Saturday was Madeleine's baby shower at Karen's.
The snow was quite heavy, but I managed to get there okay.
My oldest grand daughter Helene, had done most of the work--even though she works has a 3 year old and a nursing infant.  Karen and her husband were in Aruba the whole week before the shower.

It was nice.  Lots of people so we didn't play time consuming games.  It took the kids two hours just to open the gifts!

No excuses for not posting.

I'm working on an involved genealogy and by the time I get done with all that searching, scanning, printing, writing--my mind is rather tired to come in here and try to be clever.  LOL

I have also been watching the Impeachment trial.  Especially last week when it was in the Senate.  I felt I could be an unbiased observer and listened closely to both sides and this morning to their closing arguments.  I have made up my mind and...glad it is coming to a close as it pre-empted my Soap every day!  You know I wasn't happy about that.  Then I'd have to figure out a time in the evening when I could get my Soap on Demand to watch it.

I was sitting here Saturday and I heard my front door open and in walked my youngest, Jennifer.  I nearly fell out of my chair.

She has been in town for over a week and I prayed every night that God would nudge her heart for a visit.

She quit the law firm where she has worked for 15 years and joined another one that deals in Non-Profits, that is her specialty and also some kind of financial something that I couldn't understand.  I did hear her say she met the 94 year old man who "invented" the Visa Corporation, she showed me a photo.  I hope I acted properly impressed.  Maybe she can get me a 0% Visa charge card.  HAH!  

Their new home is finished...she even showed me photos and while she is here, her husband was moving out of their rental home and into their new one before the end of the month.

I did feel a bit uneasy.  She still has traits of my step-mother.  She does like to gossip and told me negative stories about when Pammie lived with them and how her brother is angry at the world and even some negativity about Karen.

I listened, but made no comments.  When it comes to my kids, I am not going to comment on any gossip from any one of them against the other and I felt like if I did say something, Jen just might take it back to them.

I kept steering her back to tell me about her kids and how her oldest is doing in college and her daughter being watched by college volleyball coaches, even though she is only a Sophomore.  How Alex, the 12 year old was put into a Gifted program, but decided not to go because then he would miss school time with his friends and how the youngest, 8 year old Evan is such a nice boy.  All her kids are nice, polite, and respectful.

Or, I'd get her to talk about the friends she has met, the church they go to, her mother-in-law who I really like, Eric's job...those kinds of things.

We had a nice 2 hour visit and I was so glad she felt that she could just drop in without feeling she had to call first.  

Sunday she went up to The Farm to visit with my sister and my nephew who is near Jen's age, then she went to her brother Mark's to watch the Super Bowl with Mark, his fiance and Pammie.

Jennifer stays at Karen's when she is in Michigan and her new law office is only a 20 minute drive from there.  The other one was down near Detroit...lots of traffic and a time consuming commute.

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I watched the Super Bowl yesterday.  I had heard who was going to perform the half-time program and figured it would be nasty and I didn't want my eyes to see that and have it imprinted on my mind, so I didn't watch it.  I enjoyed the game though and even though I rarely watch professional football, the team I was rooting for won.

I am starting to get notices of increases in rent, health insurance and car and house insurance.  The increases took way more out of my budget than was my Social Security increase this year.  I've decided not to be scared or worry about it.  Last year was terribly difficult financially for me, but I made it and was never late with a payment.  I figure I can do it again, so...."I laugh in the face of fear", knowing God will supply all that I need.  

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We have had such a mild winter here.  Only two snowstorms that needed snow to be shoveled.  We had a couple of inches of snow over the weekend.  Jen even asked if I wanted her to clear off my driveway and I told her, "No thanks.  It is going to be 52 tomorrow and it will melt all the snow." which it has.    54Sunday and 52today.  We are expecting measurable snow on Thursday, but I have no where to go until Saturday, so, I'm not concerned.

Saturday is Maddie's baby shower.  I've had her baby stamped cross stitch quilt done for months.  I just need to wash and iron it.  It will be a nice day to honor her and her hubs.

That's it.  As usual my life is not much to "write home about".  Simple.  Quiet. Slow.  Uncomplicated.  Mostly stress free.  

