Pillows

I didn't sleep well last night.

I woke up with a back ache and a stiff neck.  Made me wonder what kind of tossing and turning I did last night.

Then I realized that since we returned from our family trip camping I have not had my pillow.  I brought it home, as my pillow case was washed and is awaiting the return of the pillow. It came into the house, as I remember putting it in the basket, but it is no-where to be found.

We have plenty of pillows, I had my choice and even tried to stack two of them last night.  Then I folded the gold trimmed one in half, which worked until it came unfolded.

One of my children (and two of them are not in reach) have my pillow and they will return it...or else!

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to protect your pillow!

More changes!!!!

I'm sitting here in my childless house with a kitten on my arm.  This means any and all typos today are Bitsey's fault.  She's on my left arm, head tucked neatly into my elbow and Mickey is under my left armpit, both sound asleep.

Since I cannot move, I guess I'll write a post!

Bean is off to play at a friend's cabin until Sunday.  This mom is a saint, as she has 3 15 year old boys with her.  Yikes.  She was given full permission to use whatever means necessary to keep my son under control.  He respects her, so I'm not too worried, but he is 15...

Sent my Dizzy off to DARE camp this morning.  Kinda sad to see her growing up and doing these things.  Unfortunately, she is sporting a new bright blue cast on that arm, since she has not healed enough to go cast-free yet.  There were some tears, but she's trying to keep a brave face and was over the moon excited to camp with some of her besties from school.

Tater is still close, having spent the night at the neighbors and should be home soon. She's having a blast at soccer camp this week in the evenings and she and I and Gramma are planning to do some shopping and maybe lunch today (providing said kitties decide upon a new nap spot)!

The Boss is even home, having caught the cold/fever crud while camping last weekend.  Evidently cribbage is bad for your health!

I'm on week 5 of stomach medicine.  Some improvements, but still feeling cruddy. We're giving this 2 more weeks and then will go in for further tests to figure out what is going on.

Hoping for things to quiet down at work soon.  We're buried under a ton of great patrons reading up a storm and with summer being vacation time, this has been a challenge.  August usually slows down, so I'm hoping for bearable, rather than over-whelming!

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to smile today!

My 2nd home

No, I'm not one of those who has the lake home or the cabin in the woods.  I am one of the lucky ones who has a pull trailer to take where we want to go. Last weekend was south of Havre and in the very near future it will be parked near one of the most beautiful places on earth, Glacier National Park.

This is our home away from home.  27 feet long and full of all the comforts we need.  My children might disagree, as there is no television and no Internet. It does have games, a kitchen and a bathroom, all the comforts of home.

The welcome mat.  As you see, we have company.

Clothes dryer.  Smells great and no electricity costs!

The little additions that make things go well.  Extra water and the generator so I can occasionally charge the kindle (books only!) and curl my hair (and maybe take the occasional shower).

My bedroom (it even has doors!)

Dining room.  Looks a lot like my table at home, collecting all of the assorted stuff we don't want to deal with right away.

Kitchen (no dishwasher...) 

Bathroom, complete with shower.

Kid's rooms are kinda small.

If you look, there are 5 campers in this picture and we had several more in our camp over the weekend.  Such a great time when we can do this with family!  

The kitties would like it if we would take them with, but I haven't made that leap yet.  

This is where we saw The Boss most of the weekend, taking a well deserved break.

He so rarely has time to read at home, he took full advantage and finished the entire book over the weekend.

Hope you all had a great weekend.  I know I sure did!

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to soak up some sunshine and laughter!

De-clutter, bedroom junk drawers

I continued the cleaning out of my nightstand and smaller chest of drawers this weekend.

It was a fun trip down memory lane.

This pile came out of a small drawer in my nightstand...How in the world did it fit?

Always a lot of help.  He killed the garbage. And yes, I did keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't get into trouble.

4-H, church and kids.

My rosaries.  I was raised Catholic. The left hand one I received from my Godmother (I think...), the right hand one was from the priest I knew growing up, a thank you for helping with the Vacation Bible School when I was in either junior high or high school.  The middle one my brother brought home from Italy when he went to the World Youth Gathering in Rome. These are probably the reason why I can't sit quietly and pray at church...

More help?

