Just a thought: (a short short blog)

I think all parents should keep a little book of weird sayings and short conversations around their house.  
Especially when they have younger children though teenagers come up with some pretty awesome stuff. This should then be compiled into a book when the kids are all grown. 
Things like the convo with the youngest. "Yes you can ride the invisible T-rex around the yard so long as you stay where I can see you" (I was out doing yard work) 
I've heard some doozies not just from my own kids but they are always conversations where you are left going wow I never imagined having that convo or saying that LOL.  

a bit of a rave about online school and other mumbo jumbo

I am really kind of enjoying this fall like weather. Though it is making me sleepy all the time it feels like. I should be using it to do some serious before school starts cleaning but am finding it hard to motivate. I'm getting a few things done though. I need to start organizing my craft supplies and such because I plan on working on them pretty seriously when it does start. My son still has like a month left til his school starts. He's been pretty into the video games and doing some photography for the most part. He's kinda gotten into the whole making things with the special print duct tape too. He made a bag and put a 4 leaf clover on it (sealed the 4 leaf clover in clear tape so it would keep) we get those all over our yard. 

 bag he made.

He's made a full satchel before too. He's pretty good with the duct tape. 

Every year we give him the option of back to regular school or online and so far he is adamant about preferring online. I am grateful we do have some good online public school choices. Advanced Academics was our choice and Epic Charter is one of the schools that teaches through them. They are based out of OKC. There are several participating schools and I've had a lot of friends asking for info on the schools as well as a lot of people who actually are using one of the many online public schools due to how much bullying is a problem in public schools. It is a pretty rampant problem. For those worried about social interaction there are plenty of ways to keep the kids socially active and the schools themselves offer many options. Some other benefits are that you can do the schooling any time of the day so if you have like a drs appt you don't have to worry about missing school it can be made up later that day. There is always teachers assistance when they need it (live either via phone or via online chat) etc. Can't say enough good things about it though you do have to make sure you are checking in and seeing that they are getting their work turned in. Some parents may think they can just turn them loose with it and not worry about it and maybe some can but it is best to stay very involved. You need to stay up on whether they need help with something and to make sure they are keeping up with their goals with it. ....

Anyway enough about that. 

One of my goals I am setting is besides just getting a lot more crafting/painting done to learn more about how to knit/crochet (with the hook not just with the looms though I have a couple of projects set up to do with the looms) Sometimes I find something I do rather well with self teaching and that seems to be one of the things. 

I also want to say I appreciate the good luck. (and yeah I thank my higher power for this) Sometimes when there is something we need or that I really feel will be beneficial ...something I feel a need to set out looking for we will go by the thrift store and there it is. This last time it was knee pads for my youngest. She seems out to tear her poor knees up. She is accident prone when it comes to that and she really likes to ride her scooter while her brother rides his bike. She can tear them up though even just running doesn't matter so I really wanted to get her some knee pads and lo and behold there they were along with elbow pads. So now she has to wear those when we go for our walks. Maybe she'll have some knees left when school starts ;) We lucked out finding her school clothes. I found my son a shirt but he can be harder to shop for. One because of him being very tall and lanky (seems a family problem about that age we all went through it. I don't have that problem now though LOL...well never had the tall part of it) anyway...and he HATES to try clothes on. He really could care less. I have to fish stuff out of his closet that he's outgrown because he refuses. I have found he likes those funny T-shirts with the sayings though so maybe I can get him to try on some pants if he can get some of those with them. I dunno. He really hates trying them on that much LOL. My youngest doesn't like to try them on either but with her I tried an outfit on her with a puppy on it first and she got all excited about that so that helped. I have a morning kit I put together for her with her detangling spray, brush, and hair bows and such. Only time she really doesn't mind her hair done as much is for school. I guess my oldest liked the way I cut her hair as I've had a request to do hers here soon.I do all my family's....  get requests from my mom and MIL and have done it for friends but I always worry about messing up with it. Not doing it how they like or something. 

