I Have Been Hibernating

Maybe yawl have been wondering where I have been and what I have been doing.  Please note the picture above...temperature 104*.  And I'm pretty sure that it has been higher than that at times.  The older I get, the less I am able to tolerate the summer heat here in Mississippi.
So I just hibernate.  I got to work and church and that is about it.  I only go to Wal Mart when I have no more toilet paper.  I make David go to the grocery store.
The AC here in paradise runs constantly.  We keep in on 71* and it only stops running after dark.  During the day the house stays around 74* and that is with the thermostat set on 71*.  I am regretting all these French doors and windows and high ceilings.  They are indeed pretty, but when I pay the heating and cooling bills I sigh deeply.  I have placed sheets over the sheers in the master bedroom.  (I do not have curtains on any of the windows--there are sheers on every window and it too is indeed pretty for the view) Sigh.
David plowed/seeded/watered the front yard.  The grass only grew in the places it usually grows.  The water bill was $179.00 last month and $117.00 this month.  He quit watering when we got the first bill.  We still don't have decent grass. So it's as if he took $297.00 and flushed it down the toilet.  Sigh again.
He did make me two very nice flower beds.....one is doing well the other (which takes the brunt of the sun) not so much.  But I love them...they were my anniversary present.
Married 16 years June 16th.  Sigh again.  I adore my husband, he is my heart.
I have been on Adkins and have lost 26 pounds.  Sigh again.  But I'm stuck. The scales are not going to move anymore unless I do.  I have walked some at the gym in our church, but I have PROMISED myself that I will walk daily when it cools off.  Sigh again.
Adkins has been very hard on my body, and my liver studies elevated.  So my doctor told me to slow down and eat more carbs.  I have and have not gained, and I know I have got to come up with another plan.......Sigh again.
The furbabies are fine.  The Wild Monkeys   grandbabies are also fine.
I will leave you with these final pictures...let me set the scene.  David had been baby sitting 4 of the Wild Monkeys while I worked (yes I was scared).  I came home to them playing in the sprinkler.  He had to run an errand and left me in charge. 
I said, "Don't get in the mud."
I said, "Don't throw mud balls at each other."
I said, "Don't make a mud hole in PapPaw's front yard."
Well, take a look for yourself.

A Long Story Made As Short As Possible

I have been away for awhile.  I haven't been in an asylum, rehab or on a desert island...let me explain...
(and I am not lamenting--I'm just explaining what all has happened)
Not long after my last post  early on a Saturday morning, Fontana was running around on the bed, missed the steps, fell off and broke his little foot.  The vet put a  on a cast (pink---sigh) that he wore for 3 weeks. He quickly learned how to get around with the cast on his little foot.
The following Sunday morning at 3 AM, the nursing home called and my sweet uncle John had passed away in his sleep.  We had his grave side services on Wednesday.  It was quite beautiful...the military played taps and presented me with the flag.  And a family friend that he had taught how to play the guitar, played Amazing Grace on the fiddle (yes fiddle, not violin).  All and all it was a wonderful tribute to a simple man who found great pleasure in simple things.
The following Saturday, I woke up and knew something was wrong.  Went to the ED and sure enough I had a large kidney stone that was too large to pass and was blocking my kidney...this bought me a trip to a large medical center and lithotripsy the following Monday.
I came home Monday after the lithotripsy and then of course Thanksgiving was Thursday.  So between passing the "sand" from the stone, running fever, cleaning and cooking......well enough of that.
Back to work.........then last Wednesday went to the urologist for a check up and....have two more stones that are small enough to pass sigh......feeling okay but on the way home started running fever......missed more days of work.
Oh and during this time my lap-top is at the computer doctor....I have been reading your posts on my iPhone, but I haven't been making comments.
Now I'm propped up here in the bed in my semi-decorated house...
Me:  David this is not all of my Santa Claus figurines
David:  Well, I got all the boxes down.
Me:  Can't be...
David: Is to.
Me: Is not.
David: Is to.
Me Is not.
Most all of the gifts are bought, but none are wrapped.
Fontana's puppy foot is fine. Priscilla, Ginger and Ann Margaret are fine.
I miss my uncle, but I know he is in Heaven playing "Rubber Dolly", "Carroll County Blues" and "My Bucket's Got A Hole In It" on the fiddle (yes fiddle-not violin).
Our kids are fine,
All the Grand Kids are fine,
David is fine,
I am fine.
Life is good.
And let my Heavenly Father be praised. 

