Coming Right Along.....

Kita is fitting in pretty well at our house, other than she's run away not once, but twice now.  The first time, Steven was taking the dogs out and she bolted before he could get the leash on her. (he now knows not to open the door until her leash is secured on her collar and the other end if firmly in hand).  She stayed out all night that particular night and returned the next morning, barking to be let back in.

She ran away again last night.  This time, it was because she dug a hole under the fence.  We had put all the pups out for a couple hours, and when we went to let them in for bedtime at 11pm, the boys come trotting in but no Kita.  Brian went and looked all over the yard and no Kita.  Steven pulled up from work and we walked into the yard so he could show me where one or more of the pups have been digging, and as he's walking the perimeter of the yard, he hears a jingling sound - Kita was in the woods outside the fence, and came racing up beside the outside of the fence.  We ran to the gate and the chase was on.  She LOVES running, so we stopped chasing her.  Brian took off in the truck to see if he could find her in the surrounding neighborhoods, and Steven and I stayed outside, talking about the outing earlier in the day (I'll talk about that in a minute). He then asked me to be quiet so he could listen for the jingling of her name tag on her collar again, and sure enough, here she comes racing through the other yards and into ours.  I ran up and opened the front door, and in she raced.  She was soaking wet and had black smudges all over, and smelled faintly of firepit ashes.  I know there is a creek in the empty lot next door, so she must had splashed through it, and who knows where she got the ashes from.  I dried her off and she went to bed with Steven.

Our outing yesterday was to Hobbs Farm Park.  We used to walk it frequently, but when it got so hot last summer we stopped because the pups couldn't handle the heat, and quite frankly, neither could I.  Brian, Clydie and I decided to head over with the 3 pups and take a walk around the trail, Clydie in her wheelchair with me pushing and her holding Kita's leash, and Brian with the boys.  When we were leashing everyone up to leave, Kita expressed a very strong enthusiasm for the trip we were about to make.  She's normally quite calm and waits patiently when she's being leashed up, but because the boys were so hyper and overly excited, she got all worked up.  I held her leash, opened the door, and when the boys bolted out to the truck (they're okay to run without someone holding their leashes), she tried to drag me out the door!  She is mighty strong, so much so that Brian ended up wrangling all 3 pups at the park.  We were worried that Kita would pull Clydie out of her chair, as she went into pack mentality and had to pull to try to be the leader of the pack.

Kita has gotten into skirmishes with both boys, for seemingly no reason other than one or the other was jealous.  Thankfully it doesn't appear anyone has been wounded, other than a mild scrape here or there, but Dominion's ego has really taken a hit.  He's so pitiful sometimes, especially the last time he tangled with Kita.  He just sulked around like a defeated dog, needing reassurances from his humans.  So we make sure we make him first and love on him extra so he still feels like he's top dog.

Speaking of Kita, here's a couple shots of her favorite thing:

I know I've posted these on Facebook, but in case you haven't seen - things are coming right along with my afghan I started.  Here's the first few rows (baby blue color):

I'm following a pattern as far as the stitches go, but not on when to change colors.  Here's where I am on it today:

And of course I'm not following the colors on the pattern, either.  I'm using the yarn that we have on hand.  The colors will make it interesting, that's for sure, but that's okay, it's my first attempt and I think I'm doing pretty well.

Still healing from my surgery.  I had a little scare a week and a half ago and rushed over to the doctor, but she said everything was normal and not to worry, but that I most definitely did the right thing by coming in to be checked.  She did tell me the signs of when I should actually worry, and we rescheduled my 6 week post-surgery checkup to make it about a 7.5 week post-surgery check up, which will be on January 25.  But as of 5 weeks post-op, healing is going as expected.

Well that's about all I have for today.  Oh one last thing - why did the chicken cross the road?  I know, no one knows the answer to that but I saw one the other day that had tried to cross the road and didn't make it.  Dead in the road.  Guess he didn't get to what he was going to.  LOL

Almost.....Just.....Almost......

