Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

Morning friends, today I awake to abundant sunshine! such a change from the cloudy, rainy, snowy days just past. today is cold still but tomorrow is promised to be spring like, yeah.

Julie, I did enjoy your more personal post, all the things you do crowd into a day, goodness! Sorry to hear of your cousin passing, 61 is so young. Mamacita had a great idea, instead of you or your aching hubby with his pinched nerve trying to move boxes, get your daughter to help upon her arrival. Like Mama, I am sure she would be glad to help! We are getting older, it is time to let the next generation help us a bit

Brenda, I am so sorry that you lost a tree, but glad no damage to your house. Yes, it is a shame it did not fall on the already damaged fence, if that would help you get it repaired. Are storms over for you? Or are more forecast for today or later this week?

Welcome home Broni, hope you and Bella had a great time. I am a bit worried about what the more than expected adventure might have been. but you are here with us, so perhaps it was not so bad.

My Nephew spent about 10 hours in the ER last night, 7 of them waiting to be seen. He was even sent to ER from urgent care, their doctor realized he needed tests they could not do. He had severe back pain for over 24 hours. Turns out a kidney stone. Now he had previously had a stone, said this did not feel like that at all. Perhaps it was lodged in a different location to cause different pain? they gave him pain medication and a strainer, and sent him home with instructions to call back if stone did not pass soon. Not the way he had planned to spend Valentines day. Several of us kept him company via facebook while he was waiting.

Wanted to say more, but my breakfast is calling, I was waiting for the coffee to finish dripping. the pot just gurgled to say it is hehehe.

MizT, even though the tree shaded our house it was on the council side of the fence. I have asked for this area to be cleared as there are a couple of dead trees there, though they look green during the summer this is with Russian vine rather than their own leaves.

PJ has now gone to his wonderful new home. All of their kids and grandkids will be descending on him tomorrow. They're all so excited about getting him. And he's SO good with children. They don't have any other horses or donkeys (yet) so I told them that I will have the person who has always trimmed his feet get in touch with them to schedule his next trimming. That way they won't have to look for a good farrier for him.

OH, I did not know you were re-homing PJ. I hope all the children will be delighted with him and give him a lot more attention now. Had you advertised him for sale? Or did they just know of his reputation in your area and contacted you to find an animal for their grandchildren?

HEhehehe, this is NOT FB, hitting the enter key will NOT post this comment.

I'm trying to type this while peering very closely...for some reason I have been having double vision today...no pain, but this is annoying to say the least...sigh.
Just wanted to make a new announcement......
IT'S SNOWING AGAIN!!!!!!I feel like crying, I'm so sick of this stuff...but guess I need to check myself and be glad that I have heat and power as well as plenty of food...of course if I lose power none of that will matter...but I'll look on the positive side...and hope all stays asa is..take care everyone.

Mama, sending hopes and prayers that you do not loose power. I was just reading that northeast had another snow storm coming. I hope you can find food you can eat without cooking, and really warm clothes in layers and layers, under a warm polar fleece blanket to keep you warm. I do hope your vision clears. If it does not, perhaps a call to the doc once the storm is over would be in order. Double vision can be sign of bigger problems, you know.

Time to change from the Valentine avatar. I am still looking for sunshine, ours today hid under clouds after a few hours, so till spring, here is another sunshine avatar.

Today has been a bad pain day. I am waiting for this medication to work, relief is only partial and does not stay the time between medication today, not a fun day. I reached up into my freezer today for ice, and the pain shooting through breastbone and shoulders was enough to make sick to tummy. Note to self, no more reaching up today . I am off to bed to get thoroughly warm and still, perhaps that will help this dose work, sitting at computer is not doing it. It will be better soon, I know it will, I know it will.

Hugs to all, and thanks to listing to me complain. It helps to be able to complain about it a bit, so again, thanks for listening.

I had not planned on re-homing PJ. The couple was here working (The husband is a contractor for Lowe's) and we got talking. They had spotted him in the front pasture with the horses, and asked me if I knew of anybody with a mini horse for sale that was gentle and broke to drive and ride for toddlers. As I learned more of them, I realized what ideal owners for PJ they'd be, so I offered him to them. To put it mildly, they got very excited, stopped work, and went over to the fence to get a closer look at him. PJ strolled on over himself and happily let them pet him through the fence. They then told me they loved him, and would let me know for sure once they talked to the ''kids''. This was yesterday morning. Two hours later, they called me and said they'd pick him up at noon today. They were early.