I think another thing I'd like to do when school starts is to go to the gym but not sure if I can swing that $ wise but would be nice. Maybe I can start doing my dancing at home again during the day or something. That always seemed to do the most for me. The stretches I do with my dancing are the ones I need to do for my achilles anyway too. 

Anyway I need to actually go get some stuff done instead of just talking about it. ;) So off I go.

July 14 2014

If you're on facebook you all ready probably saw the short version of this but today was a "fun" day. I went in to the foot dr today only to find out I was at the wrong place. (apparently they set the referral up to a different one than I'd been to before) so anyway the papers I had had no number on them anywhere to call and the lady at the desk skimmed over them and said they were out of the city. I said I told them I needed for it to be in Shawnee. So we went next door and hubby and the youngest walked around for a bit while I called my regular dr and told them what happened. Then I thought hmm. I called my son who looked up the number for me and then called them and found out there WAS in fact one on the same street I was on just down a ways and they called ahead and told them what had happened and told me I could still go which is good so we left and went on down and it was at the back of the building not the front but they were waiting on me so I went straight back. Anyway come to find out my Achilles tendon is too tight (makes me wonder if it may be from all those times I got the backs of my heels run over by a shopping cart at full force. ) anyway and that when I first get up from sitting etc that the bones are bending because my muscles and tendons try to over compensate (so the are bending upwards like a loose U-shape) and it is producing lots of little fissures over the bones. The dr showed me some stretching exercises to loosen up the Achilles tendon and then also I have to wear a fitted boot for like a month to take the stress off. (I've broken that foot before with a stress fracture) and hopefully that will help. So in the end that went well. I'd rather the boot than surgery. Then I've been fighting to try and get my mom's prescription for her Parkinson's filled and am getting the run around from the neurologist. They are giving the pharmacy run around too. The medication is to help stop the tremors. (the Tremors can be so bad they interfere with eating and they actually burn a lot of calories themselves and are very tiring as you are always in motion involuntarily) Soooo fighting to try to get her meds. Then my jaw is kind of hurting and that side is tore up because I'm not used to eating on that side so now eating is a bit painful but I'm sure that will heal hopefully sooner rather than later. All in all though progress was made. I'm glad we finally made it in thanks to my son for looking up the number for me and I was able to get it taken care of before it DID turn into another break. Now I have another appt or so to take care of and then it will be time to get ready for the school year. 

 Drawing I did using Lascuax sketch on 2draw.net

Slow down and smile more

You know I have to look around me and wonder why everyone seems to be in such a hurry all the time. I feel busy all the time myself always one thing or another going on but I try to not feel rushed. I all ready have anxiety problems but as far as my working on going places I've noticed I am starting to get a bit of a complex. Traffic sucks. I mean it always has but especially with having so much road work going on in Shawnee. I've noticed this especially bad but not only with the areas where there is roadwork.  People seem to freak out if they have to wait for any length of time and are always in such a rush to get where they are going. I am pretty sure it is safe to assume that not ALL of those people have some sort of life threatening emergency or actually need to be in such a huge hurry. I've seen so many more recently that seem to have forgotten about the rules of the road and all of them almost seem to be suffering from road rage of some sort. If you are stopped because you need to turn and there are cars coming the other way that you have to let pass before you can or even if there is a car in front of you that is stopped so that you have to stop also. People will freak the heck out. Honking at you, getting right up on your rear, and then sometimes whipping out and going around nearly hitting other cars. This is something I shouldn't see often but I do. Coming back from the fireworks show one night I saw someone who was stuck in a line of traffic that was actually it appears trying to go off on the shoulder almost to try and squeeze in further up the line. Really? You can't wait like the rest of us? What is the huge hurry that leads you to do something that not only really doesn't get you anywhere but can put yourself or someone else in danger? I mean seriously I see horrible drivers like that far more often than I should. I see people out in public that just seem to have no patience as well. Thankfully I am still seeing enough people who take the time to take note of those around them and do nice things which I'd like to see more of. I try to keep in mind someone may not be having a good day and that is why they are acting the way they are but I also know that moods are contagious and they spread out like ripples on water. Say you have someone in a bad mood and they do something where they essentially share that mood with someone else. They likely dampen that person's mood and then they go on to share it with someone etc. The same is true for good moods though. We try to do little things like say someone in line has 2 items and you have a cart full. So long as you aren't putting someone else out doing so let that person go first. Just little stuff like that can actually be good. We do that a lot and people just act way more surprised than really I'd expect. Open the door for people. Pay a compliment. I mean seriously it isn't that hard and it can do more good than you realize. Slow down a bit when you can and stop and think are you really in such a hurry? You tend to miss things around you when you are always in a rush. Just being pleasant to someone can make a bigger difference in their day than you may realize. You may find you feel better as well. I think people have just become so numb in today's world. If you can change that even a little bit it is worth it. (excuse me for the warm fuzzy type post but hey something else I'd been thinking about. Maybe the heat is getting to me ;)   ) 

