Family Fun

Our nephew Paul was here from Seattle with his daughter, Julie.  So we had to cram as many family members as we could into my sister-in-law's house yesterday.  All four of Stan's siblings were there, plus a couple of my kids and some cousins and second cousins.  We had a great dinner and a good visit.  But the fun started after almost everybody had left:

Stan, Steve and Paul hanging out and catching up around the fire pit.

Paul's daughter Julie.

Sydney and Julie playing ball.  It was nice that they got to play together, last time Julie was here she was only one.

Then the cousins, who hadn't seen each other in three years, decided to get crazy and play war with the kids on their shoulders.  We laughed so hard!

The daddies "riding" on the kids' shoulders.

 Paul's dad got involved in the game, but he won't let me share his pictures, he was a bit embarrassed!  But we had a ball watching the hijinks!

In other news, I have an interview at Macy's tomorrow.  You may remember that instead of doing the sick time paperwork over and over, I just resigned with the idea of returning.  Well, I should never have gone into the store!  I was kidnapped by a couple of managers and asked if I was ready to come back to work.  (Puleeeeese!)  So I did the online application and scheduled an interview.  I'm going to have to be firm-I don't want full time and I don't want to give up my job at the church-that's my retirement job.  Besides, my Social Security starts in February and I don't want to earn so much that it cuts my payments.

I have a ton of sewing to get done before Christmas, so I really have to budget my time.  I'm almost finished with the hats I've been knitting, so that will be out of the way.  The kids all want fleece blankets instead of pajamas so that's on my list.  I'm hoping to pick up the fleece for them tomorrow after my interview.

BIG Shot!

After getting stinky with the spine Dr.'s assistant, I went in yesterday to get my nerve root injections.  Now I am NOT a fan of cortisone, but I was kind of between a rock and a hard place.  I had to get rid of the pain quickly so I could finish my physical therapy.

Stan had a series of these shots several years ago, but things have really changed.  He had his done sitting on the side of the table and it was almost guesswork where the doc put it.  Mine was done in a special room, lying on my stomach, and they were totally guided by a live X-ray.  They put in contrast dye to make sure they were in the right place.  They told me I would immediately feel quite a bit better, but after about 1 1/2 hours I would be back to square one and the real relief would come in 2-3 days.  I had about a 50% reduction in pain right away, but imagine my surprise when that 50% stayed away.  The only pain I had that was annoying was the injection site.  (Have you seen those needles?  They're about 6 inches long!)  Some Tylenol took care of most of that.

What the assistant didn't tell me when I made the appointment was this is a real medical procedure, not just a shot, so there were some things I should have done.  I wasn't supposed to eat, which I didn't because I was being cautious, I shouldn't have driven myself, I shouldn't go to work, and I was supposed to go right home and go to bed for 2 hours.  The only thing I got right was the no breakfast.  When the guy said I was being naughty, I chewed him out and told him that if he had informed me of these things, I could have done them!  I raced to a coffee shop, wolfed down some breakfast with the Benadryl by my side just in case of a reaction, then went home for 3 hours to rest.  But I had to get the bulletin done, so I drove back to town and worked for a couple of hours.  But then Stan remembered he had a 4:00 Santa job so he couldn't pick Sydney up from school, so I ran to Belgrade, picked him up, went back and finished the bulletin.  I then decided it was really time to go home, but as I passed the last interchange to enter Bozeman I realized I had forgotten to stop by Steve's work and pick up Syd's overnight bag.  All the way to Belgrade, turn around and go back and get the bag.  By this time I needed to get out of the car for a while so we went to a coffee shop and watched YouTube Christmas flash mob videos on my Kindle Fire.

Okay, now for home-but Stan gets home and wants to go out to eat-today is his birthday and he had a craving for Prime rib.  We just went uptown to the Oasis, a local, popular steakhouse and ate.  Finally I stood up and announced that I wanted to go home-I hoped they were done eating, but I was just done!  Went home, curled up with my blanket and went right to sleep.

I still woke up super early this morning, but I was coughing-I think I caught a cold.  I slept more soundly than I have in a long time.  Still some pain, but not like before, and I know that in a few days more of it will go away.  I feel enough better that that huge stack of newspapers on the kitchen table that Stan has left there is bugging me-didn't care a hoot about it before.  And I even had enough strength to cook a birthday pancake breakfast for him.  Resting now, but I'm heading back to town to get Stan's birthday present.  I had bagged that idea yesterday after all I had been through.  I also have to shop for gifts for the widows of the church-something we deacons do every year.  Nothing complicated, but necessary.  I feel well enough, finally, that I think I can wander around Walmart doing some shopping.

I estimate I put more that 100 miles on my car yesterday, just running back and forth.  I keep nagging Stan that we should move closer to Bozeman so we don't have to drive so far to get anywhere.  I figure that I went in the hole wage-wise yesterday-only worked a couple of hours but burned it off!

I cut out Gracie's nightgown this morning, too, so I really am on the mend I think.  Hooray-I am a very bad sickie and don't like to be held down!

