One dog, Six Puppies and One Broken Hip, OMG!

Oh boy, its way past time for an update!  October 5^th and the Autumn Feast seemed like something that occurred months ago! 

At home, things are running along as usual, nothing new or exciting to report from my little clan.  At Mom’s house, though, it’s quite another story.  A little white fluffy dog was found by her friends Stan and Arlene, walking in the street and obviously very pregnant.  There were no tags, nothing to identify the sweet thing.  So they took her to my mom who has a heart of gold when it comes to animals.  Of course she took her in, because that’s the natural thing for Mom to do.  After a week of posting signs and advertising for the owners, Mom declared the mama dog her own and named her after her husband who passed just a few months ago.  Johnny is now the proud mother of six (count ‘em, SIX!) puppies!  The amount of work involved in caring for a new mama and six puppies is amazing.  But Mom threw herself into it and I truly believe that God sent Johnny to help her work through the loss of her husband.  Johnny and her puppies are so famous in Mom’s community that they had their pictures published in the local community paper.  How cool is it to be at the pancake breakfast, have a friend come up and start talking about “the lady who adopted the pregnant dog who had six puppies” and get to say, “that lady is me… I’m the lady!”?  It happened!  It really did!

Unfortunately, good times didn’t hold and another misfortune has come into Mom’s life.  Almost two weeks ago, she tripped over a speed bump in a parking lot and fell, breaking her hip.  She really did a number on it, the doctors were saying it was a very bad break.  They did a total hip replacement the next day and she’s just about to be released from rehab.  I’ll be spending some time staying with her, to help her continue her rehab and get to the point where she can live alone again.  The physical therapist said today that the healing time on a hip replacement is 6 months to a year.  Holy cow, a year!  I only anticipate staying with mom anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks, tops.  The 6 months to a year refers to complete healing.

So even though the news isn’t about me or my little clan, that’s the news I have to report.

The Autumn Feast

So, the Autumn Feast I planned last week for this afternoon?  It went off with just one hitch.  My mother and friend (who travel together) both flaked on me and went to an art festival instead.  ALL WEEK LONG I’d been saying “12 noon, Mom.”  Dave has to be at the airport by 4:00 so NOON for dinner.  2:00 arrives, we sit down to eat without guests (guests who were not answering their cell phones) when just as we’re finishing up, Mom calls and says “we’ve been here and there having fun, we’ll be right there!”  Ummmm, what for?  “You told us to come at 2:00 for dinner.”  *SIGH*  I do not feel guilty for being peeved nor do I feel bad for saying “forget it.”

I’ll take some dishes of leftover over there later.  Yeah, I’m guilt-free.

 

Finally, Fall!

I have no idea how long it will last, but it’s actually Fall here in the desert! In fact, it’s so “Fall-like” that I’ve pulled a turkey from the freezer and have an Autumn Feast planned for Sunday afternoon.

 

Menu:

·         Roast Turkey – brined then roasted with garlic and rosemary.

·         Harvest Stuffing – ingredients include shredded carrots, nutmeg, apples and wheat germ.

·         Squash, Pear & Onion Au Gratin – ingredients include bacon, walnuts & Romano cheese.

·         Oven Roasted Autumn Vegetables – I’m slightly undecided about the veggies, this one sounds yummy too!  Ingredients include sweet potato, fennel, red potatoes and shitake mushrooms roasted in walnut oil and balsamic vinegar.

·         Mashed Potatoes – to hold up the gravy, of course!

·         Apple Cider

·         Apple pie, apple Betty or some other apply dessert. 

 

Ceramic Luminaria

 

I’ve decorated the house for Halloween, or as J puts it, “dressed up the house.”  I love Halloween and Fall!

 

I’m off to knit and hopefully get DH’s scarf finished before he comes home tonight.  We have a weekend of chores planned, so I better get the house picked up today too!

Winding Up the Weekend

The caveman I complained about last week left the house this morning at 4:00 to fly to North Dakota.  Bitch, bitch, wah, wah… and now I miss him a LOT!  I am grateful for my husband who loves me with all his heart and being.  I should have said that last week when I was moaning and groaning.  Anyway, The long story short is that I love and adore him just the way he is.  So there.

 

I’ve been knitting my first pair of gloves this past week.  They’re turning out fantastic, even if I say so myself.  Just as in socks, little holes appear when you’re picking up stitches for gussets.  Just as in socks, if you pick up and extra stitch at the beginning and end of the gusset, then knit them together, the hole problem is solved.  WOOT!  I love learning as a knit new things!