On a totally unrelated note I am trying to decide what my next project is going to be. If I want to start a knitting thing (I still need to make a hat and gloves to go with my wrap for winter) OR if I want to start a poster or painting project. So many things to do. Trying to also go through and get rid of stuff we don't need and clean etc. It is supposed to cool down though so need to get some mowing done and probably any of my truly active activities done while I can. 

additional thoughts...on change

For whatever reason I seem to be into this deep thinking thing but I promise once I get it out of my system I'll go back to my daily life stuff and all that sort of thing. 
I had some additional thoughts to add to what I was saying yesterday. This is in relation to the religion half of it just in that is what got me started down this particular path of thinking but the subject really is about any large lifestyle change. (as in a lifestyle change that affects not only you but everyone in your circles either friends or family  or coworkers etc because it is such a large change) Change again can be good or bad but sometimes it is the way a person goes about this change and what they are actually getting from it. If it is something that is meant to bring about good change and you are meant to gain a new found sense of self or spiritualism or health etc I think if you dive in head first you are less likely to be that person that actually gains what you are doing it for. Not that you CAN'T gain from it but saying if you are using it for show or as a bandaid to fix some hole in your life you are likely to miss the greater lessons it may have to give. Now there are things like my change to gluten free...it wasn't to follow a fad though many do. It was a life saver because I am allergic to wheat and wheat and gluten are so directly tied to each other. Pretty much it is the same diet. For me that was a life saver because I'd found the source of some major health problems and breathing issues and my stomach has done a ton better...etc...anyway so sometimes there are large changes like that...However...I tried to minimalize the affect it had on my family etc as much as possible. We did end up making some changes at home and my husband has perfected fried chicken using gluten free flour that I think tastes better than any fast food place...but I am not asking them to make dietary changes as well. They don't need to. Granted that only partially relates to what I am talking about but I thought it related enough to go here. In any case The changes I am more talking about are the ones where instead of adding new pieces to that lifestyle...new friends...new places you like to go...etc You pretty much become unrecognizable. I find it hard to explain properly but basically you see the traits in the person that you might see in an addict. Someone that again is using that change as a bandaid or cover up for problems they may have in their life. Those people may still be able with time to gain valuable life lessons from that change but they also run a risk of burning out before they even start because they are expecting a quick fix and it didn't do it for them. Especially when they expect this change to change everything else around them. I've seen people who think their own changes (which might have been otherwise positive)  provided them validation to become judge, jury, and executioner for anyone else. That is where I think change presents a problem and that is what I was trying to get to with this statement. It gives the appearance that the person or people think they are suddenly now above everyone around them though they may have not long ago been those people that are being looked down upon. It is like they seem to think if they show compassion or identify with those people who remind them of who they used to be the will suddenly be out of the "cool kids club" they seem to think they belong to now. If you are in it for the club like atmosphere you are not in it for your own personal growth. It is really not a positive change when you see that in a person. For those people I hope that they find their footing and stop their road to burn out and actually learn the lessons and gain positive enlightenment from the changes they have made. It is possible to have/learn those and keep the changes just with out the persecution of those around you who made maybe different changes or chose their own path. Your path is yours not everyone's. Slow it down a notch and I think it'll be okay. Hard to see the sights when you are going full throttle. (sorry if I sound cryptic but I'd been seeing some of this and I wanted to get my thoughts on it out there) 

