Wind in the Hair and Feelin' Groovy

 

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Back up and walking and Terry feeling well, we are enjoying some of the nice weather together. After work, sweet man offered to take his tired wife out to eat. I was all up for that! Mexican food was the food of choice. Off to Hacienda Vieja we went. 

Feeling so full we couldn't breathe, I grabbed a take home box and off we went to our home, that little blessed house in the little town we reside in. Our house relaxes us, makes us feel good, and is perfect for our small family in every way. It's a good thing. Great vibes in this house, living as a cohesive unit. Unless we are booted out on our derrieres or the landlord sells or the unthinkable happens to this home, we are here for the long haul. I have no desire to ever move again. 

Our favorite show was the show du jour for tonight. Awesome show, The Resident! We were so caught up in this series that it was definitely at the top of our list on any given evening. Love the cast, the acting, and the writing. By spreading the word, Netflix had several others join us in watching this show, at least in our circle of family and friends. If you have not tried it, it's a series worth viewing. I just hate it when a show I love ends and I have to find another one that lives up to the emotional buildup I had for this one. But alas, Terry and I find ourselves getting close, as we are soon coming to the end of all the seasons they made. 

Thursday, May 30, 2024

Thursday came and went quickly. All was quiet on the home front. I accomplished plenty of work today and Terry was off for his four day weekend. This week, due to Memorial Day, he had five days off, working only Tuesday and Wednesday. Lucky man. Spicoli nails it again. 

Terry is such a comical man, that the name Spicoli came to be. He wears his new nickname quite well. Yes, ladies, he's a goof and is definitely a design I was looking for in a guy. Someone who could make me laugh is a good thing. No, actually it's a great thing. I've always loved to laugh and with his junior high to high school antics, it does take me back. Sometimes we laugh so hard we immerse ourselves into long bouts of laughter. Sometimes longer than most would think they ought to be, but it's us. They are the periods of laughing so hard that you feel it in your gut and even in your soul. Ah, more memories.  

So the name Jeff Spicoli has come to be. He wears a large S on his chest, as does Superman. In this case, the S is for none other than the man who orders pizza to his classroom in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Jeff Spicoli. 

Friday, May 31, 2024

Thursday evening I looked at my physical therapy schedule and found that I needed to wake up around 6:30 to get my limping ass to my session by 7:45. What the heck were they thinking? What was I thinking? I had not noticed it was so early and I don't do mornings well. 

Typically my night is fairly long and even when I hit bed early, I don't sleep. For the first two or three hours I crash and pretty hard I might add. After that, I count the cobwebs clinging to the ceiling. I could tell you the names of all my husky's hairs or at least those who are still attached to my baby. Or I lay there, watching that bluish colored light on my phone, as I wait for those Z's to hit once again. Usually around 6:00 AM, I may be able to crash out again for about an hour or two. 

The alarm went off at the last moment I could possibly set it for and still make it on time. 7:00 AM it was! It takes approximately 15 minutes to drive to the facility, so I had a half hour to brush hair, brush teeth, and get out of the Minnie Mouse pajamas I was wearing. I walked to the car and drove in to see the wizard, the man who will help me walk again. I'm still limping and gimping, but I have to say he has helped me in smoothing out a lot of that walk. My foot is mellowing out on the swelling too, so I'm happy with the results. Slowly, but surely, I see improvement. 

It does wish to remain a bluish purple color when I hang my foot down as I sit on the couch or when I'm at my desk. But it's working a bit better anyway. I was told because of all the hardware in my ankle and lower leg that it will never be 100% again, but I can work toward a close rebuild of the original. That's all I can hope for and I'm good with that. 

Okay, so is everyone ready for this? We have a juicy tidbit here that we just have to announce. Remember our procrastination blog post about the bookshelf? It took us months of looking at it, laying on the floor, being in a place where it was collecting dust, and frustration from us, but we have finally built the black beauty to be used in the way it was designed to be used!

