Have You Seen It?

I mean my other blog. If not, go look at it! You're missing out on a couple extra smarts I have!

Prepare With Me

Butt-Head

Sorry Mama...no other title fits this blog as well.

About 1 1/2 weeks ago, Tommy got to thinking about a haircut. That's not so odd. He didn't wait for me to help him. That's also not odd. Jared heard the clippers going and ran to the bathroom to observe Tommy's efforts. The conversation went something like this:

Jared: "Daddy, whatcha doin?"
Tommy: "Cuttin' my hair"
Jared: "You cuttin' it like mine?"
Tommy: "I think I will, son!"
Jared: "Good, I like that."

So Tommy cut a mohawk. He left about 1/8 inch of hair on the sides,...so it was a little odd for me. I couldn't bring myself to say "I like that honey!"...yeah those words just wouldn't come out of my mouth. I helped him get his lines straight and then just happened to mention it at Walmart to the girl we know who cuts hair there....she helped straighten it more and offered me job. HAH!

A day or two later, Tommy gets his razor out and while he shaves his face, he decides to shave the sides of his head too. That made his mohawk look better in my opinion. I guess I can admit it was growing on me. He even went to church this past Sunday with that mohawk. Some people didn't even recognize him. That's funny.

Life goes on, I figured the mohawk would gradually change shape a bit and in time it would be as common to me as Manti's hair is. Evidently, Tommy wasn't quite done cutting his hair. See what you think!

Now tell me,....is my blog post titled appropriately?

My Insides Out

I need to get some things out, so this is just noise for my own benefit really. If you find it interesting to read, you might want to seek medical attention :D

Marianna, you've written it twice...you have the flower essence repertoire right there.... so look. Nobody else needs to see all that garbage,...you'll see it everytime you come back and read this. It will be ok :)

DuBose Thankfulness

I won't be able to spend any time with my parents and siblings for Thanksgiving, so in case they read this during this season, I wanted to be sure they knew of my thankfulness. Here goes:

• I am thankful for picking up cans.
  I can almost see Mama's face over that one. She's waited umpteen years to hear me say that, and even now, she doesn't get to HEAR me say it except in her mind as she reads it :D
  But seriously, I'm thankful Mama made me pick up cans to pay for my trip to Australia. It was humiliating at the time, but I look back now at the humble quality it instilled in me and the appreciation I gained to be able to take such a trip. It worked, Mama!
• I am thankful for cupcakes and wii and Guitar Hero.
  I'm not a big fan of cupcakes, but sharing them with my sister over a game of "battle of the bands" (whatever the game was called) makes them the best treat in the world.
• I am thankful for buckskin.
  When I was 17, I had stars in my eyes and wanted to give my beau a Christmas present he would never forget, something with meaning to him. I came up with what I wanted to make, but had no idea how to get the supplies or how to make one. My daddy took me to the shoe cobbler in town, bought me beautiful golden buckskin and then designed a leather pouch that is so unique and beautiful. Tommy still has it, still uses it, and still marvels over it more than 20 years later. What I gained from it is a memory of my daddy, and how important it was to him to help me with this,....thank you daddy!
• I am thankful for Facebook.
  That's insane, I know! But that's the place I have gotten to know my little sister. She still does "little sister stuff" and I roll my eyes at her, but I've gotten to see things about her I've never had the chance to see otherwise. I've been able to watch my nephews grow when space and time have not allowed me to otherwise. I've even been able to argue with Doug there, and that's just plain fun!
• I'm thankful for roadkill.
  No kidding- ROADKILL! David and I actually went on a roadkill hunt once...but the hides we were going for were just bonus. It was the time to be together and talk,...something we've only done about 3 times in our whole lives.
  

These are only a few things. I am thankful for SO many things. The internet just isn't a big enough place for my gratitude, so I'll leave it at this,....and a note to my family that I love you all.... soo soo much!

Have good food, good conversation, and good feelings among you and think of me for a moment this Thanksgiving Day!

Family Excursion

I have been quite remiss in keeping content on my blog. I should apologize for that, truly I should,... but I plead insanity instead. If you read the post just prior to this one, you know that my poor respiratory system has been trounced upon for quite sometime and that my stress levels have looked down upon the highest mountains,.... and therefore it stands to reason that my emotions needed some relief from it all. I did get past that allergy of the dog dander, but wouldn't you know it---there is something else in my house disrupting my system? I'm guessing mold. It seems like all that's left to blame! I want to rip the carpet out of my house and bleach everything, but that seems a little extreme especially considering how much help I'll have available to me in such an undertaking,.... so its not done yet,....and I'm not well yet either. My sinuses quit being my friend a long time ago anyway,....

So let's move along,....

I've looked in all sorts of directions for that mind numbing relief that makes everything tolerable for a time. I found games,...not just one game, ... LOTS of games! I got wound up tight in those and had to involved my family in them. I hooked up with Lee and together we make a fierce a mafia who farms well during the day and indulges in vampire activities at night. We're good :)

That worked for a while. I was distracted. And then a little agreement came due.

Let's back up in time for a moment.
We have a friend. He lives in Nashville, but he came to a powwow we were at and that's where we met him. He is Lakota, so there is our common ground. He's a super nice guy and a really great musician. We've gotten together with him a few times and have a new but special friendship with him. Can't really explain it beyond that. Well, he had spoken at the University of Alabama in Huntsville last year, and they wanted him back. He had a conflicting schedule though, so he recommended ME to take his place. I agreed. I figured it was no different than the many times I had spoken to middle school and primary school kids, right? WRONG! There was a contract I had to sign, ... and I was formally introduced! That was a first!

We got our regalia together and packed up a collection of my beadwork and some herbs and headed to Alabama last week. We stayed in a nice conference center/ hotel and had the BEST continental breakfast I have ever had in all my life!!! SERIOUSLY! We got up and got our buckskins on and were escorted to the building where we were to present our culture. Our topic was native medicines and beadwork,... so I approached it this way:

A medicine wheel represents that circle of life Disney made so famous. It has so much symbolism in it that I could go on and on about that. I won't do that here, so if you want to know it you'll have to ask me. The basic gist I expressed was that there are 4 aspects to your health. You are the center of this wheel, where all the responsibility lies. The 4 aspects are: mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. To relate these things, I described a medical doctor. If you are sick and go to a doctor, you are getting great assistance for your PHYSICAL health, but he doesn't even think about the other aspects of your health. If you are under stress, that is a mental difficulty that leads to a physical condition. That physical condition leads to an emotional depression and when we get to that point, we have no where to go but to our God in prayer. That's why hospitals put chapels in their buildings!