 Sadly some people will only  hear "blah blah blah ...don't like changes...against changes...blah blah blah..." and not hear what is actually being said. I know people like this. Changes are okay just don't go so crazy with them all at once and condemn everyone else for not making the same choices you did. 

Thoughts (things floating around my head) on touchy subjects

First off topic wise..Politics. (One I rarely cover anymore because it causes a lot of problems and it is a heated topic for many) Then I will go to religion which is another one...

I've had some random things on my mind that I thought I'd put in a blog of their own. 
The first being I notice one problem with social media being that people seem to be really bad about the whole bandwagon thing. It is like everything you are either for 100 percent or against 100 percent. Crowd mentality. Have people forgotten how to think for themselves and do research? I have to admit I fell victim a few times w/ it for some things. No one is immune I don't think BUT it seems rampant anymore. 
One example is all the presidential posts. I don't mean the current one either. People seem to all think that the president sits up there and makes ALL The decisions himself. He doesn't. They forget all about the House and Congress and all and that he doesn't just say okay this goes and it does. There are a lot of games going on there. He may try to pass something and the Republicans shoot it down and then they turn and give him issue about it and visa versa.  It makes me seriously think people need to go back and go over again how American Government works. I've even sat here a few times and went wow did I miss something? Is there no one that remembers the cutsie little video on how bills are passed ? Things like that? Does no one remember this?: 

1. The federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, respectively.
2. Or this? To ensure that no person or group would amass too much power, the founders established a government in which the powers to create, implement, and adjudicate laws were separated. Each branch of government is balanced by powers in the other two coequal branches: The President can veto the laws of the Congress; the Congress confirms or rejects the President's appointments and can remove the President from office in exceptional circumstances; and the justices of the Supreme Court, who can overturn unconstitutional laws, are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
   In creating this balance, the framers of the Constitution hoped to form what they called "a more perfect union" — a government that would not only serve the people but would also be a long-lived exemplar to other nations around the world.
3. If you think something is wrong with our government I don't disagree.... I actually fully agree... however my disagreement lies in that it isn't the President by himself. it is the whole thing. If they are no longer serving the people then the "perfect union" is broken. I think people are just missing the bigger picture. 

The President is more like a figurehead. He is not the only decision maker yet he is the one who is going to take all the hits. (I feel I need to throw in there I am not a huge fan or anything I just feel like people miss these facts a lot) I also feel like the whole election process is a sham. People feel like someone sits there and counts all their votes separately. Do they forget how that actually works with electoral votes and all? It is like they have some fairy tale idea of how our own government works. What is it based off of? Movies? I also am disappointed that despite my feelings about the electoral votes etc... that in certain states we don't even get a choice to vote for all the candidates running. Such as if we have an Independent running they aren't a choice for us. 
Speaking of Independent I think that I've pretty much decided that is what my political affiliation may be. I tried Republican... I became disgusted with that when the Tea Party ruined it (In my honest opinion) They became pretty extreme. I tried Democratic...and yet there are some things I disagree with there as well so I feel I guess that I fit in more with Independent. Though I am still swishing the taste of that around to see if it fits me. I feel like in general politics is the name of a game that is played with the people. Not just American but ALL of the people. 

