Friday's Fave Five

This is from my cousin, who has a wonderful blog mentioned elsewhere in this blog. She has been doing this - and she has pix, but I'm just going to try getting something down! :D


#1 - Freshly cut grass - by my wonderful hubby. Smells are some of the greatest memory stimulators. A whiff of newly cut grass, on a summer's evening, with lightning bugs and the hoya blooming, and suddenly I am 11 years old and playing kick the can with my cousins while our parents and grandparents played cards. If we stayed out of their way, we could stay up to the un-heard of hour of eleven o'clock!!


#2 - Anoles that live WAY longer than they are suppose to! My daughter made a terrarium as a science project in 2003. She was homeschooled and we were studying river banks, coasts etc and the life around them. She created this 30 gallon habitat for an anole that was predicted to live about 3-4 years. Well it is now 2009 and Lady, as she was named, is still doing fine. And I find her strangely more appealing than the cats and dog who also occupy our abode.

#3 - Pot roast in the oven when I got home today! YAY! TheaterTech followed directions and it smells heavenly!!! See above comment on smells :D

#4 - My heels are feeling better. After my last post, my daughter pushed her anti-inflammatories on me and they seem to be helping!!! Hallelujah! This is me kicking up my heels! It was this or a Bette Grable pose! :D






#5 -This is almost a year since our Mediterrean Cruise taken to celebrate our 30th anniversary. In front of me is a calendar we bought in Sorrento to constantly remind me of the great time we had. We saw so many new and wonderful things. But the best part of all was that we found out we still like to be together and do things together and not just talk about the kids or work. It was wonderful!

ouch

My ankles hurt! Or maybe it is my heels. Not sure. I have heel spurs and they are BOTH aggravated. Doesn't seem fair that they should both be inflamed at the same time! Over a year ago I started doctoring with a pro for the right heel. Two months into the process I broke my little toe on the right foot. Totally. Major coloring and lots of pain. Of course, there is nothing they do for it except tape it to the neighboring toe and tell you to do the wedding walk. The wedding walk you say...that is when you take a step forward and then bring the rear foot even with the forward step. The idea is to NOT bend the toe at the joint, which is where my break was. So 5 weeks later all is healed and I have the ok to start walking normal again.
TWO day - yes, I said 2 days - later I was in a hurry to get to work and tripped on a rug in the dining room. I went to make the little running steps you do to regain your balance, and my life changed! It felt like someone took a baseball bat to the back of my leg. My right leg, of course.
After an MRI it was determined that I had torn the Achilles tendon about 70%. Any more and they would have wanted to do surgery. For me, they just put the foot in a boot and immobilized the foot for 3-4 months. The tendon seems to be doing pretty well, but I am told it can take up to 2 years to fully heal, so I need to be patient.
But the original heel spurs are NOT improved. They hurt. I am not convinced that anything the doctor did helped. I kinda think if he had just ordered me to stay off my feet for a week or two and given me anti-inflammatories, it might have been over by now. Without his order, I couldn't take time from work and I am on my feet the whole time I am at work.
Thanks for listening, I felt the need to whine a little. It does make me feel a little better! :D

Awards and recognitions!

I did it!!! I finally figured out how to post an award I got from my dear cousin several weeks ago! She wanted to know why it wasn't up and I had to admit that I couldn't figure it out. Turns out I had to copy the image and paste as an address and it worked. Yay.
Recognition. Don't we all like that? Today I had to work 12 hours because a colleague who is pregnant had to be rushed to the hospital. (she is OK - but will have to take it easy for a little while - she is due Sept. 2, all prayers welcome) Anyway, I was allowed to leave as soon as the store closed rather than stay for 'recovery.' As I was leaving a fellow associate made comment on my early departure and I said I'd been then for 12 hours already. She commiserated and then as I left she said, "Thank you for your good deed today." I started to just slough it off as 'no big deal' but then I thought...and said...'Thank you, it is nice to be appreciated." It did make the day feel a little better.
We all need affirmations in our life. We want to be good parents, children, mothers, workers, whatever, and we want someone to notice that we are doing those things well. Those little certificates at work for perfect attendance, or maybe that merit bonus, these are things that make us feel good about ourselves.
A number of years ago, I attended a youth conference as a chaperon. The last thing that happened on Sunday morning before church, was an affirmation ceremony. Each small group would write short positive statements about the others in their group. Then as each person took center stage in their group, those statements were read aloud. It seemed kind of silly. And definitely a time waster, we could have been packing the cars instead. That is until it was my turn to sit in the middle and hear things my fellow adults said about me. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold night. I never wanted it to end. And I, too, took those words home and kept them. Both our daughters have numerous paper bags from various conferences, all contain letters and geegaws that remind them they are special and loved! They look at them sometimes when they feel like mouse spit and they get the strength to go on.
We also want to be good Christians. And again we want to be noticed. We forget that sometimes it is better to do that good deed in secret and be rewarded later by God.
I have tried to live so that God will be proud of me...or at least recognize me when we meet! I don't begin to believe that I have succeeded 100 % but I try.
Thanks Heidi!