AHctober

October the Twoth and the weather is nice, if a tiny bit warm. Still comfortable enough we aren't running the AC.
So far, our 40% chance of rain for the day has failed to put out.
My Auntie asked for an update... Yes, I am better. The "day off" was just that one day.
Last night though... seems I never learn. I had a frozen fruit bar after supper. In minutes, I was paying dearly. I suspect it has to be related to the hiatal hernia- but for whatever reason, there are foods that sometimes   often leave me feeling as if the food is lodged on my throat. Ice cream is one of those foods. Cottage cheese, orange juice, occasionally bread.
So I laid down early- by 7:00pm. Not sure when Tom came in, but he woke me... I was still in pain, so got up and had a drink of water. I was up for 10 minutes, maybe. Went back in and fell right back into an uneasy sleep. I don't know WHAT time it was, but Tom didn't know I had come back to bed, and whacked me with his arm in feeling around to see if I was there... That woke me up good, and I struggled to fall asleep... eventually getting up for another short while... but feeling much better.

I was 'done' with the shipping and receiving before 9:30 this morning. Wednesdays are usually blessedly light! Not that I got to go home. The long postponed planogram removing the AC supplies and putting out the warm gloves, ice melt, and car heaters had to be done. I was well under way when the boss-child remembered that ALL of the AC supplies had to have a new label attached to them. Each thumbnail sized sticker has to be precisely placed on every. single. can. bottle. jug. jar. instrument of the R134 variety, disclaiming the product is not for use in the Hybrid AC systems coming soon to a vehicle near you.
I used about 280 or so of the stickers, I estimate.
So... I didn't get clocked out until almost 2:00pm.
Got home and got started on my "Angry Birds" game for taking to the reunion for the kids to play.
I am recycling the cardboard tubes that my shipping labels, and my shrink wrap come on. Spraying them green. Sam will draw the eyes and such for me. Have to decide on beanbags or balls as the "birds".
I've been having a whole lot of fun preparing for this years Taylor reunion.

Went and bought a new skirt and blouse to wear to it yesterday. Sigh. when will I learn that I cannot CANNOT wear a medium sized shirt...?

Pass the Imodium

Really, I don't feel bad. But I didn't make it 15 minutes at work before it was necessary that I return home for a change of clothes, a shower, and Imodium.... not necessarily in that order. Rumbles in the gut tell me it is best I not return to work today, to avoid a repeat performance! (Thankfully I was the ONLY person in the building!)

My brother Ricky (Eric) is currently in the hospital with diverticulitis. If he isn't much better today, the Doc has mentioned surgery. Prayers appreciated!

Hmmm, sounds like the entire family is full of manure. (I am less full of it at the moment thankyouverymuch).

I want to remind family members that the Taylor Family Reunion (Grandma Rose's Family) is October 5th at the "old" Senior Citizen Center in Broken Bow, OK.
 I am presuming it will start by about 10, and be done by 5 pm or so.
The family is providing meats, and the rest of the meal is pot luck.
The White Elephant Auction will be held, as always! (Bring something you no longer want or need. Proceeds pay for next year's reunion costs.)
Everyone enjoys seeing your family albums if you wish to bring one to pass around.
 Toys or games for the youngsters might be a good idea.

well, guess I am going to go lay back down now.

Voices

I have been released by the ENT doctor, and also by my regular doctor in regards to not having a voice. The ENT  (Different doctor, same office) stuck a camera up my snoot and down my throat and had another look he saw no damages and knows of no reason why I don't have a voice (or much of one/ odd sounding one). He did say he could send me to speech therapy, and suggests I "learn to speak in a higher register". I laughed, I really did. The Monty Python skit I wish to report a burglary came immediately to my mind. I have tried to speak in a higher register, but I just cannot manage it without a very bad phony English accent. Makes me laugh even thinking about it. The ENT says my voice might, or might not ever come back.
My regular Doctor, Doc Benjamin, is hopeful that it will. While releasing me from care on the accident, he did say if the case needs to be revisited, he will do it. Meanwhile, we both felt that perhaps the voice isn't healing due to gagging gallons of sinus drainage... it is ragweed season! He put me on an inhaled allergy medicine, and two different OTC allergy meds- one for morning and one for evening. While both are SUPPOSED to be 24 hour products, neither actually helps for 24 hours. Because they work in different ways, they CAN be taken the same day.
I hope they do start working soon!