I hope you feel better soon, MizT. I know how awful it is when pain meds don't work through intense pain.
Today it warmed up enough to turn the top few inches to mud in most places. Now it's freezing again and turning the mud to brown ice. The cold spell is nearly over, though. Tomorrow night will be the last night for a while when the low will be below freezing. By mid-week, the highs are supposed to be in the mid-60;s!!!! Now THIS is the normal schizophrenic Winter weather Kentucky has.

I need to get changed. IH and I are going out for Valentine's dinner. I know it was yesterday, but the weather caused problem yesterday which prevented us from going out. So we're leaving in 15 minutes.

A bit better now, I took a whole muscle relaxer, been taking only a half, and that has helped a bit. Just not a good day. Back to bed with me, and start fresh in the morning. Hugs to each of you. Hugs are a wonderful thing, you get as many as you give

These weather forecasters LIE!!!! It's SNOWING again!!!!!

Just a quick Hello! I'll try to get back tomorrow to read. I may not have much chance to 'visit' here while D and grandies are visiting. Or during the cello festival. It may be just over a week before I can visit regularly.

[[[[[HUGS}}}}}, healing vibes, prayers, positive thoughts and for everyone!

Julie, loved reading all your news. You work so very hard and always travelling and on the go. I do hope your hubby has got rid of some of that pain. Took Laura to Belinda's place today asshe wanted some gear for Cubs on Tuesday as they celebrate the year of the horse. Out with friends tomorrow and I do have to clean up the big mess I made yesterday. decided to sort out some of those boxes. Lots of stuff in the bin but some just has to find a new home. I just cannot throw out those exam papers from the Leaving certificate (1957) or the chemistry ones from Tech!('59-'63)
Several days of lovely rain. Also need to get into the garden. Must get in touch with a maintenance man to do some digging for me.

In 2 hours, we sort out and load up 5 heifers to take to the sale barn. Then off I go. We still have quite a few of last year's calves to sell. Five of the steers won't be leaving until March, when they go to an Iowa feedlot on a retained ownership program, so we can get carcass data on them.

It didn't go quite to plan, because it was so muddy. But we did get 6 calves sorted out (only 6 cooperated). One was very sick, and we treated her with antibiotics and put her back in the feedlot. The others we caught were 4 steers and a heifer, and I took them down to the graded sale. There are still 16 calves to sell, including the 5 that go to Iowa. That means 2 more trips to Glasgow for me in the next few weeks. Glasgow is where the best sale barn is, near Bowling Green, site of the Corvette Museum that had the sinkhole form in the middle of the museum.

Hi all, another quick visit. Have been in hospital again (twice) since my last post. Had an artifical graft vein in my arm for haemo and my luck - looks like I am allergic to teflon. Have to wait another 2 weeks before they decide if the graft is ok. It is very painful and hard to do everything one-handed. Have dialysis in hospital 3 times a week so not much time for anything else. Theresa - hope you are coping with the injections ok - my son started insulin a couple of months ago and his health has improved greatly.Mamcita - the biggest fear of local anaesthesia is the waiting. Afterwards you will recall very litte and thankfully your pain will be a thing of the past. Weather is stunning here - between 25-30 most days (now the 40 degree days are gone). It is hard to realise what awful weather the topsiders are having - floods and snowstorms. Happy belated birthday wishes to you Heidi - hope your coming year is better than the last. Take care everyone.

Greetings, Everyone! After tonight, it may be another week before I get back to visit.

MIzT, I'm sorry to hear about your nephew. Hopefully by now the stone has passed and he is feeling much better!

Brenda, I'm sorry the tree was felled by the storm. Maybe when the council comes to remove it, they will observe the state of neighboring trees and determine the best course of action for them.

Heidi, it sounds like you have found a wonderful new home for P.J. I hope he enjoys all of his new 'siblings' as much as it sounds like they will enjoy him!

Mama, I hope you're feeling better and the latest storm didn't bring additional problems! I know a lot of us will be glad to see the thaw, but it will hopefully be slow and not create a lot of flooding!

MIzT, I hope you continue to feel better! I'm glad that taking a full muscle relaxer pill was able to finally break the pain cycle, at least for a while!

June, hopefully you have inspired me to attack some of our many boxes (after everyone leaves and the cello festival ends)! Seems a year or more ago Theresa and I were writing about going through boxes and leaving less for our children to do. I think she actually got started on it. Unfortunately, hubby and I haven't. MUCH work to be done, but seems there's always other things that need to be done as well!