I'm almost back to normal.  *Almost*  I'm 3 weeks and 2 days post-op, and feeling pretty good, although I do still get pretty tired in the afternoons if I'm busy during the day.  And I've figured out that the ovaries are still working, as I'm in the throes of PMS this weekend.  Achy hip joints and a couple wicked stabbing pains in the belly.  It's a barrel of fun. 


Brian and I got up yesterday morning before the ass-crack of dawn (3:00am, for those that wonder what time that is), and headed to the hunt camp for the day.  With all the rain we've had lately, the roads at camp are in surprisingly good shape.  One spot on the first dirt road that leads into camp has some wash-out on the sides, but the roads within camp, at least the ones we traverse, were in great shape.  Although, where I park the truck by my spot was kinda wet, and I almost got stuck.  I had to ride down towards my stand and turn around in the edge of the food plot (I knew it wasn't wet and squishy there).  Once I came back out, it wasn't an issue getting on the road and heading back to camp.


Who knows what a mandolin is?  I'm talking the kind used in the kitchen, not the musical instrument.  For those that don't know, it's a utensil that has interchangeable parts, making it a grater or a slicer, and the stuff that gets grated/sliced goes into a container that's attached to the blades.  As I was using it, without having something to hold the potato that I was slicing, I started thinking about when I would need to stop slicing so that I didn't hurt myself.  No sooner than that thought went through  my mind, I found the answer the painful way.  I started hopping around the kitchen, profanities spewing forth, and went to the sink to rinse my finger and see how bad it was.  Thankfully not too bad, and I managed to not get blood on the potatoes.  Brian was nice enough to finish slicing the potatoes for me while I went to bandage my finger.


The rain on Christmas Eve was dreadful - I drove to work that morning at my usual time, and really should have waited until a little later in the morning.  I drove through some fairly deep water, I honestly think I floated for a few seconds (no, not hydroplaned - actual floating).  I got home that afternoon around 12:30pm, and as I pulled into the driveway I heard a scraping noise.  I park and see that some of the mud/water-guard that is under the front bumper is hanging down, and that the mud-flap on the front passenger side was flipped out to the side.  I go inside and am telling Clydie about it, and look outside - only to see the rest of the mud/water-guard at the end of the driveway!  Brian is taking the car tomorrow to get the estimate on getting that replaced or reinstalled, whatever will be best. 


Grilling steaks tonight for hubby's birthday - got a new potato recipe that I'm working on.  If we like it I'll share it later.  :-)


Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Sitting here on my bed, watching Long Island Medium, listening to whatever is on the TV in the living room (Steven, his girlfriend, and another friend of theirs are over, playing video games, watching tv, and baking gingerbread cookies and ugly sweater cookies), and just thinking.


I despise the Volkswagen commercials.  They are downright creepy - like people are holding the salesmen hostage and forcing them to be part of their family. Yes, I realize they're just commercials, but OMG they play so frequently and are just so downright creepy.  Tired of them!


Speaking of annoying commercials - can't stand the Big Lots commercials, either.  I'm glad that they prominently feature a plus sized woman rather than some very thin woman, but wow.  They overplay those as well.  And seriously - "Christmas doesn't happen without me" - as if men are incapable of making Christmas happen. 


But - Toys R Us has hit a home run with their commercial that ends with the female military member coming home to her son and husband.  Right in the feels.  And another one that really gets to me is the Paper & Packaging commercial, with the little boy that sends the paper airplane notes across the fence, like they're going to his father who is deployed.  Google that one if you haven't seen it.


It doesn't feel like it's Christmas.  The temperatures have been in the 70's and will likely reach 75 on Christmas Day tomorrow.  No big celebration with family, either, as Mom and Marion are still in England, and Meme is in the rehab facility, recovering from her broken femur.  Meme said she doesn't want anything to do with Christmas this year, don't send cards or gifts, don't even acknowledge the holiday.  I hate that she feels that way.


But, this year is the last year that I won't be able to spend with my mom - she and Marion will be back for good in 2016.  Yay!


