that required removal of clothing: yes
Gotten beaten up: yes, in 7th grade, got my nose broke but was never taken to the dr. for it; consequently I suffer from a deviated septum.
Been in Love: yes, a couple of times

LAYER EIGHT: GETTING OLDER
Age you hope to be married: been there, done that...not again
Number of Children: 2 daughters
Future Occupation: any gainful employment

LAYER NINE: IN A GUY/GIRL
Best Quality? sense of humor/being fun
Best eye color? blue preferred, but any color will do
Best hair color? gray
Short or long hair: whatever looks good
Height: 5'10" or taller

LAYER TEN: IN THE NUMBERS
Number of people I can trust: almost everyone I know
Number of piercings: 4 in my ears
Number of tattoos: 1
Number of times been on T.V: 1
Number of times my name has appeared in the Newspaper: never
Number of scars on my body: too numerous to count, although the biggest is from surgeries on my abdomen
Number of things in my past that I regret: If I had regrets, my life would be miserable.

I've been rather busy lately, whether it's Gabby, Mike, beading, housework, or being online. I can't sit and do "nothing"; it's not my style no matter how I feel. Gotta keep on movin'.

Mike's been home a lot lately since he hasn't been able to work. And when he has worked, he's been coming home early due to pain. He's got a hernia and will be having surgery in about 10 days. One of Gabby's favorite things to do is climb all over him, but for the last 3 weeks, we've had to warn her not to do that. She doesn't quite understand that papa is very tender and she has a tendency to be all elbows and knee caps. It doesn't take much for him to be in pain: coughing, sneezing, etc. I feel bad for him because I know what pain feels like. He's been very impatient as far as getting this surgery done. I can't blame him...he can't even ride his bike.

As usual, Gabby is doing well. She's been quite lucky this winter in not catching a cold and I'm thankful for that. She's had to stay inside most of the winter and consequently, she's had a lot of time to "learn" stuff. She has the biggest thirst for knowledge of any child her age. She'll be 4 in April. At this time, she can spell at least 100 words, write the alphabet, and she's also reading some easy books. She loves to draw and has been drawing pictures of the family, and whatever else her little heart desires. We're finally on the "potty training" track, something I've never had to do before. As I may have mentioned in the past, Talina pretty much did all that by herself. I never pushed her into it; it was something she wanted to do one day and that was it. On the other hand, Gabby doesn't want to stop what she's doing to go into the bathroom. But Mike and I have been staying on her about it and although she's much better at it, it's never on her own. For whatever reason, she seems scared to death to wear underwear. I think this is going to be a long process. She doesn't seem to be interested in it, and I hate "pushing" her about it, but if I don't, we'll get nowhere. Does anyone have any advice? We give her incentives (stickers, which she loves), but I don't know what else to do to make her want to go.

Kitty is doing great! He's my "best friend", and although he doesn't always care for Gabby, we feel that he has been around children sometime during his 2 years. I was hoping he would revert to being an inside cat during the winter, but that will never happen. I think he's lived outside most of his life and he'll go out in the coldest of weather. He may not stay outside for long; I think he prefers outside to a litter box. Although Gabby isn't downright "mean" to him, there are things she will do and his escape from that is to go outside.

Kitty also has a best friend in another cat--one that looks exactly like him. His name is Rowdy and he lives at Sharon's house. It's quite cute to watch them play together. At first, it was hard to tell them apart, but now, even if Kitty isn't wearing his collar (which happens when he loses it), I can tell which cat is which.

I hope to have a couple of pictures on my next post. As it is, they're still in my camera. I had intended to put one of them on a post the other day (of a beautiful sky right before sunrise) but I get a bit distracted at times and it never was posted.

Gabby's here and it's time to be grandma. I hope you all are doing well, and have a happy Friday.

It's been awfully cold around here lately. We've been lucky if the sun comes out and we reach highs in the 30's. Today is one of those such days; gloomy with no chance of sunshine. The snow if falling ever so lightly, part of the "trace of snow" we're supposed to get. I'm getting used to the cold, though, since Mike and I go outside to smoke our cigarettes. Even Mike is hating the cold this year. But when the days are nice enough, he goes out for a bike ride. I, on the other hand, am going stir-crazy from being in the house so much.