Today was oil day. I went to the library in Gentry afterwards... less than 1/2 mile away from O'Reilly's and by the time I parked, I could barely get out of the car. Stiffness set in so fast! I got my books, got home, and had to hoist myself up the steps with the porch railing. I was moving so stiffly, Mr C got me some Advil and water. Looks like a nap may be necessary! But first, get my work jeans on to wash so I will have clothes for the rest of the week, and then stand in a hot shower! (Hmm, maybe stand in the hot shower in my work jeans and kill two stones with the same bird!)

Speaking of hot water, Tuesday I got home from work needing a shower before going to my appointment with Doc Ben, and learned Dan had discovered a spewing pipe leaving the hot water heater. Calls had been placed, water to the tank turned off, and no shower was to be had.

The plumber showed up and fixed the leak while I was gone to Doc Ben's.

The fellow (Contractor) who was SUPPOSED to show up to measure the back door for a brand new door (promised/ planned by the landlord over 18 months ago) didn't arrive until 8:30 PM last night. (He was scheduled for between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm on TUESDAY!) After taking his measurements, he kept telling Mr C about all the options and needs and so forth, and Tom told him repeatedly- IT IS NOT UP TO US! He says he will be back in a week or two to actually install a new back door. The whole new door thing has been the landlords idea for quite some time. There are a number of OTHER things this house needs that would be far more practical  to spend money on than a pretty new door. But, it isn't up to us.

Meanwhile, you know how I like to add pictures to my blog. This is my favorite that Becky has taken in awhile!

Cluttered thinking...

I have been looking around me and not liking what I am seeing. I have too much stuff. And so much of it is sentimental 'collections' of  various types. I have trouble letting go of things that remind me of others.
I have my Granny's little ceramic bear collection. And her ceramic chickens.  How many of my relatives even remember granny collected salt and pepper shakers and chickens before the bears?

I have a few ceramic items that I grew up with, that were my Mom's Mom's.  Old books, and candles, and toys that belonged to the kids. My cookie jar collection. a zillion cow collectibles. (Please, do NOT give me a cow, or a cookie jar, or a cow cookie jar. I am trying to curb this hoarding!)
My Mom has elephants of all shapes and sizes. And teapots. Mom Kathie has basset collectibles, as well as hand painted porcelain from her Aunt, and a salt and pepper shaker collection I really admire.
 Someday, when I pass on, someone has to go through all this STUFF. Will it matter to them that this little set of bears belonged to a great great great grandma they never even met?

As much as I would like to, I can't hold on to everything. I need to let things go. And I don't know that I CAN yet.

I was thinking today that holding on to stuff, binding myself to the past, keeps me from moving forward. What has God got for me in the future, when I am ready to let go of the past?

The present- the gift of today!- how much of the gift of each day is spent- or needs to be spent- caring for the past? Dusting little knick knacks and remembering the people they belonged to. Maybe I should chose ONE thing from each person, and pass the rest to those who want them. And then sell what is leftover.

The very thought of it hurts my heart.
But I know I cannot keep EVERYTHING. I am a hoarder waiting to happen.

I get attached to ROCKS, for- crying- in- the- sink.

So, family, if there is anything of granny's/ great granny's that you would like for yourself, or your kids, please let me know. If you are interested, I can send pictures.

September Starts

I began the month with a quick trip.... er... slip! We had a stray rain shower find its way to our house on Sunday afternoon. It was a very warm day and I was going to grill wings and some baked beans, so the house didn't heat up. There had been no sign of rain until I was ready to cook. It wasn't raining hard, but the back steps were slick. I had the beans in their foil pan balanced on top of the raw wings, and headed out the door. Ducking down a bit to shelter the food with my torso, I slipped right off the top step onto my sitty downer. I hit the edge of the second step with my pelvic bones and the bottom step bruised my tailbone! Happily, I didn't hit hard enough to break anything... and I didn't drop the food! Sam had opened to door for me and showed the good grace to be alarmed and caring, rather than falling over laughing.