I love it!!!!!!!!!!

Oh My Gosh!

I have never had someone come in and clean my house and I was kind of intimidated when the cleaning lady came Monday to scrub the kitchen floor.

None of my corners on that floor are square.  Crumbs, cat hair and anything the vacuum couldn't reach have lodged themselves in the corners--especially by the stove and dishwasher.

She got down on her hands and knees and went to work.  Starting back by the bathroom in the washer/dryer area, and worked her way into the kitchen.  She's 72 years old!  Delightful.  She talks constantly as she works and is so funny.

While she was scrubbing the floor, she also cleaned the table and chair legs--the bottom cupboard doors, the front of the fridge, stove and dishwasher.She told me she would charge me $10, I told her I would pay her $20 and ended up giving her $25.00 for the extra she did.

How nice it is to walk barefoot across that floor.  To look down and see "square" corners again.  It looks as good as the day I moved in.

After she was gone, I vacuumed the living room and the house was done--cleaned for another few months.

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I decided it would be a good idea to change the filter in my large humidifier.  It sits by the back door and I had moved it into the bathroom to get it out of her way.

I took it all apart and put the parts in the shower.  Then I eased the bottom pan up to the shower to dump the water.  My back hurt, my hands were a bit shaky and I ended up dumping most of the water--about 2 gallons, onto the bathroom floor.

Not a problem if I had tile in there, but that floor is carpeted.

What a mess!!

I grabbed every bath towel I own and laid them down and walked on them, trying to sop up the water.  Then I put the towels through the spin cycle in the washer, dried them and back on the carpet to sop up more water.

I did that 4 times!  Then I closed the bathroom door so when the furnace came on, the heat would concentrate in that room.

I sure hope the floor doesn't rot underneath.  It feels pretty dry today.

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I grew up in the '50's, was in high school in the mid to late '50's.  At that time, we were lectured and cautioned on NOT smoking Marijuana.  Smoking one Marijuana cigarette could kill you or destroy your mind so you'd go crazy and have to be put in a mental institution.  If you were caught with it, you would go to jail for life.

Well, I can tell you...all us kids were scared to death of it.  I remember in the mid 70's when I found out my two oldest kids had used it, I was in a panic.  I was threatening to send Mark to military school and Pammie to the girls reform school in the western part of our state.

Marijuana is now legal in our state, but I am still scared of using it.  Hey--I'm just as afraid of drinking alcohol!

This last year I have heard that Hemp Oil or CBD oil has none of the THC products found in Marijuana and it really helps with pain.  Still kind of scared, but suffering with this back pain, that has finally localized to one spot, I stopped in at the Vape shop yesterday and talked to the kids about it.

They had CBD oil that you can put a few drops under your tongue, EYUCK.  They have the oil that you can use in your Vape device--didn't want to try that and then they have patches with CBD oil that you put over the area where the pain is located.

So, I bought two patches.  They are supposed to work for 24 hours.  When I got home, I slapped one over the pain area and waited.  Honestly, I have to tell you...I was shaking and scared of what might happen.

Would I suddenly start acting weird?  Would I get the "munchies"?  Would it make me sick?

Well...no.  In two hours most of the pain was gone.  It didn't even hurt when I pushed on that area.

When I woke up this morning, patch still in place, I could bend over to get the cat dishes and feed them.  I could walk without pain.  I do have mild achiness all across my back, like normal, but the spot where it was most severe...there is no pain.

Does this mean I am going to turn into a junkie?  At $8.00 a patch, that's unlikely.  Now, I am on the look out for the CBD oil in lotion form in a bottle, that I can rub all across my lower back.

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Don't tell my kids their mother is using a by-product of the Marijuana plant.  I can imagine the ribbing I'd have to take!

The Prednisone did help my back.  It got the pain back to a tolerant level---of course it will never be pain free as I have been told, "There is nothing we can do."

I have found that I can still clean surfaces--dust and scrub counters and all the cursed knick-knacks I have on those surfaces.  I just can't lift anything.  

