Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

Mamacita, you have been through somuch over the
past few years - you are strong and can do it. I have my times of self-doubt and pity - then kick myself in the butt and get on with it. Think of all you have to live for and strength comes. I am going to try MizT's idea - better than concentrating on spots on the wall!!! Thanks MizT.

Can't sleep. Every time I start to nod off, there's a loud crash of thunder and a couple of dogs freak out all over me. We're going through a delightful warm patch right now.... 50's and 60's ... but there has to be a price. Rumor has it that ''they''' are expecting tornadoes here on Thursday!!!! I'm not telling IH that because we HAVE to work the remaining 16 calves then to get their weights. We're not doing it later today (Wednesday) because IH has a doctor appointment in the morning, and I'm driving my friend Debbie (the one who takes care of my critters when I'm away) to get a CAT scan of her neck. It's acting up again. She's already had 4 surgeries on it and she's still in pain.

Oops... I'm driving Debbie to her appointment IN THE AFTERNOON.

Another heifer born this morning. We now have three of each. A slower start to calving than I expected.

Gekko my friends.
Was busy organising Kathy & Jane's Qld adventure with Cyn last night and ended up with a burnt dinner! So will continue my adventure tonight.
Mama and Midge, sending you strength and love.
Luv and Jugs.

Busy day today. Not as busy as Julie's days are, but for me it was busy. I had a doctor appointment this morning at my new dermatologist. I had received a call from the old one earlier this month reminding me of my appointment, ooops, cancel that and get a doc up here. He had wanted to see me in 6 months, not the 1 year it had been lately, so something he wanted to check back on. Knowing this, I made appointment for this month and did not put it off. It was a good thing, because I had 4 biopsies today. The nurse practitioner said one of them is almost certainly a cancer, the others are maybe, we will see. I get results back in a week.

I like the new doctor, she came in briefly, the nurse practitioner did the biopsies. I like her too, everyone is nice, office seems well run and ON TIME, did not have to wait long at all. Appointment was at 10, I was finished and out by 10:30. Of course waiting for Elmo and our free EP bus to take me (hour early) and come get me took longer.

I played scrabble this afternoon, we just finished. Heidi, Lynn was much better today, she came down without her oxygen even, glad to see her doing so much better.

In between I had a brief nap had lunch and cleaned my kitchen. Now I am tired again. Is there any rule against two naps a day??

Heidi, congrats on another calf today. Hope your cows get to a bit faster pace soon. The weather guessers are saying we might have severe weather Thursday night here. More a chance of straight line winds instead of tornadoes. Considering the angles these storms come across, you would be due for severe weather earlier than here. Because storm will come across us at night, it will not be as string, and therefore less likely to produce tornadoes.

Midge, you are most welcome. I hope the relaxation and visualization can be of help to you. Mama, you can work at this a bit at a time, It sounds daunting, but if you have imagination, you can do it. I will be using it next week, if they do have to remove spots. Used it today for the biopsies, but those were easy. the nurse who did the local was very good, I really did not feel them.

Huumm, I think there was more from a page back I wanted to comment on, but have forgotten. so leaving hugs for each of you, with extras. Take as many as you need.

Hi Broni, Your post has not come up until after I posted mine. I would not have overlooked you, promise. I'm sorry you burned your dinner, but I am sure the get together will make up for one missed meal. Besides, there is always Vegemite toast hehehe.

Just got in from tagging another heifer calf. IH was trying to convince me that the cow/calf pair that was off by themselves was the pair he tagged this morning. If he tagged it, it was with an invisible tag, and the calf changed mamas.

VERY glad you got in to the dermatologist today, Tricia!!!

Broni - if you had said you were still cooking dinner, I would have reminded you to check it!
Nola - looks like we have decided to have the gathering at Broni's on the Friday Evening 28/3. Further details to come. Do you think you might make it down? It would be lovely to see you again and the bonus about being at Broni's is that we can move around freely talking to one another instead of sitting around a noisy table in a restaurant.
I had a quick read but now can't remember a thing. Love and hugs all around!