Mommy, Why Are Our Neices

and nephews dressed up in crazy outfits?

We know that you always call them Wild Monkeys...so why are the dressed up as....

a pirate?

a cat? (of all things...a CAT!!!!)

and is that a Dragon Slayer?  an Alien? a Genie? (isn't there supposed to be a bottle somewhere?) and a Diva?  a Diva?
Why didn't we get costumes?  We never get costumes...and we never ever get candy.  Never.  Not even if one of them drop some of their loot...yawl grab it up before we even get half a chance to nab it and run under the bed...
Just wait till next year...we going as...Priscilla Presley and Ginger Alden......yeah that's right....our names sakes....

Snippets From The Easter Wild Rumpas Or.....

Does AnyBody Have Any Craft Ideas For Left Over Plastic Easter Eggs?
And I do mean lots and lots of plastic eggs,  eggs that are still lying in a virginal state in a box...
It all started Friday when Son, DIL and gkids #s 6 and 7 came down.  They are moving into my mother's house.  It seems that Son is ready to be home and close to his daddy--he misses them hunting and fishing together, and coming home from his second tour of Iraq, he needs to be closer to home.
So Saturday there was cleaning, moving, painting, storing and selling.  But I went to the auction.  I showed my DIL the 4 things that I did not want to sell...my grandmother's two tables, which I never remember not having around, my mama's sewing machine and a very very old mirror that came from one of Mama's cousin's house.  I was ready to move on and had prepared myself by watching "Clean House."  But I just could not see my Mama's bed and other stuff leaving.  My DIL did a wonderful job for me.
Sunday dawned and found me in a daze from the crazy whirlwind of children, David's special needs brother, and grandchildren in the house.  I sat on the deck sipping my coffee and thought to myself, you have a decision  to make.  You can be like either Martha or Mary in the Bible.  You can be like Martha and run around making beds, picking up clothes, mopping floors or you can sit back and enjoy the moment like Mary did.
I chose to be Mary.
David boiled and the kids dyed 4 dozen eggs.  2 and 3 got a great kick out of this.  I wondered if all they have ever had is plastic.....

DIL, gkids and I all piled in the bed and watched the chipmonks movie.
We didn't cook, we ate takeout...yeah I know that is kinda anathema for Easter but...and I hope He understands why we didn't make it to church.....
That evening our neighbor came over with some more plastic eggs and they hid probably a hundred.  7 kids hunting eggs in the yard....from ages 11 to 2.....fun.
By the end of the day my feet were sticking to the floor in places, I was tired of saying have you seen _____ insert name of one of 7 gchildren and/or CiCi and GinGin, and constantly being on chocolate watch for the dogs, wondering what that pink powder was in various places (seems like it is some kind of dipping powder), and hearing "Nonna 7 dropped this in the yard" (my scan drive that has all my back-up files on it!!!), loss of a rent check and so on and so on.
After everybody left, I realized that the very thing that I said in my wedding vows to David at our wedding almost 15 years ago, "I want to grow old with you, sit on the front porch and watch our grandchildren play in the front yard" had actually come true.
Life is good.

CiCi And GinGin and Pizza

CiCi And GinGin:  Mommy, when are our neices and nephews coming back?
Me:  I don't know,  #5 will probably be here tonight.  Why?
Well, they are kinda fun, but they also tire us out.
What do you mean?
Well they like to play and #5 loves to chase us around the house, and #4 just plain loves us, but you know we need our space.
Oh.
Yeah, we are used to having the house and you and Daddy all to ourselves.
Oh.
But there is one good thing.
What.
They drop crumbs and stuff.
Yeah, did you (GinGin) enjoy that pizza that you grabbed out of #7's hand?
Yes, but I would have enjoyed it more if you and Daddy hadn't been hollering at me and poking at me under the bed with that broom.
What about you grabbing that corn dog that #6 dropped out in the yard?
Yeah...but yawl all ganged up on me, cornered me and managed to wrestle it out of my mouth....I never even got a bite.
The pizza was enough.  Yawl aren't supposed to eat people food.
What do you mean people food?
You are only supposed to eat what Daddy and I put in your puppy bowl.
Again, what do you mean by people food?  Don't you call us puppy girls?
It's hard to explain, your puppy girl tummies are more delicate that us big people's tummies.
Is that why #4 tells everybody that you are gassy?  What does that mean?
Sigh..........