I had a very blessed day yesterday.  I had called Dar and asked if her house cleaning lady ever did "one-time" jobs.  I don't need someone coming in twice a month, like Dar has.  So, she said she'd check and she and the cleaning lady came over yesterday morning.  Come to find out. the cleaning lady is Monica who lives just up the street...I have known her for years.

I just need my kitchen and utility area floor mopped.  I can vacuum, if I am careful and rest, but for some reason, the scrubbing back and forth action kills my back.

She looked it all over and said yes she'd be over Saturday morning to do it.  She said she likes to get down on her hands and knees, so that she can get into all the corners.  Sounded good to me!

When I asked the price, she said, "I'll charge you ten dollars."

My jaw quite literally dropped.  I was speechless for a moment and then said, "Oh no you won't!  You'll take at least twenty!"

I had expected it would cost 20-25 dollars and that is what I had set aside from the money my son gave me for Christmas.

She said she would even move the 3 wooden carts and chest of drawers I used for storage.  I will make sure to get all the surface knick-knacks off them for her.

I just can't believe this!

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Then I decided I had to get to the store.  Their "10 for 10, 11th one free" sale was on.  I drove on in to Brighton and found a parking spot right up by the door.  I managed pretty well with the cart.  If I have the cart to lean on, it doesn't hurt my back too much.

Of course, I had 11 2ltr. jugs of Diet Pepsi and a gallon of milk and a jug of kitty litter.  I wondered how I would carry it all in the house, but just as I backed into my drive, the neighbor kid came home from school and I yelled across the street and he came over and carried in the Pepsi, milk and litter for me.

His Grandma Marilyn is the one whose husband died last spring.  Then in late summer, she fell and tore up her knee.  She was in rehab for 6 weeks.  She and I had talked earlier in the day and I told her I probably should have been using my walker this past week, but it was out in the shed and I didn't have the motivation to walk way out there and get it.

Shortly after her grandson carried in my stuff, her son was at the door asking me if he could get the walker out of the shed for me.  I told him that I didn't really need it anymore and then I remembered something.

I had brought two coolers in from the shed to use to carry the frozen spaghetti sauce in for my Christmas gift for the boys.  Those two heavy coolers were still sitting in my kitchen, so I asked him if he would take them out and put them in the shed, which he did.

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I sat in my recliner last night and such a calm and peaceful feeling came over me.  

I don't ask for help and sometimes it is hard for me to accept, but I was in so much pain that I suppose I was in a weak feeling mood.  Besides, when I thought more about it, I could see God's hand in all of those blessings yesterday.  I just smiled and thanked Him.

I was minding my own business, cleaning up the house--I guess because it feels like Spring outside.

Got the den/computer room all done, washed curtains, dusted, vacuumed.  This is the dustiest room in the house because it houses the cat's litter box and I don't care what any commercial tells you, there is NO such thing as dustless kitty litter!

So yesterday I cleaned the bedroom and the bathroom.

I have a bite guard that I wear at night to keep from biting my tongue and cheeks.  I had lost it and figured it was under the head of the bed on the dusty floor.  So, I decided to pull the bed out--the Queen size bed with box springs, an 18" mattress and a 4" heavy memory foam mattress.

Wrenched my back.  Hurt, but not too bad so I kept on going.  Couldn't find the bite guard, so pushed the bed back in place.  A few minutes later, I found the bite guard under the bedside table.

Then I sprayed down and scrubbed the big shower I have and made many trips back and forth from there to kitchen to wash all my colored and cut glass pretties that I have on my bedroom dresser and shelves in the bathroom.  I got down on the floor to be able to give the toilet a good all over scrubbing.  My back twitched a bit when I pulled myself up.  I had dusted and vacuumed the bedroom, only had the bathroom to finish up.

I sat down in my recliner to rest a bit and 45 minutes later, I couldn't get out of my chair.  My left leg felt numb, with no strength and a razor  (felt like ) ripped across my back.

I reached back and could feel the swelling around that herniated disc on my left side. 

I reached in the drawer of my chair side table and pulled out my TENS device and slapped the pads on my back and set the stimulater impulse up on 50!