Last week, Dan had been cruising YouTube for videos of people demonstrating how to play some songs he wanted to learn on his guitar. He and Sam drove over to Bentonville and picked up lesson forms to apply to take guitar (Sam was thinking Viola/violin) lessons.
I'm sure it was one of the 'cookies' that the ad-ware monitoring our computer use supplied that caused an advertisement for a homeschool guitar course on DVD to appear on my facebook page. I clicked on the advertisement to see what was being offered.

After checking out the course online and looking at various buying options, Daniel decided it was far more practical to buy this course than to take four half- hour lessons per month... and the course was about the same cost as two months worth of lessons... and that wasn't even counting gas to get to the lessons!

The Gibson Guitar Course arrived today. Dan started at the beginning- lesson one, though he is already familiar with the bare bones the first lesson covered. He didn't want to miss anything! I am not sure, but he has done at least two lessons since lunchtime, perhaps three. He is delighted.

Mr C told me a couple of days ago, Dan is becoming a better player than he is... and Mr C has been playing for 30ish years. Dan has been at it about a year, completely self taught, other than the basics Mr C taught him.

My nephew Tony and his wife Cami welcomed their second daughter on Friday- naming her Paisley Grace. I THINK it brings my parents count of great grands up to 14. I may of missed someone.

Tomorrow will be back to work for me, after my long weekend. (The warehouse folks and truck drivers for OReilly got Monday off, so no freight today, so I got to be off!) I will surely be paying for it the rest of the week! I imagine I will be doing pretty close to eight hours a day between now and my next days off.

I cooked up a batch of beans yesterday. Tonight, the leftovers shall be transformed into either enchiladas or burritos... I have yet to decide. I am thinking enchiladas with corn tortillas- which I haven't made in years.

Guess that's all the news I can use! Be blessed and thanks for reading!

Another Thursday tucked away...

Today wasn't bad as "oil day" goes. Just one pallet of oil products, mostly in the form of 5 gallon buckets of 303 Tractor Fluid.
I got extra tasks heaped on me today. :(   frowny face!
No one is sure who the culprit is, but quite a bit of freight is being put where it does NOT belong. Not only out of numeric sequence, but just randomly left 'elsewhere'. The boss' new solution? ALL the items ANYONE takes off the shelf, or gets returned from a customer, comes back to ME to put away.
"It should only take you an extra 20 or 30 minutes a day!"

I am looking forward to an extra long weekend! Once I am done on Saturday, I don't have to be back until Wednesday. And I have no plans made to do anything. (Translation: I need to clean house.)

Mr C planted a small fall garden. Beets, spinach, lettuce. Hoping the tomatoes will make a comeback. But we really need rain. He has had to be out watering all week long. There is no rain even on the horizon in the 10 day forecast. While we have had an awesomely pleasant August- Saturday it may be close to 100 here! Summer going out with a bang.

Let me take a moment to remind my children... and they can remind their non-blog reading siblings: The Taylor Family Reunion! Saturday October 5th, 2013. Afterwards, perhaps we can either plan to camp- if the weather is nice, or descend en masse upon Grandpa Bill's house for Saturday night.

That's about all for now!

projects...

 

This was the vest I planned for Gavin's birthday. However, I am afraid it is going to be way too small. I am waiting to hear from S. as to his measurements. I may need to try again, and save this one for Jasher in a few years....

Then, a simple little purse for one of the grandgirls.  Still need some sew on velcro to close it with.

 

 

I haven't begun Alana's skirt yet, though the material is laid out and ready to start.

Tard

It has been a week full of busy-ness. Tuesday was a 'heavy' day at work, with a LOT of freight- I did almost 7 hours. Then "got to" go back at 8:00 PM for a store meeting... which I was dismissed from at 10 PM for starting to doze in my chair. (hey, it was past my bedtime!)