The native point of view is to focus on all these aspects yourself and seek help when you need it,....in all areas. So we approached our demonstration from there on in a similar way. Tommy told a story we tell children about a boy and a snake. The boy carried a snake from the cold mountains to the warm valley, but the snake bit the boy at the end of their trail. They boy asked why and the snake said "you knew what I was when you picked me up!" That moral teaches us to think first,...and be prepared for consequences. Choose wisely and the consequences will be easier to endure.

The physical aspect of health, of course, was herbal in nature. I showed some herbs, talked of ways I use them and how they came into my life. I had a good bit of interest in that! I was surprised!

Then was the emotional aspect of health and I feel creativity is involved there. In aboriginal healing ceremonies, images might be painted on a body, songs sung, beauty brought in,... and this is where I displayed my beadwork. If you let your creativity be a part of your life, that beauty will work to lift your spirits often.

Then we go to the spiritual aspect of health, which is your relationship with your Creator. At this point, Manti and Mesa sang two prayer songs. You never heard the like! I wish I could have recorded that, it was so awe inspiring and beautiful! It wasn't that professional sound you look for in a musician,....it was soul warming purity.

We ended with a Q&A session and then we let one of their instructors take a couple pictures of us. This is one he took with Manti's camera for us. What a time we had!

Another Diagnosis

If you've been anywhere near me since last April, you've heard me cough. I have done nothing BUT cough since then and have hated it passionately. I couldn't get it to settle down, so I gave in and went to the clinic and saw the nurse practitioner. Don't get me wrong, she's a nice lady and has helped my family most times she's seen any of us over the years....but if I went in there with a pain in my foot, she'd tell me I had a sinus infection. It's about the only diagnosis we ever hear.

April, my sinus infection was different. I had all these other irritating symptoms too, like watery itching eyes and aching ears. My neck even hurt some. So I went to see her and got the dreaded diagnosis: sinus infection due to allergies. Well that was something new! I'd never had allergies before so didn't recognize those symptoms when they struck ME. But that's handle-able so we took care of it (that means I did take the antibiotic and claritin, and also took my herbs.) It eased up, but I had a little bit of a cough that lingered. Just the annoying noise, nothing major.

Then along comes June and BAM! It struck again full force and miserable! I recognized it as identical to the April incident, so why pay the clinic to tell me that? I just got another box of claritin, nyquil to knock me out and took more herbs. It went on its way and all that lingered was a little nagging cough. Then along comes August and BAM again. Just exactly the same thing. This is so unfair. It didn't help that these events were also coinciding with Tommy's episodes.

Well, here it is September and wouldn't you know it,....it hits me again. Now I've dealt with this garbage in the spring, the summer....and now the fall. What the heck am I allergic to? The pollens should all be different? Was I THAT unhealthy?

We made plans to go out of town. I had the dreaded sinus stuff hit just a couple days before. I got well enough I could survive the trip, and then the day we were supposed to go home, Tommy's health got a bit stressed. So we stayed. That next day, I got the full brunt of this irritation. It was awful,....but it wasn't the worst. That was still to come for the day we left Tennessee to drive back home. THAT was the worst of it! I lost bladder control weeks ago, so that's not new, but the serious pain in my kidneys was. Every cough was like a vice clamping down on each kidney squeezing the life out of me. It was so bad I couldn't drive and had to turn the wheel over to Tommy. I cried the rest of the way home. Having babies isn't quite that bad! Skipping past some of the details here ... Yesterday I got up and called one of Tommy's doctors. I don't have insurance and was scared to go see them, but had to know for sure if I had swine flu and the clinic had just misdiagnosed me. I haven't had all the symptoms for that, but it has been found in my region, so I had to be sure. We went and saw the doc and she asked when I first started showing signs of allergy. I told her about the April visit to the clinic. And she asked me when I got over it. I told her I never really had completely, that I always had a bit of a cough left behind. A few more questions later, she tells me I need to rip out the carpet in my house and put my dog outside! She said the pollens aren't getting me, my house is!

My opinion here: The dog has been here since last year and she's only indoors in the evenings. She's not going anywhere until I'm forced to put her out. The house though,.....

When I was younger, my mother told me that all it took for a word to be bad was intend it to have a bad meaning. She said I could even say "hot dog!" and that be a bad word if I had bad intentions when I used it.

My house is a piece of HOT DOG! Tommy inherited it from his parents and I can't tell if its been a blessing or a curse. Right now, I'm cursing it with every Oscar Myer word I can come up with.

Good news is.... I was right! It's a sinus infection that is bacterial,...and the bacteria is a resistant variety that has gotten firm hold of my sinus cavity. Thats why nothing has helped me much all this time, only helped me bide my time. The house keeps feeding the infection so it stays strong and I stay weak. I'm not contagious but I'm not getting it over it rapidly. I've got new meds: a stronger antibiotic (the stuff they use for anthrax) and a steroid and 2 cough suppressants plus robitussin and claritin again. Oh and one of those tablets is VILE tasting! I have to cram food and such in my mouth with it to get it down and not throw it up. The doc told me I could feel this way for another week, but next week I should feel some better and in 2 months I should be well. yeah.... t w o l o n g f r e a k i n' h o t d o g m o n t h s!

Anyone have a tissue?

Traditional Haircut? Not at MY house!

My little boys have begged and pleaded for mohawks, bald heads, long hair,... anything but "traditional" barber shop buzz cuts. I'm fine with not looking like ever other Tom, Dick and Harry,....oh wait, ... looking like TOM is ok. For several months, Morgan had a mohawk. It wasn't an ugly spiked thing that made you look for piercings and hair dye, it was very tasteful. Well all the sudden, every boy his age at church had a mohawk just like him! then he started seeing them at Walmart, and at Publix, ... and soon every boy his age had the same haircut and his wasn't unique anymore. He was done with it. So I cut it off and he started growing it. But he didn't want the Shaggy look (remember Shaggy, Scooby Doo's friend?). So what was Morgan's look?

About a month ago, Manti ordered a movie called The Song of Hiawatha. It's a REALLY FABULOUS movie! I highly recommend it! The main character has a very unique haircut. It is traditionally accurate for native people of that time period in that area of the country,...and low and behold, we've traced Tommy's ancestry to that neck of the woods too! So I asked Morgan if he'd like THAT haircut. What do you think?

The boys liked it, Tommy agreed, and I found a hairdresser willing to do it. Today was the day. Tommy and the boys went to the dentist for their regular cleanings and I stayed home playing the movie over and over and taking pictures to have one to take with us to the hairdresser. Can you believe that this awesome actor only has photos of his face? None of the back of his head!

I got the before pictures...


Docile enough, but definitely shaggy.
And then we have the "after shots"...