Now, this could be a sign of the apocalypse coming soon. Either that or we hired our weed eating guy, Virgil, to come in and put it together for us. I'm going with the latter. Yes, we finally have a finished product sitting in our office. Now to get the office in order. I can count the places on this large shelving unit where I stubbed my toes or tripped and almost fell on my face. I have actually put my sweat, blood (and pain), into this shelving unit.  Hence, the excitement. Yes, hence. 

Our new bookshelf, as it sits now. We are not keeping it here either, but at least it is assembled after how many months? Um, yeah. Nothing like procrastination to make life complete. Thanks to Virgil for being a handyman and having a slot of time open to help us, and for being a real trooper. Also, thanks to Terry for hiring him to finally finish this project. Plus, Virgil also did the weed eating in the driveway area again, to keep us out of the jungle. It's all good. At least I don't lose my little Jasper when he goes out to use the bathroom now. 

Once I fell, our entire design of wanting to get the house set up and stuff taken to the basement that are not being used came to a grinding halt. The bookshelf will help in getting things set up and off the floor now, out of boxes, and just simply out of our way. Since I can at least walk better, I'm going to start slowly working on doing just that. The house needs to be revamped. 

Now we have the wheelchair, walker, the boot, shower transfer bench, and toilet riser to add to the mix of messes around the house. As we all know, it never ends! The walking has begun and the house will be hit hard with vacuums, Crosswave, brooms, mops, rags, and cleaners soon. As soon as I learn to walk steadily again, and once the foot doesn't swell when standing on it for longer periods of time, I'm on it. I know a deep sigh of relief will come once all of the rooms are finished. Then there's the outside of the house and the patio area. Ugh. So much to do and so very little steadiness to do it!

But for now, I'm happy to know there will be no more stubbed toes or worries that the chihuahua might lift his leg on it or cleaning the cobwebs from the pieces. It is now entitled to regular dusting to remove the cobwebs and yes, I could still stub my toe because that's just me and yes, the chihuahua could physically lift his leg. I doubt he will, as he has never been inclined, but you never know in our household. Nobody in the fur side of the family is allowed in the office unless we are in here anyway. We're safe and I am joking, as anyone who knows me might understand.  

Saturday, June 1, 2024

We have three birthdays only days apart from each other. My grandson Coby, my granddaughter's boyfriend, Cam, and my son-in-law, Daniel. I guess people were popping babies out during this time several years ago! 

Daniel and Brandy chose to go to Washington for the weekend, since one of Daniel's siblings is flying in for a visit. They should have gone there above our BBQ, as they can see us any time. His sister doesn't come out often. 

But, the BBQ was all set and we were headed toward Springfield to formally attack burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, fruit, chips dips, corn on the cob, and anything that might not be nailed down. 

Cake? Oh, three cakes! One was an ice cream cake for Coby, the second one was the pineapple upside down cake for Cam, and then I brought a sugar free chocolate cake. Why? For anyone, like Terry and I, who don't or can't eat sugar. 

The party was a hit! We all had so much fun. The boys invited a few friends as well, so the house was pretty full of people waiting on food. It was a good time had by all. 

We were off! Yes, our poor little car is filthy right now. It needs the special bath it gets when the weather is nice. With a matte finish, it requires special soap for the outside too. I'm getting to the wash this week. I have to say there is a bit of fear of the hose spraying water to clean the car, as it drips into the dirt and creates a nice slippery mud pack. Yep, the nightmares are still there. That will be a continuing fear, I'm sure. But, back to the story ...

Little Zyrah came over to me as soon as we arrived. She wanted to know what I was doing, as I was pulling out my phone to get plenty of photos of everyone. Yes, I am a blogger and the phone is always out, so I had my beautiful great granddaughter, Zyrah pose for a photo. She's used to posing for her mom and grandmother, Dawn and does so with grace and joy. 

Marina and Jess spent time discussing baby items to buy. Marina is having her grandchildren out for a visit soon and Jess is expecting Novalee on the 27th of June. Can't wait!

The young people of the group sat outside chatting. The rest of the kids sat out on the front porch, enjoying the chats out there. 