Hi All, Tricia, like Heidi, I'm glad you went to the dermatologist today too, and on top of having the spots checked , you liked those you will be dealing with. Hope your report next week is a good one.I went to the doctor today too to see about this double vision and he sent me straight to the Ophthalmologist who had me have lab work done right away and gave me eye drops. She has also ordered a MRI of my head...seems it may be something systemic going on, so again, getting to a problem hopefully while its still small and manageable...we are so lucky to be living in an age where there is continual improvements in health care.
Broni...sorry you burned up your dinner, but I'm sure you didn't starve...you are far too resourceful for that. Heidi, while the calving is off to a slow star you seem to be getting a very nice split of the sexes...hope the weather gives you a break while getting to weigh those 16 calves you plan to sell. Midge...saving you for last since you will be joining me into trying to learn how to visualize a happy place as we face the various challenges that have been following us recently...hope you are able to master it quickly. As you point out it beats counting spots on a wall...lol. Well the witching hour has come and I'm going to get ready for bed...I have now joined the napping group...and yes Tricia...I've taken more than one on some days....this is new for me since my gall bladder attack, but I find that there are some periods in a day, no matter how much sleep I had had, that I just need to lay down and close my eyes for a period of time...so saying good night to all and may your dreams be sweet...Hugs to all are also coming your way...Peace.

Mamacita, I do hope your problems are sorted out soon. You are in our prayers to get well soonest.
I had a bit of an achy day yesterday so did not finish some jobs I had started. Must do it today as I am having 10 ladies here tomorrow for 'High Tea'. I am just supplying the venue so I do not have to do any cooking. BUT, I do need a tidy house!

Gekko my friends.
Glad my working week is over. The temps have been high and the humidity higher, I am so over it! Even Bella is panting all the time and I have not been home to spray her down. Wonder why I am up at 4am?
Cyn, made homemade pizza and had just put it in the oven before I called you. Totally forgot about it as we solved the problems of the world before we planned Jane and Kathy's adventure. Lucky I like very brown cheese and crispy salami hehe!

Our weather forecast below. Mother Nature is not done with us just yet:

For regions north of a line from about Kincardine eastward to Ottawa, snowfall ranging anywhere between a trace to 10 cm Thursday night may be followed by 10 to 20 mm of rain. A few hours of freezing rain and ice pellets are also possible during the transition from snow to rain, but is most likely to occur in Eastern Ontario, especially near the Ottawa Valley.

Bella and Broni's Adventure.....Part 3
Well Kev and I had settled into a nice routine. Get up in the morning, make coffee and watch the river flow by. Make another coffee with breakfast and watch the river flow by. Watch the birds in the trees and the ground feeding birds walk by and watch the river flow by. Take the dogs for a walk, come back and realise it is time for elevenses and guess what?? watch the river flow by.
It was a magical time with only the two of us on the river. We would chat, laugh and do things at our own pace, take a dip in the river with the dogs when it got too hot. Little Foxy would sit on Kev's shoulders behind his head in the river....no way Bella was doing that to me, but I would hold her in my arms so those short little legs could have a rest from swimming.
Late in the week family and friends started arriving for the Sthn 80 Water Ski races over the weekend so things started getting more boisterous and the party was on, it was wonderful to catch with those I had not seen for over a year. We laughed and shed a tear for those not with us and raised our glasses for the good times past.
The final race was on the Sunday and mother nature decided we needed to blow a few cobwebs away so sent us some very strong winds that were making quite a few of the camp sites flap around but not mine hehe! There were fires in Victoria and NSW and these winds were not helping. Bless our fire fighters many who are volunteers. So the races finished and many scurried away from the winds and for work, the motley crew with hangovers packed up and left the next day.

June, please pace yourself today after your achy day so you can enjoy tomorrow. How is Ken?
MizT, sometimes when I cannot sleep someone told me years ago to just lay there without touching any other part of your body then tense each part of your body (head, neck, shoulders etc.)then relax it working down from head to toe, cannot say I ever perfected it but does take your mind off not sleeping and the body is still resting. Not sure if this is along the lines you are talking about?
Theresa wishing you warmth and plenty of supplies.
Heidi, wishing you no mud.
Those I have not mentioned, wishing you health and happiness.

Ken is OK and not in any pain. In fact he is umpiring school baseball for Belinda today. (this was what started it all last week when he did not drink enough water) He had more Xrays yesterday as they will be clearer than the ultrasound, sees the Urologist next week to find out how and when they will brake up this large 49mm (2inch)stone.
Broni, your holiday sounds nice and relaxing.

Poor Theresa. The temperature right now is a flawless 72˚F / 22˚C at just after 4 pm, here. And I just watched a flock of Sandhill Cranes fly north!!!! This is the first group I've seen head north. IH claims he saw 3 Whooping Cranes fly north over us a few days ago. It IS a physical possibility, since the ultralight flights used to train the young ones went over Kentucky, and I once saw one Whooper, years ago, in with a flock of Sandhills, back when they were trying to use the Sandhills to teach migratory routs to the captive born Whoopers. But knowing IH's powers of observation they were either Sandhills or geese.