Wednesday saw me get in "new" freight- not just a resupply of what we normally stock. I had to "work in"  over an 65 inches of new freight into shelves that were already jammed so tightly I had to have some products stacked on top of others. I couldn't just "work in" the new stuff... I had to actually relocate one line of products to another section, then "shift" three other product lines over to the newly vacated shelves. THEN work the new products into the stock! A classic case of "but first..."

I ended up adding three new shelves into the brake hose products, and five new shelves into the oil seal products. So I was there for over six hours yesterday! Today, I caught a break- light freight, light oil (Thursday is oil day!) and very little shipping. I was out by 10:30. Instead of coming right home, I ran all the way over to Hobby Lobby to get some piping to use on Gavin's vest. Since I was over that way, I also stopped by Oops! and by Big Lots. Retail therapy on the cheap. $8 at hobby Lobby, $5 at Oops!, and  $11 at Big Lots.

By then, it was well past my lunch time. I stopped at the Taco Bueno drive through. The girl told me I owed $5.48. I handed her six dollars. She counts and says I gave her a dollar too much. I apologized, and she says,  "That's OK, we all have days like that."
I said, "I really thought I had handed you six dollars."
"You did give me six dollars... but you only owed $5.48............ uh.... sorry." (That's OK, we all have days like that!)

My current projects that I need to get busy on: Tomatoes that MUST be dealt with today. A skirt for Alana. A vest for Gavin's birthday. Ordering Gavin a birthday gift. I got some "bling" fabric to make some little girl purses.

But first things first... I best go deal with tomatoes!

Tie Dyed

I have no idea what brings some analogies to my mind, but here is what I have been thinking on the last few days.
Babies are born with no marks on their minds/ spirits. Think of a plain, white T-shirt.
As we get older, we become twisted, knotted, and bent into odd shapes. We are tightly bound in some places. We are colored by things we experience. We are steeped in ways of thinking that color our outcome.

When, at the last we are unbound, and set free- all that we have been through is still there, leaving patterns and marks upon us.
No two of us are the same- yet amazingly, we are all beautiful.

The Middle of August....

And it is a blazing 72* here today. The sun is sunning and the breeze is gently breezing- a few puffy clouds meander across the sky. The weather is PERFECT- just so nice out. We have had the doors and windows opened for the last couple of days... and boy does a blanket feel good at night!

My voice is still up and down the scale. Yesterday I was thrilled to sound just almost normal. Today I am high and squeaky again. Day before, it was low and a bit on the sultry side. But as I was told, it can be up to a year before it is completely healed... and it has 'only' been five weeks.

I tried some of the squash relish today, mixed into my tuna sandwich. Oh my... it is so totally awesome. I may wish I had made more! Yesterday I was using up the jars I had on hand- and canned four pint-and-a-half jars, and one quart jar of plain tomatoes. I added a load of jalapeño peppers to the end of the batch and did two pint jars of tomatoes with peppers.

I have put up two batches of spaghetti sauce, made loads of salsa that has been eaten fresh, and currently have 20+ tomatoes finishing ripening on the window sill. This has been a most productive garden. What a blessing!

Today, work was insane. I arrived to "only" two pallets- one of bulky items and the other of totes. Standing on the top of the step ladder, I still had to reach over my head to get the totes down. I was amazed they could get the pallet in through the door!

Dan and Sam have been gone almost a week now- their first long solo drive from here to San Angelo. From Snanjlo, they rode with friends to the Pecos Wilderness area in New Mexico, where they have been hiking and camping out. We have had a few 'location updates' transmitted to us from the satellite phone one of their group took along. They should be home Monday or Tuesday.

That's about all for now. Have a blessed day!

Wonderful visit

We had a wonderful visit with my Aunt and Uncle from California over the weekend.They arrived Friday before the boys had to go to work, then waited up late for them to get off. The boys headed out for West Texas to go to Trek with the Z Church Family.