A Bit of Working

Worked a bit this morning.  Sunday at church I picked up my bulletin folder and e-mailed the bulletin template to myself.  Only problem was, the church has Office 2007 and my laptop has Office 2003.  Not sure I can even do an upgrade.  Anyway any Word file Office 2007 saves is in DocX form, something 2003 can't open.  Never fear, put the question on Bing and I found a patch that allows my 2003 to open the DocX files!  So I was able to get some preliminary work done on the bulletin.  My plan is to have it ready and send it to the office on Friday.  I'll have Stan drop me off and I'll run, fold, stuff, etc. then.  I'll do a dry run today-I'll send it to myself and check when I go for my deacon's meeting tonight.  I can always print the one here at home and bring it in if the e-mail thing doesn't work.

Was very excited at PT yesterday-I was able to pedal all the way around on the exercise bike!  Backwards, but forward will come.  Jason said he thought I had stalled on the bending motion, so he pushed me.  Boy did he-I had sweat running down my back doing a tiny little pedaling motion!  If the sciatica weren't so bad it would have been easier.  I kept getting a muscle cramp in my calf next to my knee.  I finally just pushed through it and got it done.  Now there's no turning back-he will expect more and more of me!  That's fine, I want total knee function, no matter how bad it hurts.

I talked to Jason at the doctor's office yesterday and he is setting me up with a spine doctor to get rid of the sciatica.  If it weren't for that I would be very close to 100%.  I have very little pain in my knee now-yay!  I almost have my braking motion back, so in two weeks when I am released to drive I will be ready.  Stan wants to go fishing today, so if the doc wants to see me today I may have to bum a ride from someone.  Will be SO GLAD when I can drive!  Besides, I am itching to get Christmas done.

The one thing I am not itching for is housework.  The first time I cook dinner the jig will be up and I will have to cook all the meals, so I'm not jumping into the kitchen for a while yet.  (Married women will understand!)  I make my own breakfast and coffee, and heat up lunch, but that's about all.

Think I'll call my friend Joyce to see if she'll pick me up for coffee today-a confab with friends is good for the soul!

A Small Change

I know I promised chickens, but I worked a 5-day stretch so haven't had time to finish it up.  Tomorrow maybe.  Anyway, I wanted to share my news.  A couple of weeks ago, our church secretary announced she was quitting to go full-time at her other job.  When I saw the announcement, I decided to give it to God for a week or so to see if I should apply.  A little background-I had that job before this gal did.  I was always sorry I had left.  The job I went to was way too stressful and even though it was a ministry as well, I never felt like I was really making a difference.

I am a deacon in the church and was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of being secretary also, but my three-year term is up in December.  I finally shot off a resume to the Council president, sharing my misgivings about what people would think.  Last night we had a special Council meeting to select a new secretary.  There were three applicants.  I announced that I wouldn't be a part in the selection process and left the room.  As I left, I told them not to worry about my feelings, just do what God wanted them to do.  I went into the office and prayed over the proceedings.  I didn't pray that I would get the job, only that God would put the right name in their hearts, whoever that may be.  Stan, who is also on the Council, told them he also wouldn't be voting-too close for comfort.  We did everything we could to keep it ethical and above board.

Long story short, they voted to hire me.  I am very happy about it, and the pastor has told me to be sure to do what I need to the office.  Actually I had been thinking of some things for a while-a lot of groups use that small office and it could be refitted to accommodate more things, such as when the deacons count their money.  Right now we count it standing up, around a tiny desk.  We could get rid of two desks and put in a small table that would work much better.  It will be fun doing that, and the pastor suggested a paint job would be a good idea, too.  Nice!

I will be staying on at Macy's but on a flex status.  I will log into the database on Sunday mornings and pick up a couple of shifts for the next week that will work around the 12 hours at the church.  Things fell into place so well I can't help but think God is in this.

There is a sad part.  One of the women that was not hired is now causing an uproar on Facebook because she and her family think it's unethical for me to have the job.  Most of her children have said things that Christians shouldn't say.  Makes me really sad-we were friends.  And Stan and I both worked really hard to keep things above reproach.

I'm just giving it to God and hoping that they will see what they are doing.  I know I have the backing of the Council and feel that I am not wrong at all.  I am going to work very hard to not get into any kind of row with them and only be discreet and loving.  Say a little prayer for me that this can be healed.

Still Here...........

I've been MIA for a bit-other bloggers are starting to wonder what happened to me.  A nice feeling, knowing that I'm missed.  Mostly it's just been work, work, work.  And a good amount of time going to tee ball games.  Gracie plays on the rookies, Sam and Syd play tee ball, on different teams.  In the same town, thank goodness!  Sometimes Stan goes to one game and I go to the other one.  Then after our kid has batted twice, we hop in our cars and switch fields.  Fortunately the fields aren't that far apart-two are three blocks away and the other one is about ten away from the first two.

I've been knitting a bit, sewing a bit, cooking some, and not getting any gardening done.  This week was supposed to be the first week in my new hours classification (20-30 hours) but I ended up working today which brings me to 5 days this week.  That's still better than two weeks ago when I worked six days!  I'm getting too old for that. 

They hired a bunch of flex people who are supposed to go in and pick up all the extra hours.  We'll see if I can keep my hours down now.  I need work clothes but I'm working too much to make them.  I can't find anything at the store that fits my bottom-heavy body to my satisfaction so I really need to sew.  I also have a couple of orders to finish-one alteration and a table runner to sew and quilt.

Here are a couple of pictures of my little athletes:

 Three cute, enthusiastic future baseball greats.  Or at least they hope so!

They had opening ceremonies where they introduced all the teams, had a real person sing the National Anthem, and someone threw out the first pitch.  My guys are in there somewhere!

And Sydney lost a tooth today!