June..... I hope they get rid of Ken's boulder very soon. Most men are absolute babies over almost nothing. I'm impressed with Ken's ability to take it like a woman (who is stronger).

Broni.... I wish I could have been with you to sit quietly with a coffee in hand and watch the river flow by. It sounds idyllic. Coffee tastes it's best that way, too.

We've only had one heifer calf born today, so far. I don't understand why the cows aren't popping them out fast and furious in this weather. (I'm being facetious. Of course they have no control over labor.)

The cows may not have control over labour, but the weather often has an impact. Alpaccas can control the birth until the weather is right.
When cleaning out boxes the other day I found a bag of papers from Mum that I was supposed to sort and discard. There were receipts for milk sales, cow and calf sales from back in 1985!
Heidi, Ken does not complain when he is sick. At the moment he has no pain. Just a bit concerned about getting the stone broken down.

That's what I'm saying, June. He's not whining and complaining like a normal man. He's a good one!

We're under Tornado Watch right now. That means conditions are right for a tornado to form. THIS I can live without.

The storm has now hit, and tornadoes have been seen in Kentucky, but not in our immediate neighborhood. But there's lots of thunder and lightning.

We lucked out. The storm barely skimmed over us. Off to bed now.

Hi all.
As I cannot do justice to all the great comments with replies, I will say though, that I have enjoyed all the posts and think of you daily.

I am trying hard to keep days free to be able to get to Bronis for the US visitors.
Have been amazed at my offers of work at 2 different places and I wanted some time off. If I dont take the work, I could miss out altogether.

Decisions.

I am SO LUCKY and HAPPY.
2 more shifts left until I have a semi-retirement celebration with the family.
Lots of well wishes coming your way.

Another heifer calf born. The count is now 3 bulls & 6 heifers.

Delightful weather today.... it's in the mid 50's, and is supposed to remain in Spring-like conditions until next Tuesday. Then Winter is supposed to return. At least that's what the weather guessers say.

Hello to all...Just had a thunderstorm here with lots of rain and big boom booms, but little else and it didn't last too long. We too are under a tornado watch but hopefully we'll just watch the time go by.
Went to the surgeon today but we had to table the stone scooping until we find out what else is going on in my body....I'm all for that. Did I tell you that Jazz ate one of my hearing aids??? I pulled it out of my ear while suffering from a throbbing headache and it fell un noticed by me to the floor...when my headache eased up I found a part of it sticking out from under the bed where Jazz likes to take his prizes...more money for a new aid now....and these things are really expensive...so until I find out what's going on with me, people will have to deal with me asking them to repeat everything..annoying, but it's the way its gonna be.
Nola, not suprised you have job offers already...it always seems to work out that way. Wishing you luck in the decision making, and if you do take one of the positions, I hope it turns out great.Broni...loved your camping trip...a little of everything was experienced and ended on a positive note...liking crisp, brown cheese on your pizza knowing that you are about to meet up with a couple of great ladies from topside country.... Enjoy. June, hope your aches cleared up to allow you to have a tidy house for high tea in comfort....I know the house was tidy...just hoping you didn't have to push too much through the aches to get there.Theresa...what can I say...we just have to keep reminding ourselves that this weather will change for the better soon!!!! Hope things are okay with you Tricia...I'm doing more posting than you right now and that makes me wonder if you are having a flair up of pain...hope not but sending healing vibes to all that want and need them just in case. Take care everyone and have a great day/night....stay cool or warm as you can. Peace.

Imagine that you had won the following *PRIZE* in a contest:

Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400 in your private account for your use. However, this prize has rules. The set of rules:

1. Everything that you didn't spend during each day would be taken away from you.

2. You may not simply transfer money into some other account.

3. You may only spend it.

4. Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400 for that day.

5. The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say,“Game Over!' It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.

What would you personally do?

You would buy anything and everything you wanted right? Not only for yourself, but for all the people you love and care for. Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right? You would try to spend every penny, and use it all, because you knew it would be replenished in the morning, right?

ACTUALLY, This GAME is REAL .... Shocked ??? YES!

Each of us is already a winner of this *PRIZE*. We just can't seem to see it.

This PRIZE is *TIME*
1. Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life.

2. And when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.

3. What we haven't used up that day is forever lost.

4. Yesterday is forever gone.

5. Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time WITHOUT WARNING ... SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?
Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars. Think about that, and always think of this: Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think.

So take care of yourself, be happy, love deeply and enjoy life!
Here's wishing you a wonderful and beautiful day.
Start spending ....

