Enchantment Lillies

I planted flowers at Sandy Pines that I took from my yard on Charlesgate, since I was letting my garden go to pot. Here are a few of the pictures before the rabbits got them. I had the flowers for a couple of years and even gave some to neighbors when they started to spread. Unfortunatly, the rabbits ate all of our flowers and even ate the bulbs so it was the end of our Enchantment Lillie.

Wildflowers from the past

Years ago, maybe 20 years ago, when we lived in Wyoming Michigan on Charlesgate Ave, I decided that I wanted my backyard to be like a 'secret garden'. I wanted a lot of flowers. So I planted a lot of wildflowers. I mentioned that I wanted to have a path to go to the upper level of our yard. I came home one day and found my son, Denny, digging the path. So I went to the store and got stepping stones. He even made steps for me. The yard was starting to look beautiful. Then we decided to buy into Sandy Pines so I had no time to work on my garden. Here are pictures of the bottom level of the yard.

Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus Martius)

I got a card from a Postcarder today. It has a picture of a Black Woodpecker on it. I didn't realize that there are birds in other countries (other than tropical birds) that we don't have here in the United States. This card came from Finland. The bird is found in all of Europe.

FOXNews.com - Cops: Unidentified Dead Child Found Near Texas Lake Had 'Significant Medical Needs'

FOXNews.com - Cops: Unidentified Dead Child Found Near Texas Lake Had 'Significant Medical Needs'

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My Little Sister's Birthday

Oh my gosh! Laurie is 60! I can't believe it. I can still remember her as my 'kid' sister. I'm seven years older than her. We still get together since we live so close. Every Saturday night we eat out with Steve and Laurie. And every Sunday morning, Laurie, our two friends that also happen to be sisters and I all go to a movie. First we go to Starbucks or the Corner Bakery for coffee, chai and a goodie. We have popcorn at the movie, of course. I'm sure glad I live close to my 'little sister'.

Cowgirl Dallas

It's Getting Warmer...I think!

Well, the weather is warming up and my fingers are warmed up so I can start writing again. So much has happened in the last few weeks.
We got Dallas signed up in a pre-school. She can't stay all day because she's afraid of the dark and they have nap time at 12:00, so I pick her up before that. I signed her up for a different pre-school in the fall. The one she's in now is great but the new one is cheaper and is right by our house! I didn't think they'd have room but they do.

I've been working on my rocks. I'm having a great time with them. I'm going to put pictures on.

I'll also put pictures that Dallas drew of racecars! She's an artist, I tell you!

Got a new computer but I'm having a problem with the printing. I can print off the internet but my pictures that I took look terrible. I'm calling Best Buy at 3:00. If they don't fix it, I'm going to tell them that I want to return it. I have another week to return it! I need to print!

I made Dallas a sandbox out of a big car tire Saturday. She loves it. I put in 250 lbs of sand. And, I had to pull the cart with all of the sand, Dallas' 40 lbs and a couple of plants Saturday! Hey, that's pretty good for a 66 year old woman!!

So, here are the pictures. I promise to write more often...my garden is taking a little of my time too!

Where Does the Time Go?

It's been a long time since I got on the blog! Time goes so fast. I had knee surgery and had to go to therapy every day. Jamie has been working a lot of hours so I was busy with Dallas. Let me tell you, she keeps me busy.

We had another snow storm here last night. We went out to eat at 6:00 and when it was time to go to bed, it had started to snow. This morning we got up and there was 7 inches on the ground! Fortunately, the ground doesn't freeze so the snow doesn't stick. It's already almost completely gone!

Dallas in in pre-school now. She just completed her first week, three days a week. It's made a difference with her already. She needed to go somewhere instead of staying home. Tomorrow they have swimming. It's a great pre-school.

Jamie is working at Dillards now. She like it but she gets tired out from so many hours.

I have a lot of flowers coming out but, with the snow, they may not be any good. I'll find out tomorrow. It's supposed to be in the 60s tomorrow and 75° Tuesday!

Wow! Time Goes Fast

I can't believe that I haven't written in two weeks. Why?
Knee?
Weather?
Olympics?

First: My knee
After the surgery, I did pretty good, except for falling twice. It was strange how my knee would just 'give out'. I had the surgery on Saturday, Sunday I walked with a walker and by Monday I was doing great. A little pain but not the horrible pains I had in my leg and foot every day. I went to the library and the post office Monday. I was doing really good... until this last Thursday. I don't know if our weather caused me to start having pains in my leg when I walk but it started Thursday. I went to the dr for my followup Friday. I told him that it hurt when I walked but even then it didn't hurt as much as it does now. I have to start therapy twice a week for four weeks. Today is Sunday and I'm back with the walker. I walked yesterday and today but it hurt really bad.