Heidi, it may not have gone according to plan, but at least you were able to take 5 calves to the sale barn. Good luck as you sell the rest of last year's calves and with this year's calving!

Midge, it's so good to see you! Gentle {{{HUGS}}} as you deal with the vein graft. Hubby had to deal with that, as well. Hopefully the allergic reaction will subside. The vein graft is no fun, nor is dialysis. Seems like it was about 4 to 4.5 hours three times a week, so a big drain on your time. Sending warm thoughts to you as you deal with the dialysis!

It's time to head to bed, as the alarm is set for 5:30. D and grandies arrive in the morning, and we'll be busy with them, and then the cello festival until early next week. Sending my very best positive thoughts, warm healing vibes, prayers, , and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} for everyone!

Midge, I hope that the graft turns out to be good and that the pain you are suffering now eases.
Our family from Australia are on their way now. We will pick them up from the airport lunchtime tomorrow. The rest of the family are still in the dark as to what is happening. Emily was supposed to be going away tomorrow far a couple of days, but because of the flooding in that area they have cancelled the trip. Richard is off work tomorrow which will cause some questions to be asked as he never takes odd days off work especially not during school holidays.it is half term this week.
I didn't sleep well last night I think I have so much on my mind that I cannot rest.
My birthday present arrived on Friday. We are now the owner of a gym quality treadmill. I now have no excuse not to get some exercise every day. I have been good and used it daily so far. The rest of the family get the benefit of it too.

Heidi, belated but with heartfelt luv and Jugs.

Bella and Broni's Adventure.....Part 1
Well we had a timely leaving from home late morning and only a 4 hour drive to Goondiwindi for our first night camping and apart from me trying to put up the fly screen upside down in the awning was an adventure we had never been on. Cheese and bickies for dinner but was too excited to cook anything.
Off early the next morning after packing up, that was slow for a first timer but we were on the road again. Stopped a few hours later for a pit stop for Bella and a good strong coffee and toasted bacon and egg sandwich for me, then on the road again.
Car was purring, music was up and we were cruising with the air con on.
Bella was so good, I had bought a ramp for her online, she has such short legs she could not even get her front paws on the steps of the Patrol to get her up on the back seat.
Few more hours and found a local take away for lunch (none of those chain restaurants for us, really like to use the locals)and headed to Forbes for another camp out with no power.
The Waco was working well and I was showered and we had dinner and had a good night sleep and on the road again.
Then after a few hours my car decided to overheat in 45c/113f heat so had to pull over and after 3/4 hour found my water reservoir was full it was not the problem.
I drove us into Denny and stopped off to put wet towels over both Bella and I to cool down.
So we limped the car into Moama and met up with my cousin. We were so heat stressed he did not recognise us.
But it does get better and we had a great week and a half before driving back.
More later my friends.
Luv and Jugs.

Wow!!! Broni. That was quite the adventure getting out there. Did you find the problem with the overheating vehicle? I'm on pins and needles to hear the rest.

Poor Midge. You're having a h*ll of a time. I really hope things get better for you soon.

Two more calves born this morning.... one of each.
That gives us 3 bulls and 2 heifers.

NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!! It's RAINING!!!!

Yeah for the new calves, Heidi. How is your weather today? We are warm but cloudy with a chance of rain. I want springtime temps, which we have, but some sunshine too please. Hope it is warming up for you and the calves. If you must have mud, let's make it warm mud.

Broni, enjoyed your part 1 of your adventure. Too bad the car overheated in such terrible outside temps. I hope you found the overheating problem before your trip back. Looking forward to part 2 of Broni's adventures.

Brenda, enjoy the visit with family, and hope everyone is happily surprised with the visit. It is unfortunate Emily's trip was canceled due to flooding, but if she had to loose a trip what better time than now to be home for the visit. sometimes things just work out.

Julie, thanks, I am doing better pain wise. Last night meds gave best pain relief I have had in days. Went to sleep at 1 am, and slept till 11 am, only up once for meds and the necessary room. It was so wonderful to get a full night's sleep and to be pain free for a bit. Pain the last few days had just worn me down. I am much better, actually smiling today.

Julie, I hope you enjoy your daughter and grandies visit and your music festival too. that sounds like hard work, but I am sure you will gain a lot from it.