I'm cooking our Christmas dinner for tomorrow, and it will just be the 4 of us and Steven's girlfriend, Hope.  Ham (new recipe - pastry wrapped ham with a Dijon mustard/apple cider/apple cider vinegar mixture), green beans, mac & cheese, deviled eggs, and sweet potato casserole.  Clydie is making a homemade bread that has to rise for 20 hours or so, so she got it started this morning, and it is rising extremely slowly (she said it only required a tiny bit of yeast).  I don't even remember what, if anything, we discussed regarding dessert, but that's okay, there's so much food I will be so stuffed when we're done with the meal!


Well that's about it for tonight folks.  I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

2 Days Before Christmas....

and unbelievably, all my shopping is done.  Everything is wrapped.  I made fudge tonight, and may make some divinity tomorrow night.  Steven and his girlfriend are making gingerbread cookies tomorrow, and I can't wait to see what designs they come up with.

I returned to work this past Monday, the 21st, for 4 hours a day through today, and I'm back to full time tomorrow.  I've felt pretty good at work, the pain issues I was having are gone.  I just get a little tired by 4pm, and I imagine that will continue for a bit.  The good thing about going back to full time tomorrow is that it's Christmas Eve, and we'll get to leave early anyway, then I'm off for Christmas Day and the weekend.

My visit with Meme last week went pretty well, although there was some wild conversations had.  She asked me how my recovery was going and I told her pretty well, then she said she had something to tell me that would probably make me mad, but she was going to say it anyway.  She said that my surgery had made all the fat around my face go away!  I asked her if it was maybe my haircut (she hasn't seen the cut I got back in September), but she said no, she was sure it was the surgery.  LOL  And she did throw in that she was glad I cut my hair, that I needed to do that.

And now my mind has gone blank on the all the other funny and interesting stuff that I was gonna write.  Dammit!

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

It's Hump Day.....

but no humping for me.  Still.  LOL  TMI for some of you I would imagine, but what did you expect from me less than 2 weeks post-surgery?  I go to the doctor on Friday for my post-operative check-up, and will find out if I can return to work on Monday, or if I will need to wait another week or so, and also find out when I can resume my normal activities. 


As good as I was feeling the first week after surgery, I felt pretty sure I'd be ready to return to work on the 21st.  Unfortunately now I'm not so sure, as my stomach has been hurting since Saturday night.  It's not constant, and it's better in some ways than it was on Sunday, but I'm still concerned about it.  I've noticed today and the last few days, that if I sit upright at the table or on the couch or bed, when I stand up to walk my stomach feels like the muscles have shrunk and need to be stretched out again, and it hurts pretty significantly until I get it all stretched out again.


I did do some laundry this past weekend, but I did my best at not carrying anything over 10 lbs.  I've also been quilting the last few days, requiring me to sit up at the table.  I've gone to the store several times over the last week or so, as walking is helpful to my recovery and the doctor has said that I could do all these things.  You just can't lay in the bed for 2 weeks straight, doing nothing, and expect that you can jump up and be back to your normal self - you have to move around, stretch, walk, lift stuff that doesn't violate your doctor's weight limits that she's imposed, and that's what I've been doing. 


I certainly didn't think this recovery would be a piece of cake, but damn did my body fool me the first 4-5 days!  The digestive issues are pretty much resolved, things have processed much more easily the last several days.  Now I just have to figure out this pain in the left side of my belly and how to get past it.  I just don't see me sitting at my desk for 8 hours with this kind of pain every time I stand up.  (yes I know I'm "fortunate" that I have a desk job that isn't overly taxing or physically demanding, but this hurts, to sit for a while and try to stand up without having to double over when walking)


I'm going to see Meme tomorrow at the rehab facility.  I hope the visit goes well, I'm not really up for her shenanigans. 


Y'all have a great week!

Blahhhhh Blahhhhh Blogggggg

So much for not needing pain meds.  I had just bragged yesterday that I hadn't had a pain pill since Saturday night, and I ended up taking one last night due to horrible tummy pain.  It was more the digestive system kicking into high gear and disrupting all the tender spots inside my belly than anything else.  I was quite uncomfortable a good part of the evening.  I did sleep well and felt pretty good when I got up this morning.