My first 2 dollies.  Found them next to my nightstand on the floor.  Boy are they old!

Saving up for my next visit to Canada.

All my mementos in one drawer.  Lots of memories when going through this one.

Friendship bracelets from girls when I worked camps in Butte. Promised I'd keep them, here's the proof!

Still killing the garbage...

Not a great picture, but treasures from my memento drawer.  Girl Scout pin, 17 years as a scout.

Silver next to it is the pin our pastor gave us when Bean was baptized. My senior key from high school. A National Science Olympiad medal from being a member of the first team to go to Nationals from Montana. A locket Dizzy gave me. The green shoes are from walking a Race for the Cure several years ago.  Has a special meaning to me.

Bitsey still won't use the litter box, Dizzy is still in her cast, Bean escaped the fam to go and hang out with one of his cousins and Tater is still hanging in there.  Cheer camp tomorrow and they get to walk in the kiddee parade this week. Some serious camping coming up this weekend, can't wait!

Be Happy! Be Healthy!! Be sure to take time to smell the roses!

Nightstand clutter part 2...

I continued cleaning my nightstand yesterday.  It's a small surface, so it amazed me to find this much stuff on the top.

Where some of this came from, I have no idea.  Books are not a surprise, nor the notebook and the broken Kindle, but where the blank card, clip and green egg came from, I have no idea.

Some of this is old flyers/coupons from a local craft store, a reminder my eldest needs to see the orthodontist (done with that appointment-braces are in the near future), a thank you card from the local PD for the girls' Scout troop for the cookies they donated and several bookmarks (no shock there, I tend to finish books before I can go to sleep at night). I was amused by the ipod cord (haven't had an ipod in months, the boxes our ipod shuffles came in and the bag from the earrings I won in a drawing.

The final results are very pleasant, next up is the drawer which scares me even more! Then next to it where I have quite the collection of dolls and stuffed animals.  After that will be another weeding of the clothes and another junk drawer.  Taking small steps, I'm making progress and not getting frustrated.

And the reward is that I tend to exhaust the kitties, who then need to snuggle and take a nap with me when I'm done.

Someone was trying hard to stay awake, but just couldn't do it.  She tipped over moments after I took this picture.  Poor baby.

Mickey had his first vet visit this week, 2.1 pounds and although he does not like traveling in the car, he took it like a champ. Bitsey went along for the ride and seemed to enjoy herself.

Had a girls night at the baseball game last night.  Bean is hanging out with his aunt, uncle and cousin for a few days and the Boss was working the Symphony Under the Stars.  We talked about going, but yours truly doesn't deal well with big crowds and there was a huge one last night.

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to smile a lot today!

Clutter-free plans

Every night when I take out my contacts (and sometimes even earlier) I tend to be annoyed by my long hair and decide to pull it up.  I am forever searching for hair clips and bands.  I was gathering my tablet and cell off my nightstand this morning, I discovered this:

Guess it is time to clean that clutter up and get one corner of my life cleaned up.  My new goal is to clean up one small area each week and make it clutter free.

I survived another day at work, it's been crazy and I'm ready for the weekend and the hope that things slow down one of these days!  I arrived home planning on a little time on the computer and to read and discovered this in my favorite seat:

They are cute, but I am a creature of habit and miss my favorite spot.

Here's to a great weekend!

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to enjoy the weekend!

Not an expected change...

This summer was a very big one for changes.  This week we were hit by one of those changes I wasn't expecting.

I'm busy at work on Monday, always a busy one even when it isn't summer, and my phone vibrates in my pocket.  I didn't have any patrons in front of me, so I checked who was calling and my heart fell when I saw it was Dizzy's coach.

I answered, already halfway in tears, knowing she wasn't calling me in the middle of practice to tell me my daughter is wonderful (we already know this).  She told me that while doing a back walk-over, Dizzy had done something to her elbow, she thought maybe hyper-extended it.  Both she and the other coach who were standing there thought it was a good idea for us to get it checked.  I called our health center, was able to get an appointment for that afternoon and emailed the Boss to have him go pick her up.

She joined me at work and we ran a couple of errands before going to the appointment.  The doctor's face winced a couple of times while doing his exam and he immediately sent us for x-rays.  I got the call the next morning that while there was no definite signs of a break, he wanted us to see someone at the Orthopaedic clinic.  I called immediately to the Prompt Care part of the clinic and was able to get in to see the PA that we had seen back in January when she hurt her elbow the first time.  

