Friday, April 15, 2016

Friday-2:15pm

Good Afternoon!
All my plans...
...could you hear God laughing up here in Fargo?  :)
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After I posted (3 1/2 weeks ago now) three days later I was dreadfully sick with 102 degree temp.  Slept for 2 1/2 days and then pooped for the next two days.  (Spent my birthday in the bathroom--LOL!)  Fever finally broke.  I hadn't eaten and only sipped on water for over four days.  Much to my surprise, I discovered I was so dehydrated and weak that I could barely lift my hand high enough to comb my hair, was dizzy (or dizzier than normal), and could barely walk.  Gatorade to the rescue--LOL!  
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Caroline was getting groceries for me and picked up several big bottles of Gatorade for me.  She even unloaded my groceries for me, too.  A few days later Leah dropped off more bottles of Powerade, too.   That helped me get back enough spoons to be able to shower and cook.  :)  Not that anything tasted right for another week or so.
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As soon as I was off the porcelain throne, then the cough and head congestion started up.  I sounded like a frog for a couple weeks.  I'm still not totally well, but definitely on the tail end of it all.  
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When I was too sick to even get dressed Karma had to settle for peeking through the blinds all day.    
She put up with it... 
...but was thrilled when I was finally able to throw some clothes on and give her some real sunbathing time. 
The jackrabbits are pretty much brown again. 
I see them regularly. 
Erratic spring weather is here.  Warmer one day...a dash of snow the next.
Leah came over for Craft Nights on Mondays the past couple weeks.  A couple weeks ago she helped me put together Thank You cards and other cards from our watercolor/emboss resist play we had done before I got sick.  So I was able to send out my Thank You cards for the sweet and thoughtful birthday gifts.  
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Mr. Ian loves trucks.  Calls any piece of big machinery a truck, really.  So I got him "My Big Truck Book" this month.  But I was so sick I hadn't been able to see him for weeks. 
Last Friday Leah and Ian dropped by for a couple of hours.  Was a sunny day...
...and Ian didn't want to take off his new sunglasses! 
He loved his big truck book!! 
He's growing so fast! 
I also got him a paint with water book that you can let dry and reuse over and over...and he loved that, too.  They stayed for lunch.  (He really knows how to charm Gramma!) 
He was due for a nap...and was excited to go home to show Daddy his truck book.  (Dagan works half days on Fridays.) 
My Aunt MaryLou died.  She'd been in fragile health for some time and was my Mom's younger sister.  I like to think of her as finally reunited with the love of her life (she dearly missed)--her husband, Irving.  :)
I hadn't seen the Canadian Geese for a couple of weeks.  There's suddenly a pair wandering by on occasion again.  Not sure if it is the same pair or another pair, but they are quite magnificent.
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Small flocks of these tiny birds are around every day chittering up a storm.  They're even smaller than the little brown house sparrows we have around all winter and have white bellies.  They are so darn cute!!  Karma loves to watch them.  Can you see her down in the right bottom corner?
I hadn't seen any of the grouse for like a month or more.  Ever since all the chasing about began and the snow melted.  But a couple days ago I could hear them outside someplace and discovered two of them poking about in the grass outside my bedroom window near the young tree there.  Had to shoot through the screen, but I was so tickled to see a couple of them after such a long time.  Not sure if I'll see them much at all this summer.
When the North Sky calendar came out in April I saw that for the first time they had a couple of Monday nights (11th and 25th) listed as Craft Nights!  Well, you know that since I was the one bringing it up all the time I had to try to attend, right?  Luckily the first one wasn't till the 11th and I wasn't coughing as much by that time.  
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Mondays are normally Leah and my craft nights, so I told Leah right away when I got the calendar in case she wanted to meet another night or get together later than 7pm (the group here meets at 6:30pm).  But she said she'd like to come with!  Nice!  So, she came over early on Monday and we filled up my little cart and rolled it down there at 6:30pm.  
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Leah was working on her Christmas gift tags and I was cutting up a ream of white cardstock, so we had a variety of paraphernalia to haul down.  Embossing powders, heat gun, my Dahl cutter, the MISTI, and my Martha Stewart scoring board.  We were the only people who showed up to actually craft--LOL!  There were half a dozen other people there.  A couple were playing cribbage and we got asked a lot of questions by the ladies who hung about to chat and were quite curious about what we were making and how the devices worked.  We were down there for a couple of hours.  It was a good night, regardless.  Possibly a good start--maybe?  ;)
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   Out of all the activities they have here the one that interests me the most, of course, is a craft group.  So I will keep trying to show up.  (They might list it in the afternoons sometimes, too, I guess.)  And Leah is game, too, when it's in the evenings.  Sweet!  Leah and I were already talking about maybe having a night sometime where people could make a card or two to take with them.  It wouldn't cost me hardly anything to do that once in a while.  Leah and I will bounce around ideas this next Monday night when we're just here at home.  
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I know it will take a while to get any of these groups off the ground and going.  There hasn't been a big response yet for much of any of the activities, I guess, from what I've heard.  I'll be persistent about the Craft Group, though.  You can bet on it.  ;)
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Yesterday Caroline came to clean.  It was unbelievably gorgeous out!  Sunny and may have gotten up to 70!  Best of all--the ferocious winds died down for the day so that I could have the patio door wide open all day and into the evening!  Right now it is actually 71 degrees, but it has been viciously windy all day, clouded over, and feels much colder than 70 degrees.  Supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, so the dampness probably makes it feel chillier, too.
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But when the sun shines...Miss Karma soaks up the rays.  [Karma wasn't happy with me when I was sick and she had to push her way behind the blinds to park herself in a sitting position to catch a bit of the morning sun.  Karma's a sprawler by nature, she'll have you know, and I was making life difficult for her.]
So anyways, all my plans to get more done...ha!  I've spent almost the entire time away from blogging and being online much at all--just being sick--ROFL!  Such is life, eh?  I just pray that now I will finally get well and stay well
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Thanks to everyone who remembered me on my birthday.  And to everyone who asked about how I was doing...means a lot to me.  I wasn't sure anyone would notice I was gone.  
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I am pretty much feeling human again.  Looking forward to hearing the predicted thunderstorms coming our way.  I do love thunderstorms and this would be the first one this year so I hope the weather-guessers are right this time.  
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I have to say--I was feeling rather sorry for myself that I wasn't able to do more and still had so few spoons after all these months had gone by since the move...and then I got so sick I couldn't even shower or get dressed or make toast.  Was an excellent wake-up call for me.  Do not complain.  Do not worry about what isn't.  Appreciate whatever you have...whatever you can do.  It could always be worse.  Yes.  It could always be worse.  
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I'll be back.  Not sure when, but I certainly hope it won't be nearly a month next time.  I'll leave you with this story.  I swear I thought I heard Buddy Hackett tell this one night on Johnny Carson and I tried to find a clip to no avail.  Oh well.  It came to mind as I was writing and I found a written version.  :) :)
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A little bird refused to join the flock which was flying south for the winter. It refused to listen to its parents and elders thinking it could tough it out.  Winter came and it was so cold that the bird froze and fell to the ground covered with snow. A cow came by and dropped some dung on the bird. The pile of cow dung warmed the bird and brought it back to life. It lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.  A passing cat heard the bird singing, dug the bird out of the pile of cow dung, and ate it.