It's different all right! I think I like it! But what really makes this a great "do" is Jared. He is finatical that nobody and nothing "mess up" his hair. We left the building and walked outside. He started screaming NOOOOo! And holding his head. He was livid that the wind had the nerve to try to mess up his hair. And he won't let anybody touch him for fear they'll mess up his hair. No woman was ever this diligent in protecting their newly coiffed do!

Just wait,...that tiny ponytail will grow longer ;)

The Mustache

Did you ever wonder what Manti would look like with a mustache?

Heart Drama

At first it, was just a little "drama"....but by the end of the week, you could change the D to a T and slide a U in after the A! T-R-A-U-M-A!



So if you don't know what I'm talking about (and I can't imagine there is anyone out there who doesn't, but just in case....) I'll fill you in. June 1st, Tommy had a heart attack. That's old news, I know. His healing process from that included 3 months of "cardiac rehab", which consists of exercising while nurses monitor blood pressure and heart rate. Luckily, the rehab unit is across the hall from the cardiologist, and both are housed in the hospital.



So last week, I was coughing my guts up from whatever I caught while we were at our survival campout. I didn't think I was going to survive, so I had Manti take him to his appointments while I stayed home desperately trying to stop coughing. All went fine on Monday. Tuesday is an "off day". Wednesday he went in for rehab and did his exercises,...but his blood pressure didn't respond so nicely. It stayed too low. He got dizzy and started passing out. So the nurses put him on a stretcher and sent him across the hall to the cardiologist. From there, he got admitted to the hospital for observation. So Tommy calls me to tell me this, not thinking he was staying overnight. By evening though, it had turned into an overnight stay since his pressure just wasn't normalizing so nicely. They scheduled him to get a stress test (the kind done with a chemical instead of a treadmill) for the next day, so I stayed home and prayed for cough relief so I could go be with him on THursday.

Thursday came and I took off for the hospital. Manti traded cars with me (because we've heard talk amongst city police that Dodge vehicles have been targetted lately by car thieves and my durango is quite red. There was even a dodge stolen out of the hospital parking deck where we always park!) and he headed home to help with the younger kids. I waited for 2 hours before Tommy came back to the room from his stress test. Then he had to wait....and wait...and wait,... At 8pm, his cardiologist came in and apologized saying there were so many tests run that day that they hadn't gotten them all processed yet. So since it was so late, he had to stay another night for him to read the results, but everything was looking good and he could probably go home in the morning. He thought it might have been a lot of stress: the rehab exercises, his sick wife and 2 youngest sons, medicine adjustments,... that kind of thing. At 10pm, the doctor came back in and tells us the results are in,...and something is wrong. We don't know what for sure until he has a heart catheter done. *SIGH* That means we're there overnight again, and the next day wouldn't be as pleasant.

So we try to sleep that night and plan for a heart cath about noon on Friday. Noon came and went....he got prepped and medically prepared....but the doctor had other patients he couldn't leave and the procedure got put off till 4pm. All shaved and no needles ready to go! Just at 4:00 though, in come the cath lab techs and they wheel his entire bed down the hall instead of putting him in a wheelchair! I was surprised by that. They headed for the staff elevator (also surprised me) and let me follow. We "landed" right near the room where they procedure was going to go on and they said "he's prepped already, let's start now" and I started hearing tools collected and people gathering to work on him before I got out of sight of the door! I was the only one in the waiting room...just me and Maury Povich (by the way, that guy was NOT the father).... the office area had already closed, so not even a secretary to look at. I sat down....stood up, ... sat down.... and got sick at my stomach with worry. Something just started eating at me and scaring me. I started pacing the floor and thought "I'll just call someone". So i called Sheryl (i call her my sister in law, even though its more common law) and told her what was happening.

Shortly after, one of the technicians came out to tell me they found a blockage and had to do a stint, so it would be a few more minutes. He couldn't (or wouldn't, whichever applies) answer my questions, but did tell me he had been in on the LAST stint back in June and didn't recall seeing a blockage like this one at that time. Then he went back to the room .... leaving me alone to bawl like a baby. I called Linda, my boss. I wa supposed to work that weekend and felt so guilty about leaving her hanging like I was having to do to be with him. She was a friend at the time I needed one and she said all the right things,....just like a mother does. What a blessing she is in my life!! She's a real jewel!

I hung up from that, and called my mother. I wasn't done crying yet and Linda stirred up my need for my mommmy. While talking to my mom, the doctor came out. He wasn't wearing scrubs or a lab coat or anything! He was in a SHARP suit! It had to be a costly one too, and totally shocked me to see him that way. I almost forgot my questions! he told me all was fine and about the blockage. He described it as a straw that tapes off on one end. He said where the tapering happens, there was a blockage that WAS there previously. But during the last 2 months, Tommy has been improving and the build up on his arteries was diminishing. That allows the vessels and arteries to open up a bit. A blockage though is a bit thicker and takes more time to demonstrate change. So the opening happened on the other side of it, and by opening up, it seemed to have put a little pressure downward ONTO the blockage. Originally I think he said it was 45% blocked, and now it had become 95-99% blocked. That's drastic I think!

So they put another stint in and the blood flowed nicely through. He didn't have a heart attack because they found this and took care of it before anything could happen. That means no additional damage to the heart muscle.....which means better opportunities for healing and feeling better. AWESOME!

Back to his room after that with word that he goes home Saturday morning. We're glad to hear that! It's already night, and this is the femoral artery we're talking about running a hose through, so it takes a while for blood to clot and be safe enough for him to move around. Saturday morning comes and the nurse comes in to do orthostatic blood pressure monitoring. This means they took his pressure laying down, sitting up and standing. When he got to the standing position, his pressure dropped 20 points. It had been doing that all along, so he and I didn't think anything of it. The doctor noticed though. He said "hook him back up to iv fluids, he's staying till this afternoon." That same time, Mesa called me to tell me how sick she was and that she'd been throwing up all over the place. She needed help, so I had Manti come back to the hospital, trade cars again and stay with his daddy so I could go home and take care of my youngest 3.

That night, they call me and tell me he'll be staying till Sunday. Welll Sunday came and he actually DID get to come home. But with medicine changes and a pair of support stockings.

WHEW! What a week, huh? And I coughed all the way through it :D

My Survivors

Meet some of the members of BSA Venture Crew 7. We went camping and did it "survivalist style". That means we took no tents, no camp stoves, no "Coleman". We built shelters out of whatever was available. We cooked food over an open fire. We braved a thunderstorm and poison ivy and scorpions and impressed even ourselves that we could do it. We really "roughed it"!

And these 4 kids all made my heart swell up with pride. I looked around at one point and saw them all sitting like this...together...voluntarily...HAPPILY! I could have cried with joy at such a sight! Aren't they something?