I managed to get up, go to the bathroom and then fix myself a sandwich and stayed in my chair until bedtime.

I slept well. When I woke up and tried to get out of bed, I had the same reaction.  Left leg numb and no strength and hard back pain.  I managed to walk to the bathroom and then kitchen bent over double, but when I did bend over to put the cat food bowls down on the floor and went to stand up, such a sharp pain at trying to stand up that I actually screamed. It was like my back had frozen and wouldn't move. Then I started sweating and tears were coming out of my eyes.

I got into my computer chair that has really good support.  The pain was horrific...worse than it has ever been.  I was kind of scared.  Wondering if I should go to the ER.  I got on FB, to take my mind off and posted about what was going on...hoping to get some encouragement and ask for prayers.

At 9:00 I tried to call the pain doctor to see if he would give me a refill on the Prednisone Step-Down pack I had before.  His office was closed until Tuesday.

Then I called my primary care doc, knowing since he didn't write the original scrip, he might not write one for me now.  He was out until 1:30.

Meanwhile, daughter Karen had called yesterday to tell me she was coming out after her morning classes.  I called her phone and left a message asking her if she could stop on her way here and get me some cat food and Diet Pepsi.  She arrived at noon with my stuff.  She couldn't stay as she had to get down to her daughter's to take care of the kiddies.

I got a call at 1:45 from my primary care doc that he HAD called in a script for me.  I called the Pharmacy and they said it would be ready in half an hour.

So--how was I going to get to my car and inside the store?  My left leg was no longer numb, but the back pain was still horrible.  I managed, by walking bent over, to get down the porch steps and into my car.  Got up to Walmart and there just happened to be ONE space open right by the Pharmacy door.  I thanked God and crawled out of my car, got a cart that was sitting next to my car and used it to lean on to get into the store.  The script was not a Step-Down pack, but just regular Prednisone 10mg, 5 pills, take one a day.  I assume it will work just as well or maybe even better than the Step-Down pack that I take teeny-tiny pills 5 times a day, then 4 a day, then etc.

My car is kind of low to the ground, so trying to get my 5'10" frame up and out of the car has been a problem for many years, today it was near impossible.    I turned in the seat so I could get both feet on the ground and then reached up to the top of the door to help lift me up and give me leverage.  Of course, that made the door want to close on my lower legs.  What a comedy of errors.

I tried again--this time taking a deep breath and sort of yelling as I pushed myself up onto my feet.  I hope no neighbors were watching!

Got up the porch steps, one step at a time, holding firmly onto the hand rail and got in the house and headed for my computer chair again.  My, by now, warm Diet Pepsi was sitting on my desk and I had my prescription bottle in my hand and whipped the top off to swallow one of the pills.

The Prednisone will take down the inflammation and swelling, which is causing all the pain and I should be okay after a weekend of resting.

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Yes--my kitchen looks like the Wreck of the Hesperes and was on my agenda to clean today--not happening.  My living room will be pretty easy to clean--that's not happening either.  All my pretty colored and cut glass is shiny clean...sitting on my kitchen counter ready to be put back in it's proper place--that's not happening either as it involves too much walking back and forth.

It's my fault.  I did it to myself trying to move the heavy bed.  I should and do know better.  So...now I have to pay the Piper, whomever he is.  My script only cost .67 cents so that Piper was easily paid.

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It's nearly 5:00 and my main objective is to get to my recliner, put my feet up and hope that I can get up once in a while to go potty, make a sandwich for supper and crochet and cross stitch for the rest of the day.

I sure hope there is something good to watch on TV tonight.

I've made it through 6 days of 2020 and so far, it's been great.

However, I seem to be a bit discombobulated.  I'm not real sure what day it is--name or number.  It seems like from Christmas until this past weekend was one long weekend or something.  Plus, our weather has been sunny and mild, with no snow, and that just isn't normal.  I feel like there is only a few days until Spring begins.  

I don't know what it is, but something is throwing me off.  Maybe I am just getting more senile and having a hard time concentrating.  There sure is enough household chores to keep me busy for a week, but I seem to forget about them---until I'm laying in bed, then I start making lists.