Morals of the story:
(1) Don't discount experienced advice of people who care for your success.
(2) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
(3) Not everyone who helps you out of a pile of shit is your friend.
(4) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut!   

22 comments:

GrandmaG said...

Loved the story! Glad to see your post. So weird how things happen. Last weekend we picked up a used couch for our son and DIL from a lady named Mary Lou. I was stunned, because my mom's name was Betty Lou and didn't know using Lou was a thing. And now I read about your Aunt Mary Lou :) Just funny. Praying you stay well. Best wishes from Missouri.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Sorry to read you were SO, SO sick. I can relate because this happened to me last year about this time. SO glad you are feeling better now, though.

Sounds like you are taking craft night to heart and having a make-and-take is a way to advertise the event. I wish you luck with it.

Laughed a the morals of the story you told. Fun ending until you post again, dear friend who I have missed.

TexWisGirl said...

so sorry you were so sick! glad karma had some sunlight to peek at while you were under your own set of weather! :) ian looks so cute w/ sunglasses on. :)

AliceKay said...

I'm glad to hear you're feeling much better and are able to go do things with Leah. The craft group sounds like something you two should enjoy. I bet more people will come once things get going.

Ian looked so cute wearing those sunglasses. :) Kids sure do grow up fast.

Crazy weather here lately. In the 70s one day, two days later it snowed, and now the warmth is back. The wind ripped for a few days, tho, and I thought this trailer might blow away to Kansas or someplace. ;)

Loved the story. I've seen it before, but I must admit I laughed each time I read it. :)

andi filante said...

I'm so glad you're up and about enough to write a post...I hope you get to 100% very soon! Thank you so much for my birthday card. I wish I was better at those things because I really appreciate when I'm the recipient! Maybe that will be my half-year resolution. =D And you are soooo right about things that could be so much worse. I preach that very regularly to my family. And I love the morals at the end. Take care, my friend, and give Karma a rub for me!