Second: The Weather
Maybe the weather is what caused my leg to hurt. I went out in the snow Thursday night with Dallas. Yes, I said 'SNOW'. We got 12 inches of snow in northern Texas! It is the most snow Texas has ever had. In fact, the snow we got in one day was more than Texas had in the last 30 years...all put together! We went on a tour of snowmen like people go on at Christmas to see the Christmas lights. I think 8 out of every ten houses had snowmen in the front yards. Dallas built a cute snowman. She said that she had to build it 'all by herself'. No help.

Third: The winter Olympics started in Canada this weekend. The first day, even before the opening ceremonies, a 21 year old man from Georgia (not the state but the country) was in his last practice run for the luge and he hit the wall, went over and was killed. So sad! We're watching the Olympics. Of course, I love Apollo Ono, the speed skater! He's so cute.

So, hopefully I'll be on here more often. Facebook takes a lot of my time now too. And I'm playing a game on the computer too. Addicted.

Surgery's Done...one more to go

My knee is repaired. I had it done yesterday. There was a lot to clean out and the Dr said that I have arthritis in my knee too. He said that I will have to have the other knee done too.
Sue and Denny came over and Sue took really good care of me! When I needed something, she got it for me! What a doll.
I fell once last night when I was trying to use two canes. I'm using a shower chair now and Denny's going to get Mary's walker today. I fell once this morning. It's a scary thing because you can't stop the fall! I grabbed the chair but it fell on me. Then I remembered that one of my friends at the center told me to be sure to keep my leg straight. I think that I turned it and that's what made me fall. It feels a lot better today.

My Poor Knee

After months of pain in my knee that spread to my foot every day, I finally decided that I can't continue with the pain. So after three shots that didn't work, pain pills that didn't work (except for Denny's Vs, the doctor sent me for an MRI. I went to the orthopedic doctor Thursday. I'm having surgery next Saturday. I have a torn mediscus that has to be repaired. It's going to be done as an outpatient. So dummy me thought that since it's going to be done as an outpatient with only a couple of cuts, I'll be fine and would be able to continue my life as is without pain. Oh, I knew that I'd have to rehab and that there would be some pain. But I thought that I'd be able to go out to eat Saturday night and go to the movie the next day. NOT! I got a lot of info from others and I will not be going anywhere for a couple of days. I'll work hard at the rehab because I'm not going to be one of those people that have to keep having more surgery because they didn't want to do the rehab! I don't want any more of this continuous pain and my knee giving out! Think about me next week, January 30. Hmm, my friend Betty's birthday!

Little Isobelle is Third Place in the GR Press Baby of the Year

We thought that she should be #1 but third from all the participants is pretty good! They got a lot of nice prizes.

Jan as a child

I put a picture on Facebook of when I was a child because everyone was doing it. Here are the pictures I found in my album.

Facebook and Old Friends

What I love about Facebook is that I'm communicating with the people that I worked with at Meijer. It's so neat to hear from them. And the kids I went to school with. No, I know that they aren't kids anymore. It's been 49 years since we graduated. But I think of us as kids yet. If I saw any of them on the street, I'd probably walk past them because I wouldn't recognize them. Hmmm, maybe people should wear a button with their senior picture on it. Just in case! Don't you think that would be a cool idea?
Anyway this week alone, I've added three or four friends. What's really funny is this: For the last few years I was thinking of one of my friends and wondered what happened to him. Someone told me that he passed away. But I read the obits all the time for Grand Rapids and wouldn't miss it. So whenever I'd talk to someone from school, I'd ask them if they ever knew what happened to Rich Herringa. We were good friends (anyway, I thought so). He was like a brother to me in jr high. I remember fixing him up with a girl in high school...hmm, I'll have to ask him if he remembered it. I got an invite for a friend, Bob Ingersoll, yesterday. Of course, I responded. And when I was writing something, I noticed that he had Rich as a friend. No way could that be possible. I asked him if could possibly be the same Rich Herringa and he said that it was! So I wrote a note to Rich and he answered me that it is, indeed, him! Wow. Now that's a mystery solved.
I think one of these days I'm going to put the pictures of the kids I went to school with on my facebook that I'm friends with.
There's one more mystery regarding kids I went to school with. I used to sit by a kid in study hall and we'd talk every day. If he's alive, he probably wouldn't remember. I remember everyone that I was somehow connected to in my life. I remember him as not a good looking kid, bad complexion and he wore an ROTC uniform. He wasn't a popular kid. But I enjoyed our talks every day. I have no idea what we talked about. After we were out of school and the Viet Nam war was going on, I remember seeing his picture in the GR Press and it said that he was killed in Viet Nam. I went to the 5 year class reunion and he was on the 'can't find' list. I mentioned that I thought I read that he was killed in Viet Nam. To this day, I've looked for him. I'd ask people but they didn't know or didn't remember him. When I worked at Meijer, if I got a call from a Nowak (his name was Arnold Nowak), I'd ask if they knew him. One year I went to a park here that had the Viet Nam wall on display and they had computers to look someone up. I asked but they didn't find his name. Maybe he wasn't killed after all. So that's a mystery not solved. I think I'll look around in the internet for his name. Maybe I'll find it.
Anyway, I went to the 5 year class reunion and the 15 year class reunion but I've never gone to any more. I think one is coming up next year. Perhaps I'll go.