 

Now that the man is out of the house, I can resume work on the scarf I’m making him for Christmas.  Shouldn’t be too much longer until it’s done.  Boy do I have pictures to take of my FOs!  But first, they have to be blocked or they’ll look goofy.  Hopefully, I’ll have time for blocking and photo sessions tomorrow.

 

Yesterday, we celebrated Orion’s 2^nd birthday.  Rebecca had a pool party at my sister’s house (she was away for the weekend) and we had a blast.  I have some pictures but the cable is upstairs so I’ll post those tomorrow when I move my computer up there.  I love having a laptop!

    

 

Sunday night and it’s premier night for Desperate Housewives.  I can hardly wait!

I’ll tell you what sucks

The husband is gone all week, which is fine because it’s his job.  I like being alone, so no big deal for me.  We spend the weekends and occasional down weeks together.  He’s away all week, eating out, maids cleaning up after him, cars picking him up and taking him where he wants to go… ain’t it nice?  Okay, so here’s what sucks.  He comes home for his weekend or down week (home for the week right now) and what does he do?  Help around the house?  ONLY if asked to do a specific job.  The man cannot look at a dirty carpet and conclude that it needs to be vacuumed.  Start on the yard work that was waiting for his “next down week?”  Nope.  Help with the kiddies when they’re here?  Of course not.  This poor man sits down to his bologna sandwich right in front of three drooling kids without even considering for a moment that he should make them sammies too. 

 

So to answer the question, “what does he do?” —  He sits in the man-cave (our bedroom) playing computer games and reading right wing republican political propoganda (sorry, the political climate has me somewhat emotional).  For his breaks, he reads in the potty-cave (our bathroom) for hours.  Yes, he knows it’s not good for him, but the “roids” seem to be a price he’s willing to pay.  He knows not to complain to me about that particular issue.  (Hey, I don’t complain when I’m hung over.  I’m fair-minded.)

 

So here’s what kicked it over the edge.  I have three broken ribs.  Fine, whatever, I’m not looking for sympathy.  But they hurt.  They hurt a lot when I go grocery shopping.  We were out of vittles so I shopped (Alone, no, he didn’t offer to come along).  Got home, put it all away, cooked dinner, cleaned up the mess, watched Heroes then went up to bed.  What did I find in both bathrooms?  PACKAGES of toilet paper (that I asked him to put away) sitting on both counters.  I swear to God, this is what I said.  “Dear? I know this is snarky but I have to ask… when you put the toilet paper on the counters, what did you think was going to happen to them after you walked away?”  I swear to God, this is what he said.  “Oh. Right. I should’ve put those away.”  This right here is me rolling my eyes –>  @@

 

I’m married to a caveman.  And my ribs are aching today.  I wonder why?

 

Accomplishment

Look what I have added to my completed list!

 

Moms Booga Bag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gabby's Cables & Bits Shrug

 

 

 

 

 

 

Johnnie's Cable & Bits Shrug

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bess' Purl Beret

This is what I’m working on:

Dave's Scarf Askew

 

 

 

I Am Proud of Myself

I did something today that I’m very proud of.  I asked for help.  Asking for the help was very hard.  I did a hard thing and admitted that I need help with the things that just aren’t right.  I want things to be different.  I want to experience pleasure and happiness again.  I want to find God in myself.  I want to find a way to be spiritual that suits God and me, not some church and its people.  Instead of wanting these things and wallowing in not knowing how to attain them, I have asked for help.  One giant step.

Finally, Friday!

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve had a moment to post.  R went through another bout with her issues so I brought the little guys to my house.  The oldest was visiting his grandfather in Oregon so I didn’t have to worry about him.  R got herself back together but not before she took a drunken tumble over a bicycle, which left her with very little range of motion in her neck, one arm and back.  I didn’t see her being able to carry the baby up and down the stairs to her apartment, or to lift him into his high chair and crib so I offered to keep the younger boys here.  Honestly?  It’s been a treat to have them here.  While I’m being honest, I’ll admit that my back is hurting from all the lifting.  It sucks being 50+.

Check out these adorable pics I got of O while he was playing in the wading pool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have ONE finished holiday project!

 

And this is what I’m working on now.  FWIW, I HATE the yarn.

Dragons, Oh My!

 

 

 

<3<3

 

What was I thinking when I got involved in adopting dragon eggs?  *sigh*  Like I need one more inane thing to keep up with.  Please do a girl a favor and help my little eggs hatch!  Just click on them, a few hundred times each please.

Remember This?

Remember my first attempt at the NICU Petal Hat?

Something went terribly wrong!

I should have tried blocking it with a steam iron, but alas I wasn’t that savvy.  The pink hat has since been frogged and replaced by this hat.

Much better!