Next topic for me is Religion: yeah another touchy one.  I have some Christian friends too who do not feel threatened by other faiths. They know that their own beliefs are strongly enough held that they don't have to fear being around people of varying faiths NOR do they feel the need to push them so hard to convert. (I'm not saying they don't share their beliefs etc but they aren't harassing about it) I am glad for one that they don't feel threatened by others. It is the ones that look down their nose at you and try to shame you for believing differently that get me. Those are the ones who I know are still new and not so secure in themselves and their religion. I can only hope they find their footing enough not to feel so threatened by everyone and everything around them. Those are the judgmental ones who go to the extreme with it. I guess the more extreme they are the more they feel like they "belong" when it isn't about "belonging" it is about a personal journey and is between you and your higher power and no one else. (and by this I don't mean that anyone should hide it. I mean the journey itself is between you and your higher power) Also to add...when I am talking about belonging etc that isn't to say there is anything wrong with finding a group of like minded people or a church you like but when "belonging" turns into more like a huge display of trying to prove you belong to something as in a certain religion then that is where the problem lays.  You don't have anything to prove to anyone else. Yet  they seem to think they need to though there are those who don't even seem to realize what they are doing and I find it sad. I think those are the ones who bother me the ones that think they have to prove it to everyone around them with extreme behavioral changes. (now if you are talking about changes like say a drug addict or alcoholic seeks help and stops what they are doing there that is a different story that isn't a bad change...I am talking about the ones that suddenly change everything they ever stood for and expect everyone around them to follow suit or they find them a threat to their new found life changes) The ones that see everything as evil or the devil. Those people are worrisome. yes there is evil in the world but not everything is evil and not everything is out to get you or to try to deter you from your relationship with your higher power. The only thing that can shake your beliefs is yourself. Not sure if that will make sense to some people but if you fear that someone else can take your beliefs away from you then I think you need to rethink that a bit. Why would anyone else even be able to do that? It all goes back to it being a personal thing. That is something you need to look inside yourself for. There are topics like Morals: It gets me when people act like if you aren't Christian you can't possibly have morals. While different religions enforce the idea of morals in different ways no religion holds a monopoly in the department of having morals. I know of Christians who seem to have none and I know of atheists or people of various other religions who have a lot of moral value. It depends on the person individually. It is something deep within you that tells you right from wrong. People seem to think also that their religion or personal beliefs should dictate how another person lives or what life choices they make. This is one of those bandwagon topics. I've seem people group up on someone and try to trash them using their personal beliefs. Those are YOUR personal beliefs. That can be a two way street. You don't want to have to adhere to someone else's religious beliefs I would imagine. You don't believe in birth control? Fine don't use it. Someone else doesn't believe in blood transfusions. Does that mean you shouldn't be allowed them? Our hospital recently went to being a Catholic hospital. I will say I am glad I was able to get my tubal done before they made it a rule that it has to be a life threatening situation. I can respect that someone does not believe in them and would not choose one for themselves but I don't feel like it should take away my right to have a tubal when I am for certain I was done having children. (on a side note I am highly allergic to synthetic hormones. I was told I can't even use a nuva ring due to how strong of an allergic reaction I have now. it is something that build up over the years but I began to have an anephelactic shock reaction to most all of them. I didn't have the choices that most people have and I had severe bleeding and hormonal issues after my last two children) I think it is in the people's best interest that church and state continue to be kept separate. I think some people actually see this as encroaching on their rights when it does not. It simply keeps one religion from taking receiving special precedence over others and we are a melting pot of religions. We used to embrace that. As a country we used to embrace the differences. We were doing betterand now  we are back sliding. One religion should not be able to make all the decisions for everyone else. Also something to think about is that "one" religion actually has many branches and each branch has their own beliefs in a way or their own idea of how to interpret the bible. Which one would we go by? That is one of the many reasons there is such a huge problem with that.
 People also seem to not realize how much the media plays into everything. (again with the crowd mentality) If you really sit back and pay attention there is a lot there that influences the crowd mentality and people just go along with it. I will give an example of the Duck Dynasty thing. You take a show that you have a lot of people of a certain audience watching and you can do things like the publicity stunt (I'm sorry calling it for what it was) where the father was going to be kicked off the show for whatever it was. People freaked. Sales went up in support of the show and of course he was back. I was sitting there going seriously do people not see it for what it is? There were some who did. They even had a movie deal from it. Half the time when they proclaim a certain religion is being attacked it is the media that is attacking it in a way. There may be some small obscure group who complained about something and then it is put out there that it is "the atheists" or whatever and then somehow that gets expanded to anyone who isn't Christian. Most of the time the way a news story plays out it is the way the spin is put on it and the light that someone wants you to see it in. You can read a story on the exact same topic by two different sources each having their own spin on it determined by which 'side" of it they are on (you see this a lot with democratic and republican stories) and you can come away with two totally different things.     I've noticed as of late several news channels are using what they are seeing in their facebook feeds as filler for their stories. I am just sort of shaking my head going wow. A lot of times they have to go back and report when they discover the story they aired was based on a false post. Some of which have been cycling through for years. There is not a lot of fact finding and research going on anymore.  Anyway I hope people take the time sometimes to do some deeper thinking. Don't always assume that the crowd is right. 