MRI

Well, I finally gave in to having something done about my knee. The pain is so bad that I had to resort to going to the doctor. I always refused to have it checked because everyone that I know that has had a knee replaced had to have it done more than once. But they were all heavy women and I'm not so maybe mine would work. That's if I have to have it done. I won't know until the doctor calls me. One neat thing is that they gave me a cd with my knee (in action). I don't know what the heck it means but it looked cool!

Pictures of Dallas

Here are some new pictures for 2010 of Dallas and Stella.

Baby, It's Cold Outside! My knee Knows!

What a winter we're having. It's soooo cold out. Tomorrow it's going to be in the single digits!!! I can't imagine it being that cold here in Texas! The good thought is that it won't last and in a couple of months I'll be planting, weeding and watering again! I'm going to hang onto that thought.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the doctor about my knee. It just hurts all the time. The last time I was in the office, I was told that the only cure for my knee would be a knee replacement. I swore for the last 10 years that I would never have knee surgery. But, the pain is so bad that my foot even hurts and my whole leg. My knee has even buckled a couple of times so I'm going to give in. I sure hope it helps me!

If I Could Have One New Year Wish

I would wish that my children could walk a mile in 5 pair of my shoes.
1st pair- when I was a child
2nd pair- when I was a teen
3rd pair- when I brought them up
4th pair- the shoes I wear now
and the 5th pair would be my last pair of shoes.

I went back into my mother's life and tried to wear
her shoes. I understand what her life was like and
why she did the things she did and how she brought me
up.
I forgive her for the things that she may have done
wrong because I understand why she did them. I applaud the
things she did because I know it was hard for her but she
did them.

Funny How Small This World Is!

I'm in Postcrossing, as you may know from my other blog. I'm in Facebook and three blogs. I'm even thinking of adding another blog for animals! I love animals and would like to post things about them and their protection.

Well, today I got an email from someone who is in Postcrossing too! She actually lives in McKinney, next door to Allen! She's from Michigan, although I don't know where yet. She'll tell me. So far, everyone that I have met in my 7 years here is from the east side of Michigan and we're from the west side. But all of Michigan is the same...cold...snowy...cloudy...depressing and what more can I say!

This year is coming to and end and I'm trying to think of what I can to improve my life in the next year. I hope I don't have to have knee surgery. My knee hurts really bad sometimes. I was taking arthritis pills for it but quit taking them. I don't want to take more than the three RXs that I take and I don't think that they were doing any good anyway.

I'd like to lose 10 lbs. Who wouldn't! I'll keep making Chemo Caps for Joyce's Chemo Cap Project and make the blog as interesting as I can. I'll keep sending postcards. I've been making my own because there aren't any for Allen and I want to show where I live, not Dallas which I live close too. I got a pretty good feedback from the cards I sent the last time.

Maybe I can teach Dallas some things before she gets ready to start school. She's only three!

I have to try not nag Denny about his diabetes but, if I don't, he's not going to get the count dropped lower and he's going to go blind in two years if he doesn't (the eye dr told (scolded) him!

So postcrossing, knitting, Dallas, movies, books, gardening. Oh, I'm on two committees for our housing association. So I hope to get a lot done there too.

That's it for my year! What about yours?