-andi

Halle said...

That's awful that you were sick for so long! Glad that you felt good enough to post. I really enjoyed reading it. Ian is so big!! And the personality really shined through those photos.
Our cards must have passed in the mail system...I had dropped yours off at the PO earlier in the day and yours was in my mailbox later that day. Great minds and all. :)

DJan said...

I am happy to see you back, Rita. I've been busy trying to deal with my bum knee and didn't notice you were gone (sorry!). So now I'm wishing you a belated happy birthday and am so glad to hear you are so much better. Love the pictures of Ian with his sunglasses. He's sure growing up fast, isn't he? :-)

Bridget Larsen said...

Well penpal i finally found your blog and had fun reading this post. I am putting a letter in the mail to you

Far Side of Fifty said...

Oh I liked the moral of the story! Good one! I am glad you are feeling better! Yes you will have ladies showing up to make cards with you soon...you could charge them for materials!! You should make May Baskets!! :)

Desiree said...

Glad you are feeling better, there has been a horrible strain of stomach virus/flu madness going around, sounds like it visited you sadly.Hope the craft group gets off going well through summer for you, that would be nice.

Anonymous said...

Great story--get better & STAY better!!

Jenny Woolf said...

Oh Rita, I am sorry you have been so ill and I surely hope that you will steadily improve. I think bugs seem to last longer these days than they used to. Or perhaps we didn't notice when we were young and fit LOL. I am glad you've had people to help you and hope that the craft group gets going. Hang in there. I check to see if you have blogged.

Carol said...

SO GLAD YOU ARE FEELING BETTER!!! Sending healing thoughts and energy your way ♥ Karma looks so happy laying in the sun and Ian is just adorable as usual .

My name is Erika. said...

Glad you see you back. So sorry you have been ill. I find illness one of those challenges that is really hard to deal with because it is always nice to think we have control of our lives and even more so, of our bodies. And when we don't, it is soooo hard. But Ian in those sunglasses! He is too cute. And lucky you to also have Karma. Even though cats aren't always people critters like dogs they are still there for you, in their cat way. I miss my cat still a lot. He was my best friend. Have a wonderful rest of your weekend and I hope good health stays with you. :) Erika

Feral Turtle said...

So sorry to hear about your aunt. Hope you are feeling better Rita. Ian is one cool dude with those glasses....cutie!

Serena Lewis said...

102°C, dehydrated, and too weak to lift your hand sounds pretty bad to me. You're so lucky you didn't end up in hospital, my dear friend. I'm very relieved that you're okay and recovering.

The jack-rabbits are adorable!

It looks like Ian loves his new truck book. Hehe...he reminds me of when Michelle got Mikayla her first sunglasses. She loved to wear them everywhere. Ian is so cute!

So sorry to hear about your Aunt MaryLou...my sincere condolences to you and your family. I imagine that she and Irving will be so happy to be reunited again.

Glad to see the grouse are back. A trick my father taught me was to hold my camera or phone up against the fly-screen to take a photo of something outside. The camera will kinda block out the screen and focus past it if that makes sense. Of course, it would depend on the angle you need.

A craft night sounds awesome! I'm sure you would get more people turning up for it. It sounds like they just need a little guidance on where to begin. Cards are a great idea!

Glad to see that Karma is able to sprawl out on her sunny part of the carpet again. :)

I like the story...have heard it before but it was good to read it again.

I hope you've had a nice and relaxing weekend!

Love and hugs xo

Deb J. in Utah said...

Hi Rita - glad you are feeling better and are back in blog land. Little Ian is so cute! I love the pictures in his sun glasses - such a "cool" guy. Hope you continue to feel better. Have a great week and as always, regards to Karma and McFamily!

Sherry Ellis said...

I'm sorry you were so sick! I had a friend who had the same thing as you. No fun! Love the picture of your grandson and the Big Truck book (one of my son's favorites when he was little). He looks so cute in his sunglasses!

Intense Guy said...

I'm happy to hear you are feeling better - I am so late to reading this - I hope you are ALL better now!

Ian looks like one way cool dude with the sunny-glasses! Karma might need a pair too!

Intense Guy said...

P.s., I think your birdie is a Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear you've been so ill. Had to laugh at the story of the bird in shit.

Neesie said...

Oh it sounds like you've really had a tough time of it Rita, but it's good to hear that you are improving.
How cute is Mr Ian in those cool shades and Karma doesn't look too worse for wear... catching that beautiful sunlight.
It was good to have a little giggle at the end of the post.
Take care and I hope you get well soon... fighting fit in fact!