This is Mesa's shelter. She has used trees and limbs and a thick muscadine vine as braces. She has leaned support branches found on the ground up against the back side of her tree braces and then stretched a tarp over the top and down the back side. She had a second tarp, so using muscadine vines, the second tarp got tied to the grommets of the first tarp, which gave her another wall. A long branch she found on the ground held the second tarp out and gave her extra space inside her shelter. Isn't it great?

And this is Manti's shelter. He built a wikiup with limbs and branches and muscadine vines. Then he spread River Cane and leaves all over it, which actually did hold out the rain that fell! You can see a small fire glowing inside. That fire chased out bugs and kept him comfortable during the rainstorm. He made that all by himself. I'm so proud!

Don't they just make you smile?

Twilight Camp

I love Cub Scouts! I think it is one of the best things in the world for little boys...and for little girls too, but then there is that gender thing that gets in the way.

Last week was Cub Scout Twilight Camp, which is actually the same thing as Day Camp except it functions in the evening instead of during the day. Morgan got to go, and WOW at the things I learned about this kid! Another WOW for the ways he grew and changed! Let me tell you people, especially sisters, your boys don't need to ever miss out on this experience! LET THEM GO even if you have to pick up cans from the side of the road to pay for it. This is an experience for them like going on a mission is for a 19 year old. It is so worth it!

Do you see this child having a blast? Well guess what he did! He earned the second highest score shooting that BB gun of all the 70 boys who attended! Who knew he had it in him? See, I always thought Morgan was this spazoid kit who couldn't sit still long enough to even go to the bathroom. Then last Sunday, I subbed for his teacher at church and saw this shy boy sit and not speak for nearly an hour. I was stunned by that, but figured it was just him being on his best behavior in front of me. NOPE! Well it was, but it turns out that Morgan is actually a shy kid about a lot of things! He was so quiet during this whole past week that I had to keep my eyes on him just to be sure he was actually out there with me! And all that time we thought he wasn't paying any attention -- HE WAS! He shot on an NRA target. That means he had 5 shots. Highest he could score was 50 points. The target looks like this:
The circles are points. The center is 10 points, then 9 points, then 8 points and then 7 points. Anything outside that outer ring is 0 points. You get 5 shots and you have to score at least 35 points to be recognized by the NRA Junior Shooting Team. Morgan scored 43 points. Is he awesome or what??

Look at this kid!

Doesn't he look great? I'm so proud of him! And he learned so much too. See?

He went to camp as a nervous little spazoid with shy tendencies and came home with life experiences and REAL friends! He has this new confidence now too, and will sing for me! Imagine THAT! I'm stunned! Oh and check out intensely he can listen to someone and learn from them! This is probably the most shocking thing for me.

He doesn't even know I'm standing there.

The kids are divided into "dens" just like in cub scout meetings, and each den gives themselves a name and makes up a cheer. My boys named themselves the "Helping Hands" and their cheer goes: "We're the Helping Hands--The Mighty Mighty Hands--We help the earth by picking up cans" and they would chant this at the top of their lungs. Even Morgan did it! Each den cheered all evening long and at the end of the day, they competed for "the spirit stick". My boys got fixated on that spirit stick as if it was the only thing in the world that mattered. When they didn't win it the first night, they were disappointed. (Manti's group won it) The second night they tried harder and lost again. This REALLY disappointed them. The third night they were so dejected when they lost. The fourth night their hearts were ripped out and the last night they didn't see a reason to compete at all...... but they did it and gave it their very last breath. Look what happened!

Now that is a bunch of joyful noise! OH! We built the tallest box tower too! Check it out!

Yes citizens, there is definitely joy in Mudville.

Go to Cub Scout camp with your boys. You'll have as much fun as they do, and your heartstrings will get all yanked and tied in knots seeing your son grow and shine.

(Let me just add one more thing....videos!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyzFjlj5Sqs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=illUkZq-fDU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bhRjWlmCLM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CtDqL9yISo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sZ9wqGMiVU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CscS7IfKn6c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_gO3M2nf5I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbY4arYtwnc

Playing

I like the way this background looks, but it doesn't work as nicely on my laptop as it does on my work computer. It's the screen resolution that causes that.

I'll get the hang of it sooner or later. Till i do,...let me just apologize ahead of time for making you work harder to read my blogs :) My groove is somewhere closeby,...I'll find it eventually.

Testifying of Plantain

...no...not the banana kind...plantain, the weed....its in YOUR yard too! It's everywhere! It's that little weed thing you used to pull the stem out of, wrap it around the seed head top and pop it off at your sister or brother. Remember that one?


That's plantain. Ok, to the story.


Tommy and I have a friend we've known a long time. He was even in our wedding party, so yeah,...long time. He has 4 horses and a mule that he loves -- and he has a toddler whom he also loves. The toddler got preference this week. Tim took him to the zoo....the one in SAN FRANCISCO! (Lucky kid!) So in the meantime, the horses need to be cared for. Manti and Mesa adore horses. Tim lives near us. This is a workable situation for all involved.


So we do the neighborly thing and learn the schedule these beasts are on and yesterday we show up at the barn to feed them and show them attention.

Manti and Mesa get the horses fed and are shovelling out the potty bizness from the stalls while Jared and Morgan watch. Jared decides he needs to water a tree and before he can get himself straightened back out, a bee flies up inside his t-shirt and stings him. He takes off like a wounded animal, screaming and slapping at his side and I take off after him hoping his outburst doesn't disturb those gigantic horses and crazy mule my two teens are walking around. I got hold of Jared and looked around me desperate to find some sort of weed that would help him at least to refocus till I could get him home and doctor his booboo.


Well I didn't see any of that kind in the top picture,...but I did see this broadleaf variety. So I picked a big fat leaf, dusted it off real quick and took a bite out of it. I chewed on it for a couple seconds and then pasted it onto Jared's side. I got him to hold it on with his hand for a few minutes while we walked back up the hill to the driveway where our car was. When we got there, Tim's mother was outside with one of her dogs. (She recently had some major surgery, so she can't care for the horses herself and didn't go on vacation with Tim.) We stopped and talked to her a minute. As we did, I noticed Jared (who is now shirtless) running around with no plantain poultice on his side. The sting spot had swelled up real fat and red with a bright red center where the little hole was glaring. I grabbed him by the hand and walked out into the yard a little ways till I found some more plantain. This time I got some like the one at the top of this page. I picked 3 leaves, chewed one and pasted it onto his side again and made him hold it there. He might have kept it on for a full 2 minutes before wiping it off. So I chewed another one, pasted it on and told him to HOLD IT THERE! He left that one for about 2 minutes before wiping it off too. We went through all the leaves I had picked in just a few minutes.