 If we were all the same life would be boring. Accepting someone else's differences does not mean that you have to give up who you are. 

July 9 2014

I know I've been blogging a lot more I guess this is one of those spells when I can. I've been suffering from spells of nausea post having my teeth pulled and not really sure why. Doesn't seem to be the pain medicine because it doesn't occur after I've taken that. I am starting to suspect it is actually from hunger but kind of hard to eat when you're nauseous. I've figured out I can do beef stock with mashed potatoes and that is pretty good. I've eating my cherry tomatoes I pulled off my plant. Those seem to do okay. Then chocolate putting with some cut up bananas. In any case I've actually lost 4-5 lbs in just a couple of days which is not a complaint by any means. I was actually pretty shocked but hey. Anyway enough about that other than to say I hope the nausea goes away and the pain eases up because next week is when I go in to the foot dr and I don't know what if anything they will do as of yet. 
I finally broke down and told my mom about my Aunt's passing. It was hard to do but there is never really a "good" time to pass along news like that. She seems to be doing okay with it though she is the last one of them to be alive. I will say that has to be hard to know. I have discovered she seems to be finding some interest in the local papers so I am thinking about subscribing to them (I like to read them too I don't do a lot of actual news as in tv news anymore really) and we can both enjoy them. I'd like to see her start doing puzzles and all again. Something I find great for elderly or really for people who don't get on a computer where they can see pictures that people share is one of those digital photo frames. I plan on getting her one for her birthday I am hoping. That way she can see pics of everyone and I can put new ones in. Next I need to get my daughter and grandbaby by to see her and my MIL. We've all been so busy we haven't had a chance to do that though not without trying just one or the other of any of us are all busy or free at totally different times. That is about how it goes though. 
I've gotten back into playing my Nancy Drew games. Technically it could be said they are games for Teenagers (and they're great for them good puzzle solving and critical thinking type) but I love them. For me they rank right up there with hidden object games which I also love. 
We had to remove our finch eggs from the nest sadly they just didn't hatch. I feel awful for them though I imagine it won't be long before they lay more. Better luck for them next round I guess. I am wondering about doing blown eggs with something so tiny or if you could fill them with a glue or encase them? They are the teeniest things. 