While the older folks, such as Terry and I sat at the other end of the deck from the kids, relaxing and smoking a cigar. 

Marina put Zyrah into the swing and began to push her back and forth. As I watched the swing glide through the air, my stomach was tickled, as it was swinging as a child. The forward and back motion is not soon forgotten to those of us who loved to swing as children. I loved that feeling as a child. Zyrah's giggles brought it all back and definitely made me smile. Nothing is better than hearing a child's laughter. 

The breeze created a beautiful sound as each chime played their individual song in unison with the others, bringing about a beautiful symphonic harmony. Tones in all ranges wafted across the winds, leaving me feeling relaxed and calm. Tall cedar and fir trees danced along with the peaceful concert, each branch being serenaded by the tones. Trees rocked back and forth with each breeze as if to keep the beat set by the chimes. 

It was a delightful, private serenade. I enjoyed every moment by myself and within myself, as nobody else seemed to have had tickets to the concert. Blissful times we can spend alone are priceless. 

Dawn and Andy cooked up the burgers and dogs for the event, as they usually do. It's either that or throw a good pork butt or roast into the smoker. Man, Andy can sure smoke some meats! 

Andy is the smoke and BBQ master. He keeps a water bottle handy, to spritz water onto the meat while cooking or smoking it to ensure the moisture content is there when finished. Awesome food. 

All the limbs on the ground and the damage surrounding the area is from the storm that Springfield endured this past winter. Dawn and Andy's home was out of heat for a couple of weeks too. This is the clean up they are doing in between work and all the other tasks they tend to during the week. 

In a house full of Anglo-Saxons, once the "It's time for cake" announcement is heard, get out of the way. You can't keep a group of them waiting too long either. They tend to form groups.  

Zyrah was watching everyone. She wanted to make sure she missed nothing at this party. At one point, she appeared on the back deck and announced, "Welcome to the party!" 

Kylee lit candles on Cam's pineapple upside down cake, while Dawn did the same to Coby's ice cream cake. The girls worked quickly to get things going. 

Coby's cake was complete and ready to eat!

Cam's cake was set ...

Soon, the room broke into an untuned version of what I think was the Happy Birthday song. No matter how off key we were, the blissful sounds of a family sharing love spread throughout the room. Another great memory of all of us together. Happy birthday once again, Coby, Cam, and even Dan who wasn't there physically, but in spirit. 

We watched, we sang, and we devoured. 

The family all hung out, either in the house, out back on the deck or even some of the group out front. A beer pong game had been set up in the front yard, which I'm sure pleased the neighbors. It was all good and in good fun. The younger people dispersed quickly and headed either home or to each other's homes. No, nobody drove drunk or if they were drinking or had drank. That was a prerequisite. 

Terry and I chatted with the others until we all began to get things ready to leave. I told Terry I wanted to chat with Dawn for a little while, as she had been running around doing everything and chat time was impossible. We went out front and talked for a bit. It was nice. All in all, a great day!

Hubby and I took everything out to the car and prepared to leave. After our hugs, we all said our goodbyes and began the hour and 15 minute trek home. It's not a bad drive, but it is a bit of a drive. 

I love the green trees and plots of land on the way to and from the cities, at least what you can see of them through a nasty, dirty windshield. 

I took this photo as we were driving along the highway, which accounts for the blurry side of things. The closer photograph subjects are to the window, the blurrier they are in the finished picture. 

My intention was to capture the yellows of Scotch Broom and the greenery of the landscape. True Oregon colors of green and yellow. For several miles the Scotch Broom grows in and around the forested areas along the road in a beautifully dramatic landscape. 

Yes, the windshield is filthy, but the green of Oregon never ceases to amaze me. I think we often take for granted just how beautiful the countryside is here. 

Along the way, I noticed things were turning gray, cloudy, and a bit darker. We are expecting rain storms on Sunday evening through Monday at least. Then back to sunny weather next week. 

Remember to count your blessings, no matter where you are or what station of life you live in. Be forever grateful for everything you do have. We live in an amazing world!