We left for home just after that, which takes 5 minutes by car. We got into the house and of course Jared had no poultice on him anywhere. Fortunately, I had made some plantain salve a few months ago. So I got out the jar of dark green ointment and smeared it on him and immediately covered it with a Handy Manny bandaid. Jared kept telling me he didn't know WHY he needed that,....his booboo was gone.

Today I'm at work, and Tommy had a doctors appointment. All the kids went with him (makes sense since Tommy can't drive yet) and on the way home, they stopped here to see me. I asked Jared to show me his bee sting. He has a red splotchy area, but there is NO whelp and there is NO hole in the middle. It's just a red splotch. He had forgotten about it till I asked! So no itch, no pain, no heat,.....

Plantain is amazing stuff!

I got tempted

I did it. I succumbed. I thought I never would, but I did. I hang my head in shame.

I have now joined Facebook.

Let's observe a moment of silence.

.........................................................

See, Tommy was looking for something or somebody (totally normal behavior for him) online, and in doing so, he came across this person who was my bestest friend when we lived in Idaho. She and I are TOTAL opposites,...even still...but I sure did love her! Every once in a while, something connected to her floats by me and I will miss her a lot. So seeing her picture over Tommy's shoulder just shook my heart up and I wanted to find her again. I didn't know he had JOINED FACEBOOK to find her! I've been saying I would never do that because Facebook is just DUMB..... but Tonya was too big a temptation and I had to do it.

And to make matters worse, I came across Barry and Marcia on there, and Wanda and John.... I got to see my kids playing around way more than they do in MySpace these days (which is the only reason I joined MySpace)...and to top that off, right away I had some folks ask to connect to me and that just shocked me. I guess I just assume everybody in the world hates me and I just put up with it. So yeah... SHOCKER!

I don't know if I lost my mind that day or not..time will tell.

July 4th Parade

It has been about 20 years since I marched in a parade. I'm SURE it's been that long since I marched the old parade route from Dairy Queen to Kmart. I had forgotten how much I love it...until this past weekend. What made it so great this time is that I made it without huffing and puffing, and all of my kids were in it with me. Even little Jared got all the way to the end!

I am a Boy Scout,....SERIOUSLY! I am an advisor for a Venturing Crew that is co-ed. So that requires a female advisor. You'll see Mesa is a Boy Scout too...official and everything! I'm so proud :) Look at our crew...well, part of our crew anyway. We had another member in the high school band in line behind us...another one was home sick,.... etc. So not ALL of our members could join us. We still look good, don't we?

Morgan isn't officially a Cub Scout yet, but he got invited to join Pack 33 in the parade, which made his day TOTALLY!

Our crew focuses on Native American history and traditions (we should be able to assist any troop with earning the "Indian Lore" merit badge). So that's partly why you see Manti in regalia. See me and Jared in the very back? Jared was smart....he was collecting candy from the road where the kids ahead of us were throwing it. His pocket was SLAM FULL!

Here is our family. Wish Tommy had been there too!

As the Lee Ages

I am so old. My BABY sister just turned 30. Of course, that means SHE'S old too now. In honor of her agedness and just to ensure she remembers where she came from, I thought I'd pull out a few pictures I have her and plaster them on the internet :)

You're welcome Lee!

This is 10 year old Lee at my wedding. Wait, I got married in February and her birthday is June, so this is NOT QUITE 10 year Lee at my wedding.

Then Lee grew up.

She became a wife and a mother....

...pulled out all her hair so she fit in with the rest of us wives and mothers...

...and then got old, just like the rest of us :)

Happy Birthday LeeLee!

Ripped Off Awesomeness

Lee has this really long blog roll of the thousands of people she interacts with on her blog. I got nosey today. Look what I found!

Holy cow! And they are supposed to only be 4-8th grade kids!
Glue your teeth in tight so they don't fall out when these kids get to "Footloose"...seriously awesome!

Made My Background!

When I first created my blog, I chose a background theme that was offered by Blogger. It was ok, nothing to shout about, but it sufficed. Then I got to watching Lee's blog change colors and I got intrigued. I clicked the link connected to her page and went Blog Background Shopping. That was fun for a few minutes,...but then I wanted to do my own!

It's taken me a little while, but I'm catching on! The background on my blog right now is one I made all by myself (with the help of Jacki who guided me in the coding structure. Thanks Jacki!)

So tell me what you think!

Heart Healthy Bean Stew

I know just the title of this blog entry sounds gross, but let me just tell you that I fixed this for supper yesterday and even JARED gobbled it down and said it was good! And I have to say it was quite filling and "stick to your ribs" kind of good.

White Bean and Garlic Stew

2 15-ounce cans cannellini or great northern beans (about 3 cups)
1 head garlic (the whole bulb--15-20 cloves)
2 tablespoons water (I don't know why, and I forgot to put it in)
3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 medium yellow onions, chopped (And I hate onions, so I cut mine big enough I could see to pick them out)
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh parsley (I forgot to put this in too)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I was in a hurry! I forgot to put this in too)

Break the garlic bulb into cloves and peel off the skin. If you'd like, chop one of the cloves, but leave the others whole. If some of the cloves are very large, you may cut them in half lengthwise.Spray a large, non-stick pan lightly with olive oil. Add the onion and sauté until it turns a rich, medium-brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and carrots and sauté for 1 more minute.Add the beans, tomatoes, bay leaves, and water. Cover the pot and simmer for about an hour, adding water if it gets too thick.Stir in the salt and pepper. If you're serving the stew right away, add all the parsley and the lemon juice. If you're serving it later or at room temperature, add the parsley and lemon juice right before serving.

Serve over brown rice. (I used Uncle Ben's brown rice)

Makes 6 servings. Each contains: 246 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (3% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 385mg Sodium; 15g Fiber

So with all that I forgot and just left out.....this was a delicious recipe! I wonder what it tastes like WITH those ingredients I left out! The world may never know! :)

If you want to see the original recipe and a picture of what it looks like if someone ELSE cooks it (mine was thicker than this), try this link.

Swine Flu

I have studied a lot (especially lately) about health and caring for it. Swine flu is new to me though. There are things about it I had no idea about, and thank goodness for email or I might NEVER have learned what to look for!

I understand that if you wake up one morning and look like this,.....don't go to work!

Tommy's Technological Experience

This is so funny to me, so if I suddenly stop making sense, its because I've had to stop and laugh my head off again. This JUST HAPPENED 5 minutes ago!