I need a haircut--I do know that.  It's only been about 3 weeks since my last one, but the woman at Fantastic's Sam's---whom I have gone to before--just can't seem to understand the way I want my hair cut.  She always leaves some areas too long and they grow out so quickly, compared to the other areas, that I am looking like Bozo the Clown.

Oh believe me, if I could afford $35-40 every 6 weeks, I would be going to a decent salon with "real" professional hair stylists.  I think those stylists that work at Sam's, or Walmart, or places like that failed their tests to get into a good salon.  

Today, I had to run all over this area.  Down to Brighton to the inkjet refill place, then stopped to get gas.  Then a stop at the Print Shop and then on up to Howell.  I live half-way between Brighton and Howell and it is only an 8 mile trip from the inkjet place and where I had to go in Howell, but it felt like I was on the road all afternoon.

I have received an e-mail from one of my blog buddies that she is interested in having her genealogy done.  You know how much I love the journey of climbing someone's family tree.  So I am chomping at the bit.  I just finished one that went 24 generations up the tree.  The lady thought her family was Scot, but all of her ancestor's came from Ireland.  That might be the reason she is a true redhead?  I'm sure she is going to be surprised.

Right now, I am working on crochet gifts for next Christmas.  Trying to find a pattern I like for a dishcloth for each woman and of course, a nylon scrubbie to go along with it.  I spent too much on the ladies in my family this year, soooo------rather than stop giving gifts, that has been suggested by a daughter, I will just cut back and do what I did two years ago.  The girls LOVE those scrubbies!

I don't know what I will do for the boys.  The spaghetti sauce I make can get expensive and because it takes 3 days to make the sauce and I have to make 3 different batches, it gets hard on my back to stand for a long time preparing the ingredients.

Oh, and by the way, just to be a bit political, I'm glad we took out the Iranian big dog and his second in command.    Truman didn't ask Congress before he dropped the A-bomb and Trump didn't need to ask Congress before he sent in an un-manned drone.

Just my opinion.

Resolutions

...I make them every year.  

Usually to be a better person, less critical, kinder.

...but then there comes a time when I realized that I WAS a better person.  I had reached perfection.  So there is no need for any more New Year resolutions!

NOT!!!  Just spoofing you.

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I don't go out to church anymore (maybe that should be a resolution?).  I watch 3 different Pastor's on Sunday morning.  Every day, between the noon news and my Soap, I watch Joyce Meyer.  I'm not real keen on her, but her program is conveniently placed and I do learn.

I seem to be getting messages from all of these pastor's.  Why are they all teaching on the same thing at the same time, I wonder.  Hm-mm, maybe it's a God whisper sent just for me?

They all seem to teach and quote from scripture that if you are facing a challenging situation, the longer you complain about it, the longer you will stay in that situation.  The secret, is to TRUST that God will provide everything you NEED.

Well, I know that!  

I've witnessed that many times in the last few years.

My faith has become deeper, my belief stronger.

I've had months when there was no way I had enough money to pay the bills, let alone buy anything special to eat.  I do get sick of eating Ramen Noodles, but they are filling.

I complain about it every month.  Rant and rave on here.  The bills go up, the income does not.  I get scared.  My faith weakens.

...and yet, every month something comes through to help.  Finding a couple of twenty's laid on my bathroom counter after my sister's visit.  A surprise, "thinking of you" note from my cousin with a twenty inside.  My daughter Karen bringing by some food that she knows I particularly love.  A check from daughter Jennifer.  Support from my sweet girl, Chris.

Maybe if I quit complaining about my situation and see more clearly the blessings I receive, my situation will change?

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My resolution:  if any of you remember this Bing Crosby song...

"You gotta accentuate the positive,

Eliminate the negative.

Latch on to the affirmative,

And don't mess with Mister In-Between."

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When I get scared, push that thought away with a prayer.

Know FOR SURE, that God will provide.  He always has, He isn't about to stop now.

Work on deepening my faith with that knowledge.

I have a feeling, deep in my "gut" that 2020 is going to be a really good year, not just for me, but for all of us.

Looking forward and onward and upward!