I turned in a couple rolls of film to be developed a couple of weeks ago. I really didn't think I'd see many pictures out of them because they were so old. But boy was I surprised when I got them back. Out of at least 48 pictures, only 2 were bad. Most were pictures I'd taken before I met Mike. The rest were taken the 4th of July 2002, after I'd met Mike and when we'd gone to his mom's for the traditional BBQ. I'll put a couple of those pictures up later.

The above 2 paragraphs were actually written yesterday, but then along come distractions and I never could get back to it. Today, even though it's colder than it's been (it was 0 degrees overnight), he went to work for the first time in nearly 2 weeks. He and Gabby spent a lot of time together doing various things. But it seems that when he's around the house a lot, I can't get much done. Keeping the dishes done is the hardest part. I'll no sooner get the kitchen cleaned when he'll come along and cook something, leaving me even more dishes to do and more mess to clean up. When he's gone for the day, at least when I get things cleaned, they'll stay that way for the day.

When I first "adopted" my cat, it was suggested to make him an "inside" cat. I figured (and so did Sharon) that when the cold came around, he would want to spend more time inside. And, although the first few times it was really cold, he hesitated upon going outside and stayed in longer in the mornings especially on snowy days. But there is one gigantic problem I have in trying to keep him inside more--Gabby! Whenever he comes inside, she'll start picking on him and won't stop even when she's gotten into trouble for it. She never hurts him or does anything really bad. But he doesn't like it and will refuse to stay in the house while she's around. He actually puts up with quite a bit with her, but he's got plenty of "buddies" to play with next door, and Sharon always lets him in.

He rarely lets me take pictures of him, but I managed to get this one a couple of weeks or so ago:


The Dumb Friends League (the oldest and largest animal shelter in Denver) has a motor home that goes to various sites, and for $10, you can have your cat spayed or neutered and get them their rabies and distemper shots. Last Thursday, they were here in the park and I   decided to take Kitty up there to make sure he was neutered and to get his shots since I didn't know when he'd last had them. He's definitely been neutered (makes me think he did belong to someone who eventually abandoned him) and he got his shots. He stayed in for most of the day and hid under Gabby's bed. I also asked them to check to see how old he is, and just as Sharon had told me, he's 2 years old. He's an amazing cat and he's MY cat. He follows me everywhere, he'll wait for me if I have to do something else for a minute and he'll lay as close as he can to wherever I am.

With it being as cold as it has been, I've had a lot of time to do some beading. I've finally gotten a picture of one of the items I've been making the most of--keychain fobs. I've actually had a few requests. The picture below shows one way I make them. Depending how they will be used (as just a fob or as the whole keychain) will depend on the metal that's used. In this picture, a 10mm ring was used so that the key fob can be put on a bigger ring. The bigger ring (not shown) is one that holds keys and opens (rather than having to twist keys on the ring). I have a few other pieces but need to find a good way to photograph them.



Well, that's just an update. I'll be back--soon.

I also want to thank those that sent me Christmas cards. You know who you are. They all gave me a smile! Thank you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!



We woke up this morning to a genuine white Christmas! It's the first one in a long time. And it's gorgeous outside.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Yep, I'm being a post hog today....forgive me.

Here are 2 more photos of Gabby.

This first one was taken last night while eating dinner with Papa--


This one was taken today. She decided she would help me vacuum, and she did a great job!



I hope I haven't bore you all with photos today. :-)

We have a large group of pigeons that go over to Sharon's and park themselves in front of her house. Anytime an animal or vehicle comes along, they take flight. Here's a photo of them (It's really quite awesome to watch them fly); it's not the greatest since it's hard to take a picture of birds in flight but--




It's a bit large so I hope I don't mess up anyone's page.

Here's a recent photo of Gabby--

Yesterday was a bad day. Today is not a whole lot better. I feel better in regards to having my meds, but now I'm fighting this terrific headache that feels like a sinus infection coming on. Every time I bend my head down, my brain feels like it's hitting my skull. I noticed it when I woke up this morning. And it's getting worse. I can't remember who wrote in their post "when it rains, it pours" but it's true in this case. I don't need this. I can't take any kind of decongestant medication and the idea of having to drive many, many miles to see my doctor makes me even sicker. As long as I'm at the clinic, I can get anything I need and it's written properly. But honestly, I can't afford it nor the medication (mainly antibiotics).  No wonder I'm not in the Christmas spirit.

I need some cheering up.