Ok, the story first:
Maybe a month ago, Tommy got himself an MP3 player. He's never had anything like that before and our two teenagers walk around plugged in to theirs night and day. So he got it, but he didn't know what to do with it. Not long afterwards, he had a heart attack and who thinks of MP3 players at a time like that? He's well on the mend now and wanted his music put onto his player. So I took the little gadget and opened up my laptop where me and the kids have put all sorts of cd's and music downloads. I just copied gobs of stuff onto his player that I thought he would like and handed it to him.

Ok, now move forward to RIGHT NOW. He and I are sitting on the sofa. The little ones are watching cartoons and he and I are goofing around on laptops. He finished what he was doing and closed the laptop, plugged his MP3 player into his ears and turned it on. He did this really quietly, so I hardlly noticed him--besides, I was engrossed in what I was doing. All the sudden, he starts humming, so I look over at him and realize what's happening. Then his head starts bobbing,...and the humming gets more pronounced. So my cell phone is sitting beside me and I had to get a picture. Here it is....

It was a mild beginning, but it evolved...he really started to get into it. See what you think....

And then I got caught....

Tell me that's not funny!!

Summertime

It is soooo hot! I'm at work today and have the A/C on, ceiling fans spinni ng, and it is STILL hot in here! It's worse when someone opens the door, but not many people have been doing that today. I guess they think it's too hot to be out too! I think we should just go swimming.

Stress Relieving Ideas

I feel like I've been sucker punched by an invisible fist attached to some big ugly guy who apparently doesn't know who he's messing with. It's starting to irritate me!

Tommy has this saying (which also irritates me) that goes: "If it is to be, it is up to me." So I guess if I want relief, I have to be the one to make it happen. Here are some ideas I've thought up and researched and hopefully I'll find time and opportunity to test them out. Maybe YOU can test them too and let me know how much relief they bring you!

• massage (I did get one Monday. That was nice! Too bad it was just ONCE.)
• take a bath, add music/candles/cold glass of favorite drink and close door and stay there an hour or so. (this recommendation comes from someone who has no kids)
• comedy night: supply yourself with munchies and several comedy videos and let laughter be your best medicine (throw in a babysitter and I'm all for it!)
• "scoot off for a day or two" and go somewhere away from the worries of life. Take a journal to help you gather your thoughts and relax. Being near water increases the relaxed atmosphere. (sounds like its good for certain kinds of stress, sounds like it might add up to dollar signs too)
• spend a week watching no tv, which will allow you to avoid an induced emotional roller coaster (I don't watch much anyway. Wonder if it would work in reverse?)
• guided imagery Start by traveling through our tranquil cloud imagery designed to help you relieve stress. Click the Tranquility Window to the left, and see if the flight helps you experience a few moments of peace and quick stress relief. All you have to do is focus on the imagery and be willing to let go. (this sounds kooky)
• eat right and exercise (I'm eating better...exercise is a hard one, but hopefully we'll get around to getting a membership at the pool and go swimming. All in good time.)
• Handle important tasks first and eliminate unessential tasks (this sounds good! I actually did it when Tommy came home from the hospital. I got a dry erase board, put it on the fridge, and kept notes there of what I needed from the store and what chores I needed to accomplish when and all that sort of thing. When something was handled, I erased it from the board. That way, I didn't have to think about that stuff to remember it and things got done without worrying about them.)
• Take a break and meditate to slow down "mind-racing" (another person who has no kids)
• Reduce the urge to be "perfect" (I think I was born with that. I'm not sure HOW to reduce that urge!)
• Reduce criticism (wow...that kind of slaps ya in the face, doesn't it?)
• Don't stress when expectations are not met (another lifestyle change?)
• Manage your anger (I want to say "shut up!")
• Push away negativity of any kind (Tommy and I talked about this just the other day. I'm believing its crucial at this point. It's just really hard to do!)
• Choose to keep quiet when you feel a negative reaction (then I need some duct tape!)
• Be cheerful, it deflates others stress and anxiety (another hard one)
• Dab essential oils on your wrist to remind yourself to relax (Hey, I can actually do this!)
• Utilize relaxation techniques; Yoga, Meditation, Breathing, etc (when? Can I do this in the car while driving from here to there?)
• Laugh more, and often (I giggle and laugh all the time, unless I'm firy angry)
• Cry (You have no idea how badly I'd like to, just have no real opportunity for it. Everybody seems to want me to help me stop crying instead of letting me have a downpour.)
• Remember you can only change yourself (.....)
  
  Control Stress
  You fight a cold. You bandage a cut. You get rid of a headache. The point is if something impacts you negatively, you do something about it. Stressing brings about a negative impact, so do something about it. Don't allow stress to build. Don't allow stress to steal your joy. When you feel stress coming on, push it away. Resist it. Fight back. Use whatever tools or stress relief tips that work for you, just don’t give stress power over you.

Ok, so that's a lot to think about. There were other things I found like "light therapy" and water fountains and walks in the woods.... I'm interested in any suggestions YOU might have too. I know I'm in a time of my life when things just have "to be" and that once I'm through them, all will be ok again. It's just a slow walk down a long path and its hard while I'm in the middle of it. It's beating my own health up too, so time for a change. Want to change with me?

What do you see?

Look deep into my eyes......

Can you see it? No? Look closer.....

You see it now, right? All dark, dismal, torturous....
These are the eyes of stress...

...that reside on the face of exhaustion.

The Female Dog

Have you met Herbie? She's a pretty little Jack Russell Terrier who will be one year old in a few days. This picture is her when she was younger,...and a lot less "female dog". Now don't get me wrong, I really do love this dog...but she and nerves don't mix well. She's got a stubby tail, like someone had thought about docking it when she was little. She has short little legs because she is a "Bench Leg" variety I'm told. So she has qualities I really like....something a little different. On the other hand...if you've met Herbie before, you just might understand why she has made it to my blog.

And you know how cats are, right? They own everything, including your stuff, your space, ....and you. Well take a look at Herbie now. She even owns the cat! (At one time I had pity on the cat, but I've since lost it because she graced us with 5 little baby hairballs that won't set foot OFF my front porch.)

So now you've got an idea of who Herbie is. Have you ever research Jack Russell Terriers before? Ever known one? I never have before. I've heard people talk about them, so I THOUGHT I knew...but oh how wrong I was! I've heard how they are a spastic breed with more energy than any other animal on earth. I've heard they are brilliant animals and can learn so many things. I've heard they very personable animals and love their family very much. I've heard they like to chew on things.

So let me clarify those things just in case YOU ever think you might want such a female dog in your life.