They did another x-ray for a new view and then she came in to tell us that again, no definite break, but something funny on the bone and enough fluid in the joint to cause her some concern.  Dizzy was not happy to hear she will be spending the next 2 weeks in a cast from her armpit to her fingers.

Hot pink cast later, we headed home and her only moment of frustration was when she hugged me with a couple tears in her eyes and said, "This sucks monkey butt." that is a direct quote.

Bean and Tater are having a good time giving her a bad time and she's been creative getting her contacts in and doing her chores.

That's all for fun on this end.  

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to stay cool!

Garden shots

Thought I would share some garden shots today, since I finally made it outside with the camera in my hand...

 The garden as a whole, missing the tomato plants in the bottom right corner.

 Tomatoes, lettuce, green beans and spinach.

 Pumpkins, so tiny.  The tall plants are "extra" sunflowers from years past.

 Peas and corn

 My white bleeding heart fern.

Coral Bells? something new to take the place of something that didn't make it last year...

Any and all typos are the result of help from 2 cute kittens who left me alone until they saw I was working on the laptop. Thought Dizzy sweeping would entertain them enough...I was wrong.

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to water your pets often and well! (my dogs hate this)

Lazy summer days...

OK, I was busy playing on Wednesday when I should have been writing this.  I ended up with the mother of all sunburns (and I did use sunscreen...) so a laptop sitting on my lap has been a little painful.

We also have to mention here that a certain kitten (Mr Mickey Mouse) has a little sister now (Itsey Bitsey) who absolutely loves sitting on the keyboard while I am writing or working on the laptop, making this blog difficult to write.

Some of my flowers are struggling this summer, others are huge. My garden is a mix of huge plants (30" tall pea plants that are supposed to be bushy) and itsey bitsey plants (corn and pumpkins...grump)

Still having stomach problems.  Moving on to no processed foods (as best I can) for the next couple of weeks. Lab work came back good, abdominal ultrasound came back good, next step is blood works and then we can go on to a referral to a specialist.  I've been doing some research and will be taking in some (hopefully?) good questions to ask in 2 weeks. Went out to dinner last night and while I can't eat as much as I used to (and there is nothing wrong with that), I did manage to eat a normal dinner and not feel sick afterwards.  A friend brought me some absolutely wonderful chocolate cake yesterday (and spent time with me while I cried about not knowing what is wrong with me) and was such a blessing.  I hope to be able to be there for her if she ever needs me!

I've had such an outpouring of blessings from friends who have shared with me, taking time to check on me and see how I am doing.

Be Happy! Be Healthy! Be sure to be a good friend!

Spoiled kittens...

OK, major softie here.  Mickey is very dismayed by the newcomer, but they're starting to get along (I even saw some play this morning).  Food is always a good motivator!

One major problem in all of this is that baby girl does not want to use the litter box.  A friend adopted either her brother or half-brother and said he's having trouble with the concept as well.

This required a shopping trip. I thought maybe the old litter box was too tall for such a tiny creature and maybe they would not be like my old pair who shared a litter box with no hesitation.  While looking at litter boxes (and finding a new one), I saw the pet beds, decided that the old one was toast and found a new one.  Then, just down the aisle was a rack of toys and my laundry room, which is where the litter boxes reside, is now a kitty room.

Notice that there are boxes, buckets, tubs, crates, and toys everywhere.  I don't see doing laundry any time soon. 

They definitely eat differently.  

Mickey is a good eater, but a big of a pig, lots of noise and he inhales every bite as fast as he can.

Baby girl (maybe Minnie?) is very dainty and nibbles slowly.  

Not a good combination.  You'll notice who wants to assist his new sister in finishing what has to be too  much food for a little one.

Mickey has those great big, expressive eyes and baby girl has her own unique feature.

She is a polydactyl, which means extra toes.  The Boss says she has thumbs.

Enough of my chattering about my kitties for a little while.  They're a lot of fun and I hope members of our family for years to come.  The Boss and the girls are off camping for the weekend, Bean is out with friends and I'm catching up on old TV shows.

Happy 4th of July weekend!