I spent 2 days without my pain meds only to start going through the withdrawals. Today was day 3 of withdrawals. It was only a matter of hours before the muscle spasms started. And the thing is? It's all the doctor's fault. Every month, when she has to send me my prescription, she continually forgets to write the prescription properly. And there's nothing the pharmacist can do until they've contacted the doctor. I made phone call after phone call, between the pharmacy and the clinic trying to resolve this before I got any worse. Talina ended up not going to work until about noon, staying with me and watching Gabby for me while I writhed on the couch, the bed, the recliner or on the pot. My body couldn't decide whether it was warm or cold. Every 5 minutes I was either taking something off or putting something on. My head hurt and my legs were hurting as well. Walking was difficult. When I talked with the nurse at the clinic (she's one helluva a nurse, too!), she said the doctor wasn't in today, but that she would page her even though she wasn't supposed to. Fifteen minutes later, she called back and told me I could go pick up my medicine.

Life just sucks sometimes.

It's been snowing off and on all week. The other day, I took a ruler outside and put it on our table that had a sizable amount of snow. It was nearly 6 inches. It's snowing again today and will continue to do so into the night. Here comes a couple more inches...

This week has been one of the hardest for me. Gabby has been nearly "out of control" and yesterday, I had a slight melt-down. I can't wait for this phase to be gone. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better to let her go for awhile. It would be hard for me to do that; I'd be awfully lonely without her around but I think she needs to be around other kids to learn to interact with others her own age.

(I actually started writing this post on Friday--I'm such a nerd.)

Once again, the doctor is screwing up on my pain meds except that this keeps happening over and over. She doesn't write the prescription properly and so I have to wait for the pharmacy to call the clinic, get hold of the doctor, and confirm what type of pills I'm to be given (immediate release vs. extended release). I've had one pill yesterday and one today. In the morning, I'll be feeling so much pain and have to wait until the pharmacy calls to say my meds are ready. And I'll have Gabby. I will not feel like running after her. I will not feel like doing much of anything.

I found a nifty website to have some fun with. Here's my version: Elf Yourself!  It doesn't last very long, but even Mike got a kick out of it. It's rare that I get to use his picture for anything, so feel privileged. You should be able to make one for yourself through mine, and if you do, let me know.

This is short I know, but my attention span is very short when I'm in so much pain. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

I managed to finally make it to my "friends"  page, and I apologize for not commenting, but it was late. I've felt "out of the loop" since I haven't posted much lately.

I've been busy lately with making a couple of Xmas presents, and I'm going to make sure that I get a couple of packages out before the Christmas rush at the Post Office. I've owed one person a package for several months and it's still waiting to be filled up and sent out.

Gabby's been getting here around 7:30 am and not leaving until 6:30 or so. She hasn't been very cooperative lately, and last week she had a nasty cold--cough, stuffy nose, lack of appetite. She still has the cough but it only happens if she's gotten herself all worked up. Trying to settle her down is hard. I also got her hair cut (twice) but now I'm being told it looks like a "boy cut" because it's short. But I think she looks cute and she doesn't have hair hanging in her eyes anymore. We probably wouldn't have gotten it cut so short but she had taken the scissors to it and it looked terrible. She's also at that stage where she's figuring out how to climb on stuff to find things she shouldn't have. By the time she goes home, I'm just wore out.

We've had snow twice so far--once in November and one just last week (I think I remember that right--I have a hard time remembering things these days). The mountains are finally getting a ton of snow and the ski areas are finally opening with some decent snow. Of course, I don't ski. Mike took me skiing my first time the first or second year I was with him. Between my back and my knees, skiing just isn't something I can do. My biggest fear is not being able to stop. We hear about so many people who slam into trees (Sonny Bono being one of them) or slam into other people. I just won't take that chance. Perhaps if I'd been taught to ski earlier in life, I might have done okay, but it's just not to be.


**Many, many hours later**--

It looks as if we're going to get one heck of a snowfall. It started about 3 hours ago (It's now 10:30 (Mountain time) and isn't supposed to let up until Sunday afternoon or so. And once again, the mountains are getting an abundance of snow. The skiers are loving it.

In the few months that we've had our cat, I've come to learn a little more about him. He's got one strange habit: he won't drink water out of a bowl but instead prefers to drink out of the running tap. I don't quite understand why he does it (Talina says it's because he knows that running water is fresh)

Well, it is getting late for me...I should be getting ready for bed since my head keeps nodding towards the keyboard. I hate it when that happens.

Have a good weekend everyone while I sit and watch the snow fall all day..  *grin*  I'll write more later if anyone is interested.
Take care!