Jack Russells are a very smart breed. They can indeed be taught to do a lot of things, in fact, Herbie will even respond to hand signals. There are some things we don't even have to say out loud...she knows what it means and high-tails it to her kennel! She also knows that if she does a trick for you, she'll be in a little less trouble-- or at least that's worked in the past, so it must be worth a try, right? She'll offer you a paw anytime of day or night if she thinks she's going to be in trouble for something. This is cute for the first 4000 times, but then....

Oh and she is part of a breed called "Rat Terriers". That sounds uniquely interesting doesn't it? What it means is that she has an innate desire to be a mouser. I know this to be true because of all the dead mice she brings into my house and how many times a day she whines to go outside and locate the most ripe one out there. Who kills these rodents? I'm not sure if its just her or if she and the cat are in cahoots. The mice she brings in have had a few days to ripen in the sun before Herbie brings in them...but that's all I know.

She's never chewed up my shoes or my clothes or furniture. Instead, she chews up things that might get close to her kennel. I think she does it because she's bored and wants us to do her bidding of the moment. One time, she chewed up my cell phone charger. It was plugged in still! How did she live through that? If that wasn't enough, she chewed up a second one too! We discovered that she sleeps better in her kennel if we cover her. I guess we disturb her and the breezes from the A/C vents chill her, so she does better if we cover her kennel a bit. She's fine for the most part, but if she accidently went to bed earlier than she meant to, she's going to slip a paw out of the kennel and drag in the covering. Of course this means chewage is happening.

She's a neat freak too. She can't stand for the cats litter box to get dirty. She checks it daily for filthy deposits. If she does TOO good a job of that or if she's snarfed down too many field mice, she might have to throw up. She thoughtfully cleans that up also. I guess I should have warned you before now that this is not for the reader with a weak stomach. Sorry!

All of that is just dog behaviors, right?
Well let's revisit the spastic tendency. If you read the last blog posting here, you saw that Tommy had a heart attack Monday. They went in through the femoral artery of his right leg and installed a little device in there to open up his circulation so his heart could function better again. After a heart attack, you are on a LOT of blood thinners and that makes it quite a challenge to get bleeding to stop. So his leg took a LOT of compression from nurses and a doctor who didn't want things to go badly there. Imagine having 30 minutes of fierce pressure applied anywhere on you. Might be sore later, right? The bruise on his leg is about the same size as his head....so I believe him when he says it is quite sore. Herbie is a jumper and thinks her place is in his lap. This has made her realize she is also a lucky dog. He hasn't thrown her, hit her or cussed her at all! If he hasn't thought about it at least once, I'll be surprised! She doesn't understand, I know...but what a stress it is to stop her before she thrusts herself onto him!

I have come to realize where that B word originated.... it was from the owner of a Jack Russell Terrier!

Now that I've gotten my frustration out, let me repeat that I really do love the dog and she can be fun to play with when I'm under a lot less stress and strain. She really does shake your hand and give you five. She really does respond to hand signals and voice commands for several things and really hasn't eaten any of my shoes yet. She's snuggly and I know she loves us all. She doesn't mean to get on anybodys nerves and she is apologetic about the fleas and smells she comes with. She's a pretty pooch who just needs a LITTLE labotomy to fix her quirks.

Somebody remind me of this when I'm sitting in the quiet room with my hands strapped down and smiling at the nice men in white jackets, k?

Heart Attack

Leave it to me to complain about not having anything to blog about! Now I've got something,...a little bigger than I was looking for!

Sunday, May 31, we go to church like good little kids and go home like tired little church mice. When we get home, Tommy isn't feeling well. I didn't think much about it, because he hasn't been feeling good for years now. He thought he had gas, so he took some anti-gas remedies I've got at home and we went on with life. He had been doing too much as usual and figured he had aggravated his shoulder from back when he had strained it or something, so he didn't think much about his arm aching either.

Then Monday came.
Let me back up to that Herb Workshop (you read that part of my blog already, right?) where I went to the Ag Center and set up a display for the herb shop. A lady there had asked me to come back. The Master Gardeners people were sponsoring a summer camp for kids called "Camp Dirty Knees". They would learn about farming and plants and all sorts of stuff. She asked me if I would come and run their "apothecary" for the day. I said sure....sounded fun. I was even going to steal Mesa's apron that Mama made for her so I could look the part.
Monday is the day I went to see where I was to be stationed so i could plan to set up my apothecary and handle the activities smoothly. Tommy and the two youngest boys sat outside under a tree and waited for me. While there, Tommy started feeling even worse. He didn't tell me all the details of that (and I'm still mad at him for that!) but his arm started to hurt pretty badly on the left side and his chest had a sharp pain stab and his neck started hurting. As I said, he didn't tell me all that then.

I had to go to the herb shop and pick up my pay check, mail off a package to Catherine and make sure of my work schedule for the week, so we went there next. Tommy was going to sit in the car and wait,...but he couldn't. He was hurting so much. So he and the boys came in where I was. I got him a package of gas stuff and opened it and made him take some right then. My boss grabbed another one, an antacid and made him take that also. We started throwing around thoughts about why he felt so bad. He was pacing the floor and his whole body seemed to sag. He was getting a little pale and just looked droopy and you KNEW he was hurting. He asked me to call Jason (an ER doc we go to church with) and ask him if he could give us thoughts or find out if he's at the hospital. So I called....and he was at home. He told me to get off the phone and take that man to the ER...NOW. He told me to say "he has chest pains radiating down his left arm" and I wouldn't have to wait. So I did what he said. We went straight in to a room (and the nurse even kicked out the person who was sitting there when we walked in!). She ran an EKG right there before she even got his name. Then she took us to a room. Another guy we go to church with is also an ER doc and he happened to be on duty. He signed on as our doc and I asked him to give Tommy a blessing. He did and i was emotionally relieved right there and ok with whatever was going on. We still thought it was probably gas. I should say...that's what I thought. He still hadn't told me much....hardheaded man.

Well a nitro patch and blood tests later, we're told there is something not quite right with the EKG but the blood test says his enzymes are normal. He wanted to admit Tommy and have them observe him a little longer and keep testing to see if the blood enzymes just hadn't caught up with things or what. While we waited for a room, the doctor I'd called comes in and he explained those things a little more for us and told us exactly what to expect.