  After a nice visit, they have headed on to Texas to visit more of the family.

 
 While they were here, Grandkids Connor and Alana squeezed in one last summer visit, for lunch on Sunday.

As usual, we had to have some silly shots! 

 But then we got a fairly good brother/sister shot! It was so great to see everyone. I am so blessed that Jennifer realizes the importance of  family in the kids lives!

 

 

 

Jaffa loved Aunt and Uncle!

The Good, the bad, and the petty

The good news from my ENT visit yesterday: No permanent damages to the vocal cords. The bad news: It may take months for my voice to recover. The petty: He says my voice loss is from acid reflux.
Huh? My voice disappeared instantly after inhaling battery acid fumes and hasn't returned. And he says it is acid reflux. I mean, he spent so much time with me... nearly eight entire minutes, including the camera up my nose and down my throat to look at the vocal cords.

God gives us stomach acid for a reason. Suppressing it with twice the recommended dose of Prilosec OTC isn't a keen idea, if you ask me. And he couldn't explain WHY I have a stronger voice after lemonade, which is acidic. He just said, "Hmmm, I would of never expected to hear that."

I will elevate my head and shoulders to sleep. I will begin to avoid the foods he says I must avoid. But I will not take the drugs unless absolutely necessary.
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More good news: My Uncle Doug and Aunt Lennie have begun their trip from California to points east. I am one of those points! I don't yet know when they are arriving, but they hoped to be here before the Individuals leave for Trek on Saturday morning. So tomorrow or the next day.

The bad news: I was intending to go to east Texas while they are here/there, and see my dad and other family members. Unfortunately, Mr C says we aren't financially fixed for travel this month. (At least Aunt and Uncle are coming by here!)

More petty:  I got supper on to cook in plenty of time-  Baked BBQ chicken. Went in to turn it over and add more sauce, and discovered the oven did another of its "barely warm" stunts. Yes it was on- turned to 400*. After 30 minutes, I could still lay my hands on the racks. I messed around with it and got it to fire off, but now supper is running late. I had used the oven instead of the grill because it was faster!
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Good news: trying to de-clutter. Two years ago I promised I was giving each of the 7 kids one of my nine cookie jars.  With the tumult of the months following, it never happened. I now have two of the cookie jars chosen by kids- waiting to hear from Glynna on if she wants one for Nickole, and will let Connor and Alana choose one each if they like- as Tommy doesn't want one at this point in his life. (I told the kids not to feel pressured into taking one.)

More good news: Connor and Alana, their mom Jennifer and step Dad James are coming for the afternoon Sunday! It will be good to see them. So I best get myself in gear and make Alana's skirt.

Tom and I had our 29th anniversary Saturday. Extremely low key. We cooked some steaks on the grill and called it good. No gifts or cards were exchanged.
That's all from here. Hope you have a blessed day.

Pity Party...

Today, an older gent came into the Store. I croaked out a greeting and helped him find what he was looking for.
He sounded exactly like I do.
I joked about it a little bit. He assumed that I simply have laryngitis.

"You will get better", he says. "But I won't. I am always going to sound like this, this is as good as my voice ever gets. My vocal cords are damaged. I breathed caustic battery acid fumes!"

So I told him, that's what's wrong with my voice, battery acid fumes. He asked how long, and when I said today makes three weeks, he shook his head and said that it doesn't look good.

Of course, he isn't a doctor. Just a random old fellow who just happened to walk into the store and happened to sound exactly like I do... for the same reason I do.

What if this IS the best my voice ever gets?
I don't even know how to think about that. Or if I even need to think about it.
Is it borrowing trouble to think about a future of almost no voice?

Most people cannot hear me unless I "shout".  I can barely be understood on the telephone. If the voice is 'better', I can carry on a soft conversation for a few minutes, but the voice gets "used up" really quickly.

Do I/ Should I think of suing the company? What is a voice worth?

I still have no appointment with an ENT, though I called the patient advocate and croaked out a reminder. I don't want this going on indefinitely.

Edited: ENT specialist apt is Tuesday afternoon.