Midge, sending wishes and every hope that the graft will get better and no more pain for you. My ex has had an ongoing problem with his graft, but has a wonderful surgeon who so far has always managed to make necessary repairs or 'clean it out' as needed. I am wishing the same for you. That 3 times a week in the chair for 4 hours is a lot out of your schedule, but you will learn to work around it. Can you have your laptop or iPad with you and manage to use it one handed? it would give you something to do to pass the time and let you keep up with some things.

Today the veggie man has fresh asparagus for only $1, I consider that a real bargain. Now to find a way to cook it. I do not have my steamer, I gave it away when downsizing. Since this is the first time in 18 months I have really needed it, not a bad decision. My other veg 'steams' in microwave with just a bit of water. I am wondering if I can use same for the asparagus.

Hugs to each of you, with extras, till later.

The asparagus will steam nicely in the microwave.
Midge, you have so much to put up with health wise and it is people like you who never complain. I just hope and pray things improve for you in the near future.
Brenda, how exciting that the family will all be together very soon. enjoy their visit.
All Ken's blood tests came back OK. No sign of 'C', just a large stone. He will have more Xrays to determine size and composition (most probably calcium) and he will then have it blasted.
Broni, you are home safely, the most important thing.
Cloudy day, after all the lovely rain, and I am off to a social bowls game.

Good news for Ken, June. Identified the problem and found a solution.

MizT.... it's relatively warm here, finally. All week the highs will be in the 40's and 50's, and nights without a freeze. I just wish there was no rain in the forecast. But Kentucky is notorious for wet winters. I just need to find some creative solution to the mud.

So please that the diagnosis is what it is for Ken, hopefully they will sort it out soon.

*** GROSS WARNING ***
Poor Gil. He's suffering so. A few days ago he came to me complaining of a ''boil'' on his back, and asked me to burst it for him. I took one look at that golfball sized lump and refused to touch it. I insisted that he see his doctor. So today he went in and they made a 1 1/2 inch incision and cleaned out a huge abscess. He's now in bed, claiming that he's exhausted, and he feels miserable. That bloody idiot needs a REAL problem to know what ''miserable'' is!!! Jeez!

Busy day tomorrow, so off to bed early.

((( JUGS ))) everybody.

Just a quick visit! I glanced at comments.

June, great news for Ken!

MizT, I'm glad you had such a good night's sleep!

Brenda, unfortunate that your Emily had to cancel plans, but wonderful timing! I suspect she won't be too disappointed!

Broni, great first installment of your adventures!

Heidi, hooray for the new calves! Do you think IH will make it through the night? (she asks facetiously)

Love and {{{{{JUGS}}}}}, positive thoughts, healing vibes and prayers for everyone!

Lost the social game of bowls today, but it was humid and I would have been just as happy if I had stayed at home! I do need lots of practice as we have some competitions coming up soon.
Ken got a report today and the stone is about 49mm that is about 5 cm or 2 inches in size. I do not think he will be passing it at that size!

Ouch for poor Ken. Hope they can blast it away.

Husband's Response To Marital Counseling

After 35 years of marriage, a husband and wife came for counseling. When asked what the problem was, the wife went into a tirade listing every problem they had ever had in the years they had been married. On and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness, feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of unmet needs she had endured.

Finally, after allowing this for a sufficient length of time, the therapist got up, walked around the desk and after asking the wife to stand, he embraced and kissed her long and passionately as her husband watched with a raised eyebrow. The woman shut up and quietly sat down in a daze.

The therapist turned to the husband and said, 'This is what your wife needs at least 3 times a week. Can you do this?'

'Well, I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Fridays, I fish.'

Off in a few minutes to pick up the check for calves (a 2 hour drive), then back here in time for a feed delivery mid-morning. Then I head in the opposite direction for a meds pick up, and to buy a new vacuum cleaner. We destroyed 3 (used ones) of them this week! Time for a new one.

Bella and Broni's Adventure.....Part 2
Well we caught up with my cousin in Moama to collect supplies and he took one look at me and suggested I go into the air conditioned shopping centre to get our supplies (I was a heat stressed wreck) while he stayed with our dogs. We both had camping set ups so we could not drive back into town until the end of the week when the others got there.
We got out to the camp site and I let Bella out of the car, she saw the water and was skidding and sliding down the bank on her short little legs to the water to cool off. Happy puppy.
Well Kev's (my cousin) new rescue dog Foxy, decided to protect Kev and his camp so we had a few days when we entered his camp set up there was a lot of growling and snarling from this little dog that was the size of Bella's head. She had a lion's heart. We ate like kings and queens, homemade spag bog, thai chilli chicken, poached eggs on turkish bread.....shall I go on??
Have put a photo up of us on the river if you have managed to get this far.
Luv and Jugs.