We go upstairs to a room and this sweet little girl (someone I went to school with, but I didn't know her personally, just recognized her) was our nurse. She gave Tommy a shot in his stomach to thin his blood and we waited. Six hours after the first blood test, he got another one. They did another EKG at the same time. The EKG came back normal and looked good. The blood work showed elevated enzymes....a sign of a heart attack. So they sent us to the cardiac unit...a new room...and it was SOOOO nice! At 4am, they did a third blood test and EKG. The EKG was normal again. They told us to expect this third blood test to show the enzymes had spiked and were coming down....instead, they went from a 1.5 to a 5.6 or 5.4 (I forgot which). So no question...he had a heart attack. Stress test came off his schedule and heart catheter went on it. He got scheduled for noon (we have now moved into Tuesday,..somewhere in the middle of everything). So noon comes and he's gotten a slit cut into his femoral artery on the leg just to the side of his groin. They insert a tube thing there, then slip a little camera into it. He was numbed up there, but he stayed awake for the procedure and watched it all on a monitor! They sent the camera up as far as his shoulders looking for blockages. They found several smaller ones, but the one that caused problems is one of the main arteries in the front of the heart. It was 90% blocked. They put a stent in there, which looks sort of like one of those Chinese toys you put a finger into each end and it grabs them and won't let you out. This one though, is like a wire tube you can squeeze down small and then put it in. When you let it go, it springs open and holds open the artery. He was filled with some serious stuff for blood thinning (one called Integrelin is an IV drip that did some serious thinning) so when they finished, they got him up to his room and a team of nurses cleaned him up. He couldn't move for 2 hours....not at all! Head stayed on his pillow, bed stayed flat, leg didn't even flinch! After that 2 hours, a team of nurses kicked me out (how rude!) and took that catheter out. Remember it was in the femoral artery, so it went to bleeding. Those nurses climbed on him and put some serious pressure on his leg. Painful! They bandaged him up and i came back in. He had to stay still for another 4 or 6 hours (I can't remember which!) and then he could move a little and eat something. The spot hadn't stopped bleedign though! It was oozing a little, and that means no clot has formed and thats dangerous. So they did all sorts of crazy things trying to make it stop. Finally, the night nurse came on duty (this is an awesome nurse!) and she got serious with that bleeding. She all but climbed on top of him to get firm enough pressure held there for a long time till it stopped bleeding. Then she changed his clothes and bedding and had me go feel of it so I knew how it SHOULD feel in case it changed. She was great.

He did fine from that point on, except that at one point he strained in the bathroom. That's a bad thing because it causes your blood vessels and such to constrict. Bad timing for constriction, and it brought on chest pains. He got nitro again and an ekg and quiet rest. That eased up and his doctor told him he was fine...just be good.

Well now we're home and he's had a shower and gone to bed.
Of course, we had little moments between there and now,...like trying to get his medicine filled and such, but I won't get into all of that,...at least not right now.
He has to eat a heart healthy diet and get some exercise. So we're going to get a membership at the Rec Dept pool so he can swim regularly (its an indoor pool, thankfully) and we all need to eat better!

What a week, huh?

What to post?

I enjoy reading the things Lee blogs about. It always amazes me that she can come up with so MANY things to talk about and they are always interesting! And Catherine... she doesn't blog as often as Lee, but when she does,...it leaves me in stitches for days! Mama hasn't gotten up the courage to blog yet (hint hint mama!) but I bet she would have something to say more often than me too.

Apparently this means I am a boring person. It's not that things aren't happening in my life, because they are:

• I'm in school (The School of Natural Healing)
• I finished my "Road to Zion" program and held a "County Fair"
• I've had several activities going on in my graphics forum
• the kids have the Pioneer Trek coming up next week
• we had a fun scout activity (scavenger hunt at the Ag Center)
• I'll be doing a first aid class - herb style - at work soon
• we got a square foot garden in
• I got 2 new mortar and pestles!
• people are calling and asking me to make ointments for them
• its time to pull honey
• the dog is female....seriously!
• I'm going to run an apothecary on Tuesday for a community kids camp called "Camp Dirty Knees"
• I got a new calling
• Manti and Tommy got new callings
• Mesa went to Lake Wedowee this weekend and got sunburned
• my house needs cleaning
• I'm finally getting better from being sick for 2+ weeks now
• the cat is feeding her new kittens squirrels and rabbits....on our porch
• I got a scouting award a few weeks ago
  
• I'm passing my course with flying colors (up to now anyway!)

See? Lots of things are happening,...I just don't know what to say about any of that. If I did say something, who would be interested? It all seems so boring to me.

Tell you what. Tuesday is my Camp Dirty Knees. I'll get a picture or two (Mama, I'm going to use one of Mesa's aprons that you made) and tell you what its like to run an apothecary! Is that blog worthy? I just can't tell!!!!

Herb Workshop

So today was the big day and I have 13 pictures to document it. If you don't want to see them, might as well hit the x on your browser now. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Now that I have the attention of you wonderful patient people, let me tell you about my day!

Well it was scheduled to start at 9am, but I was allowed to get there as early as 8am to set up. I got there about 8:15am and there were people wandering around in there! YIKES! My nerves were instantly on edge. I started unloading the boxes full of samples that my wonderful boss Linda had sent with me and before the flies in that building had a chance to land, the people started gathering around me. They wouldn't let me finish setting up till they asked me questions and got some samples. That was just fine...I did finally get to finish setting up.

I had two tables pushed together:
1.) containing Robins Herb Shop fliers and samples of products and things associated with the business.
2.) containing my personal stash of stuff, like salves and tinctures and sprays and dried herbs and tea that I had brewed the night before, ... that kind of thing.

Want to see?

That's the left side if you are facing the table.

So that makes THIS one the right side of the table. That pretty basket of freshly cut rosemary sure did smell goooooooooooood! Everybody noticed!

I think Mesa liked the "me" side of the table the best, at least that's what she got the most pictures of!

This is the "me" side again, so you can see some of my dried herbs in Aunt Irene's jelly jars sitting right next to some of my "butt cream" and some plantain salve and some cayenne salve and a few bars of my lavender shea butter lotion. You can see my really cool fir tree root bowl towards the back. It's got some ginger root and a lemon on it, as well as a tea strainer and a jar of honey.


So are you convinced that I did finally finish setting up my table? Good! Let's move on with this story.

So to begin the day, some speakers stood and talked...and talked....and talked.... I can't say it was boring because it was all on a subject that means a lot to me and that I find interesting,...but I am going to say that the things I heard from the "instructors" were no more intelligent than I heard from the "students" of this event. It was more or less a "hobbyist convention". That's ok...I got paid to be there!

So when people got a break, they were invited to a table where they were giving out samples of bread with fresh herb butter and paperwork on all kinds of potted plants they had sitting around (I say all kinds,...might have been about 20 plants on display). The people had to pass my table to get to the food, so I got attention. The food line extended right up to my table. I got an instant barrage of questions. You would think they would come flying at me one at a time, but nope! They all asked at the same time. That was a challenge! So Mesa grabs my camera and catches me in action. psst....I'm the chubby chick ;)

Jared had a good time climbing under tables and hiding in corners.

Morgan had a different opinion.

Can't win 'em all, but I enjoyed it!