Gas pains were an issue while I was out today, but were much milder than they've been the last few days.  I think I'm gonna pay dearly for dinner, though - cabbage was among the choices, and I had some.  I took a double-dose of Gas-X, so maybe that will help!?!


I'm working on my sewing project that's been in the works for the past couple of months.  I hope to finish it tonight, and I swear, I do not think I will EVER do another one of these things again!  It's been a royal pain in my butt!  I will post photos of the finished project at another time, as it is a gift for someone and I want the person to receive their gift before I publicize pics.


I feel a nap coming on, but it's 7pm.  Too late for a nap, too early for bed.  Blah!!!


Guess I should get to working on that sewing project so I can be done with it. Y'all have a great evening!

Update Post-Surgery

I went under the knife this past Friday morning, for a "total hysterectomy", and it was robotically assisted.  Uterus, cervix, and fallopian tubes are gone, ovaries are still with me, as they looked healthy.  When they wheeled me into the operating room, I said "holy shit it's cold in here" and everyone busted out laughing.  My surgeon said "welcome to your all girl surgical team", and mentioned that she'd be bringing in the male physician in her practice later in the procedure.  I had to scoot off the stretcher and onto the table, and heard those dreaded words "scoot down some more" lol.  They put the mask on my face, and next thing I knew I was in my room. 




I don't recall being in a recovery room, and honestly I don't remember much at all from Friday.  My mom, dad, husband, son, and mother-in-law were in and out from what I gather.  My co-worker stopped by for a minute and I think I woke up just enough to introduce her to my dad and mom (she'd already met Brian, Steven and Clydie).  I vaguely remember my doctor stopping by at some point, telling me that I was going to have to stay the night because I was just too sleepy from the medications and I was fine with that.  She checked my incisions and that's all I remember.




At some point I woke up and Mom mentioned that they brought me some broth and jello.  I didn't want the broth, and ate some of the jello while she was there, and finished it after she left.  Brian stayed with me and I think he was disappointed that he didn't get to do much to help me, since I was pretty much drugged out of my mind.  The evening shift nurse got me up to walk once, and that was rough.  My legs felt like cement.  We walked a little way down the hallway, and I'd had enough. 




I remember the night nurse coming around midnight, another nurse at 4am to draw blood, then the night nurse came again around 5am.  My blood pressure was something like 76/45.  Extremely low.  In talking to my mother later yesterday, she mentioned that my blood pressure was very low all afternoon and evening on Friday.  No wonder I was so damn sleepy!




Brian left for drill around 5:30am, and the nurse came back and got me up walking a little later.  I walked a lot further that time, and sat in bed, waiting for breakfast.  Daddy was there when my surgeon came by and said I could go home.  I got the list of all the do's and don'ts, and my take home prescriptions, and I ended up having to dress myself, with no assistance.  Getting my socks and shoes on was a bitch!




I took a long nap yesterday afternoon, and had an awesome dinner.  I slept really well last night, thanks to my friend Percocet.  LOL    I've laid around a lot today, took a nap this afternoon.  The gas pains are the only problem I'm having right now, although this is much much better today than it was yesterday.  Yesterday those pains would stop me in my tracks, taking my breath away, but today they're a little more manageable (thank you Gas-X). 




I have 4 incisions in my tummy, and the one in my belly button hurts the worst.  The others aren't so bad.  I was closed up with surgical glue, and that feels kinda weird.  Some of it is peeling up off the unbroken skin, but I'm not about to pull that off, don't wanna rip open the wounds! 


Thank you to my mother, my mother-in-law, my dad, my husband and my son for being there to take care of me.  I appreciate all of you!




Thank you to everyone that sent prayers, positive thoughts, mo-jo and ju-ju to me, I greatly appreciate it.  I'll be spending the next couple weeks at home recuperating, hopefully will be able to return to work soon and back to hunting before the end of the season.  We shall see.