You made me laugh out loud Theresa!

I woke my dog!

Hello one and all. Well the additional snow has fallen and I haven't lost power, so all is good that way. Still having trouble with my vision and will have to schedule a visit with my doctor soon. Broni, I was holding my breathe waiting for your adventures and thus far they sound good except for the car over heating...I was a tad concerned that there had been a really big glitch that spoiled the trip for you. Great picture on the other site btw.June, Ken's certainly doesn't want to pass a stone that big...oh my. I understand and feel his pain...hope it comes to an end soon.Heidi...poor Gil...hope he feels more like himself soon too...smh and smiling at the same time. Theresa...that was a good one...got any more? I can never remember jokes but do enjoy many. How's your weather? Looks as if we will have milder temps in the 40's this week...I'm glad and hope your temps are similar. MzT...haven't been doing much practicing but seeing some of the things you've said seem to be falling into place on their own. I'm trying to limit my movements due to the pain above my right eye gets worse when I do too much. Boy, you really got a good buy with that asparagus. Wish I had some right now..that's one of my favorite veggies. It does steam well in the microwave. I also place it in a skillet with just enough water to cover and bring it to a boil then turn it off and its quite nice. Hope you continue to find good pain relief and are able to have more nights of good rest. Midge...you amaze me with your spirit in the face of your pain and recent hospitalizations...you know, there are nicer places to go rather than hospitals...stay away from...lol.Seriously though, I do hope all turns out well with your vein graph and doesn't give you any more trouble. Julie...enjoy your family visit and the cello festival to the max...try to squeeze in a bit of rest too. Looking forward to hearing how the festival went upon your return to posting again. Well, time to do something other than typing so I'll see you all later...take care...I care. Peace.

Picked up the check, and was here to supervise the unloading and pay the guy for the feed. In a little while I'm off in the other direction. No calves born last night, although IH, who does the first morning check, rushed into the house to tell me there was a new calf for me to tag. I went out there to find it was one I tagged yesterday. Oh well.

Good morning friends, I am having a bit of trouble getting going here this morning. It is 9:30 and I am just out of bed, still in jammies. De caf coffee is not doing the wake me up job today.

Broni, loved your Part 2, other than the overheating of YOU, that can be dangerous. Glad there was an Ac shopping mall to help you cool down and de-stress. Lovely photo of you and your camper, thanks for posting.

REST OF POST IS Mama's RELAXATION LESSON, scroll on by if you want.

Mama, since the relaxation seems to be falling into place on it's own, now it is time to start building your safe place. Think of a location that would be most enjoyable for you. Floating on a cloud above it or lying in a hammock overlooking such a place is good. It can be a beach scene, or a pasture with sheep grazing, A garden filled with tropical flowers, whatever is relaxing to you. Let your imagination work overtime. think of the sights you would see first, the wind gently blowing the trees, grass and flowers, or the waves crashing on the shore, whatever. the seeing is the easiest to do, so go into very minute detail. Notice all the colors, all the shade and light playing with each other. think of the changes a small puffy white cloud over the sun would make on your safe place. Can you see the cloud race across the sky? Can you see it's shadow move on the ground. Can you see all the flowers, and any animals you have in your safe place?

After you get the scene in place, or as you build it, try to feel what you would feel there. Feel the cool breezes, feel the sun on your face, feel the shade as the cloud moves across. Feel your self floating, completely supported and so relaxed. Then listen to the sounds. Can you hear the wind rustle the leaves of the trees? Can you hear the waves breaking? Can you hear the animals, or the children playing, or the cows mooing? Hear whatever is in your safe place. then go for the smells, the clean crisp air, the flowers, the just mown grass, smell whatever is in your safe place.

Keep working on these individually, the seeing, the feeling, the hearing, the smell, until they begin to blend and you experience all of these at same time. when you can do that, you have built your safe place. If you want to PM me with what would work for you as your place, maybe I can help you with the visulization. You want to get to every tiny detail of that place, and be so engrossed into it, that someone has to call your name and touch your hand to get you to come back.

Hope this works for you, and for anyone else that is following along.

Tricia...many thanks for drawing such a clear picture...I will try to work on this, but I can tell you that I'm uncertain about my success...I don't know why I say that and don't want to dwell on it and set up a situation that becomes self full-filling.....I will really try to make this work.I really appreciate your time and help and hope I can do this.♥