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

I hope everyone who reads this has a very good Christmas and a great 2010. When I was a kid, 2010 seemed a million years away. And here it is. To everyone a healthy, prosperous, and lots of happiness. Maybe this will be the year that the cure for Cancer is found. Maybe this will be the year that there will be no wars. For my family, I pray for health. God Bless you, one and all!

Christmas Is Almost Here

I can't believe the year is almost over! It sure went fast. We had our Christmas with Denny, Sue and Jordan last night because they're going to Michigan on Christmas Day. I hope that they have good weather. The weather has been pretty bad up north the last few weeks. They got a lot of snow! It was pretty cold here too. The last few days have been nice.

The Weather

I wrote on Facebook how nice it was here for the last two days. Yesterday we took Stella out on two walks. We could have worn our sandals, it was so warm. I opened all of the windows in the house. The sun shone and it was in the 70s!
That's all changed today! It's so cold out that I don't want to go out unless it's absolutely necessary. And they said that there's a cold front coming through.

Now Denny Has Atrial Fibrillation!

So, now beside's diabetes, only half a heart working, has a fibrilator/pacemaker implanted, Sleep Apnea and on 11 different meds, he finds out yesterday he has Atrial Fibrillation! He had to start on Cumiden! That's scaring him! He has to go in each week to be sure it's adjusted correctly. Meanwhile, I'm afraid that he'll cut himself and bleed out. His blood seems so thin now. And his legs have huge veins showing! Poor guy.

We're changing to Secure Horizons for the new plan year. I think we'll save a lot of money! No monthly premiums. The cost of that was killin' us.

Where Is The Time Going?

My gosh, it seems like I'm busy all the time and when I'm not busy working, I'm busy with other things...Granddaughter--work, house---work, chemocaps---not work, Dexter--not work, Trauma, Life In the ER--not work, reading---not work. Hey, why do I have more busy-not work than I do work busy? Well, I'm retired, aren't I?

Stella - New Member of Our Family

Yesterday we went to shelters and SPCA showings of dogs to find a dog. We ended up at Operation Kindness. It's a 'no kill' animal rescue in Carrolton, TX. I adopted O'Ley there. We found Stella. She had a different name but we changed it to Stella, after Denny's mother! She's a Chiwuawua, with with black and a little brown. We don't know what the mix is. I laughed and said maybe she's Dalmation since she has black spots! Funny! She only weighs 5 lbs and she's a year old. Stella is fitting right into the family. She doesn't bark, doesn't shake like Chiwuawuas shake. She pottys outside and follows me all over. She snuggled in Jamie's jacket and slept all night. And Willow ignores her.

You'll be seeing more of Stella

Dallas is in Gymnastics

Dallas has been to 4 classes in Gymnastics. She loves it and, believe it or not, she does what she's told. Her coach, Maria, is very nice and patient with these 3 year old children. There are usually only 4 little girls and they are just darling! So much fun to watch. Dallas is learning to do a cartwheel. Yesterday she went to the gym with Jamie and went to the playroom. She was dancing and the sitter said that it was really fun. There was a boy that is a little older than Dallas and he was break dancing. Dallas loves to dance and she started to do her cartwheel (as much as she's learned on it so far). She looked like she was breakdancing. Here are some pictures of her in gymnastics.

Dennis is now 69 Years Old

Wow, my husband is 69 now. I never thought of him as an old man. Well, he is! But, I'm not far behind him! We went to Texas Roadhouse for his birthday. Denny and Randy couldn't be there because they were hunting but the rest of us 'girls' went with him. He said that he DID NOT want us to tell the waitress it was his birthday. But it was too late because Danielle already told her. When all of the waitress' and waiters came to our table, I got nervous because Denny can get upset easy. He was cool and they sang happy birthday to him without a protest!
Here are pictures of our day.

Danielle Is An Artist

Danielle, Dallas and I went to the place that I get my rocks from. She picked out a few big rocks and was anxious to get home to start painting them. I was so surprised to see how good she is at rock painting. Some of the rocks she painted a different picture on both sided. Here are her rocks.

Fun with Danielle, Sue, Jamie and LB

The five of us went to the casino today. We all donated toward a set of towels, blankets and sheets for the hotel. Well, that's just a way of saying we lost our money! But it was fun! It's great having Danielle here from NC while Randy is hunting with his brother, Denny. Coco is fun when he doesn't bite. He can't help it because he's with a crazy family. Beautiful weather here in North Texas for a nice drive to OK to the casino.