Heidi, we dropped down to the low 50's today after that storm. It had got to low 70's here yesterday. Our winter returns on wednesday for about 4 more days. I hope the below freezing temps do not kill all the buds I saw already cracking open. Our old fashioned pear tree, a HUGE tree in our back garden, has buds that are peeking open. This pear is the first flowering tree to bloom in spring. Next would be the Bradford Pears. Huge buds on our dogwoods too, but much too soon for them to bloom.

I came in from doing a bit of checking the garden, and within an hour I was having a reaction to something. Face red, hot and swollen, mouth and throat burning, a fine rash on chest and back. Luckily I had benadryl and claratin left from the last round and some cortisone tabs too. This is exact what the urgent care doc prescribed both times I saw her last August, and besides, their office was closed, of course. After a couple of hours, it all began to fade away. I repeated the benadryl a couple times during the night. Now all I have done today is sleep, benadryl does that to me.

Heidi, what is best for your farm, heifers or bulls. Don't the bulls weigh a bit more at sale time and bring a few more dollars? But if you are wanting to increase your heard, then the heifers are best? Happy for you the storm passed on by with no damage to your place.

Nola, it is good that you are getting offers to come work, but perhaps you can pick and choose when you want too work? I was fortunate enough to work part time the last part of my nursing career. Only time I ever had money to spend and time to go spend it at same time hehehe. I hope it all works out for you just as you want it.

June, if no one has needed any of that information from your Mum by now, I would think it can safely be tossed! That will reduce the number of boxes you have to sort.

Broni, I could have joined Heidi and you sitting and watching the river and drinking coffee. Heidi and I did a lot of sitting and watching on our little camping trip and we did not even have a river! I think we are both people watchers, we saw lots of families out walking many with their pets in tow.

Broni, many people use your method to help relax, so yes, that is along the lines of what I am talking about. Just add another layer to the relaxation, and create a visual image that seems almost real, to occupy the mind when pleasant things are being done upon one's body. I do the relax and lie awake on nights when sleep will not come, and soon find myself in that place where you are not asleep but not awake either.

Theresa, several of my friends had your weather forecast, in our midwest. One even posted photograph, early morning, snow and ice on the ground, 2 hours later, sun and not a bit of ice to be seen! I hope you will not have flooding when the snow and ice melts.

Heidi, the ultralights fly over Alabama on training runs. My sister and her husband try to drive over to one of the places they can be

Mama and theresa, your posts were not shown to me untill after i posted.

Mama, just busy here with a bit of achies added.
Wednesday I had doc appointment ( I posted after that ) and then scrabble game. Thursday I was just lazy in the AM, then outside enjoying the weather. and of course you can read above about last night and the reason I slept all day today.

Theresa, I thought you were about to make a comparison to government offices that had to spend or loose their money and have the amount reduced the next year by same amount. I know that happens, because my nephew was once told by his boss he had this huge sum of money he had to spend on new computers and software and related stuff. He spent it as required, but said secretaries who only used word processing on their computers had machines far above their needs with the newest and greatest in sound, graphics, huge screens and programs they could not operate even if they wanted, such a waste of taxpayer dollars!

OH, how those biopsy sites are itching today. I am wondering was I allergic to the local? I did have 4 at once and most of my problems have been dose related. One is OK, but more can be a problem. I forget about the one on my back and had my back scratcher to it before I remembered (when I scraped over the open wound, the band aide had come off). Huumm, spell check says there is no such word as scratcher, there is in my house hehehe.

bye again, I really am about to do something constructive.

Poor Tricia. Itchies are not fun.

I gave myself the first insulin injection tonight. I had been seriously dreading it, but it was not at bad as I had imagined. Phew!

GOOD FOR YOU, Theresa!!!!!! I'm so proud of you.

Off to bed. Just did a thorough cow check, and nobody's in labor.

Congrats, Theresa, I knew you could do it. I am glad it was not as difficult as you thought it would be. Huge Hugs to you!!

I'll post more later when they've gone home but I just want to say $12.50 on clearance for a tiny little drum kit.... Worth many times that. It has sat in the cupboard for over a year waiting for her to be big enough for it.

One very tired little girl has gone home, even though she said she didn't want to, and now I'm too tired to read. A full on,but great, day!

One thing, she listens to what everyone calls people and today I was mum and Dana was Dana.

Suzie, sounds like you have had a great day with the grandies.
The high tea was a great success. We started off with a small glass of wine and tonight I finished that glass that was left in the bottle. I should sleep well!
Theresa, so pleased that you have mastered the injections. Once the diabetes is all under control I do hope that you start to feel better.