Step by Step

Getting things done as always. Today I had to go in and get two teeth pulled. Was going to be one but I asked about the 2nd and explained that I didn't know when I could get it fixed and they said that actually looking at where the damage was on it they recommended just pulling it. That one is the one it turned out was a bit of a pain to get out. They had to wrestle with it only to find that parts of it was tangled with the one in front of it. I am having some trouble swallowing now etc because of the swelling etc but it is understandable due to the amount of work they had to do. So hopefully that will go down soon and I can progress with healing. For now I am finding beef broth is my friend ;) Next week I go in to have my foot looked at to see if they can figure out the problem there and hopefully find a solution. In between I have to do some things with my mom and I still don't know what is going to happen there. With so much going on my anxiety and all is acting up a bit again. :/ It won't be much longer and I'll be wrapped up in school shopping and preparations for that. Once school actually starts we will be starting to work on crafting projects and myself on my painting projects. I think I may have mentioned that several times but I am super excited about it. I have bonded with another cat finally and it wasn't the one I thought it would be. I know I posted awhile back about the rather painful loss of my cat Pounce who was in many ways a therapy cat, friend, etc. I now have a little gray cat who I had no intention of keeping. She was sweet and all but she was one who'd required a lot of extra care as a kitten. Being a manx she had issues with bathing and had to be bathed a lot til she got older. (It was no fun for us or for her I'll say that but it actually was a life or death matter for her...I'll skip the details) anyway I guess now she decided I was her personal human. She has a certain time of the day that is her lap time and she comes and finds me and sits with me. She always happy foots (where they spread their paws out and then curl them and repeat the motion) sings, is just such a happy cat. I really do find her comforting. I guess here soon I need to look at taking her to get her spayed. Her name is Nimbus like the cloud.

 Nimbus giving the really you had to use Flash look? She'd been bathing so had wet patches going :) She is a manx. 

My son has a female that he picked out as a birthday present and he takes care of her. She is actually kind of spoiled. He is going to be saving up to get her spayed too I think. He does a lot of work for the neighbors when he can and he does quite well with it for himself. If he stays on track with his schooling this year he may wind up doing some aeronautics courses or airplane repair. He has an ongoing interest in it.  Our tomato plants are doing fairly well. Mainly the ones we got from the actual hot house not the Atwoods ones. I think though they are a big more costly they are worth it as they actually produce and produce they will! :) 

 I have another bowl to pick. They are really good too!

They were a bit wilty due to sun but are doing better now.

My stargazer I always get excited every year when these bloom. 

Happy 4th of July

We are kicking back today and relaxing some. I've been super tired all week. I'm not sure if it is from all the stress and such all week or if it is my lupus/RA trying to flare up again. It had been in remission. I go back in August so I guess I'll see what they say then. Stress can cause it to do that so I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway. Managed to go to two fireworks shows here locally which I hadn't been to one in forever. It was really nice. This next week is going to be back to the grindstone in a way. I get one or two teeth pulled, my mom goes to her first dr appt since she's been home the day after that and I am trying to brace myself because I am expecting some uncomfortable topics that I know my mom isn't going to want to discuss but has to be brought up with her. We shall see how that goes. After that hoping the week goes fairly smoothly til I have to go in and see the foot dr the following week. They had told me before that if my foot continues to get worse I may need special shoes OR I may need surgery. Maybe they will have another option. I have bone spurs in both feet but this feels different. It is the same foot that has been broken before and healed with out being reset so that may be part of the problem too. Who knows. Anyway then after that it is count down for school enrollment. This spring/summer has seemed to fly by. My son doesn't start back til Sept so he has a bit longer. He got some glasses to wear to help too and I have to say they look pretty sharp. He's been getting back into making duct tape bags and satchels. I'm gathering craft supplies myself for us to do when the youngest is gone to school during the day. Anyway here are some pics of our latest flowers that have bloomed. 

 My stargazer. There are several more on the stem but this is the one that bloomed. My youngest broke it off so I took it and put it in the vase I etched (can't see the etching here) and it bloomed. There has been another that bloomed since but I thought my mom might enjoy them so I had taken them to her house. 

 My canna's.. I love how these appear golden and red in the sun

 Makes you feel like you have a tiny tropical area in your yard. 

 I like the bright orange of these

 These always have a tinge of color to them

Some of the fireworks from the show