blur of a week *lots of pics in this one

It felt like a long week but it went by in such a blur. My youngest had severe allergies the first full week of school. She gets sick when school starts I guess but this time she seemed to do really well after she got started on her flonase and all. So hopefully it won't be so bad this year. She is still loving it and comes up with the funniest stories when you ask her how her day went. Stories like an eagle came and picked up the whole class and flew them on a field trip and things like that. I look forward to asking her how her day went. She really does enjoy it. I am still going to PT 3 days a week so that takes up quite a bit of my time but it is still helping. I ordered an exercise pedaler thing to use at home as I know for sure now that one would work really well for me. I did have some trouble where it felt like the bones were trying to push through the top of my foot and they checked it out and said I was basically over doing it so they changed my routine up just a tad but I think it was something I was doing at home. I am using wraps mostly. We found that as the dr suggested the ones you get to wrap horse ankles in are a lot better than the ones for people you can get elsewhere and you can get 3 rolls vs. the cost of one. So works out. I am looking forward to using the bike thing. I also got a couple of yoga blocks as I wanted to start before but found out you need those and well...now I can. Something that will stretch the muscles but not be too hard on them. I miss my dancing but can't do it yet still. My son starts school next week online. Going to try a few things different this year. We took a day long trip to Norman for my RA dr. We took my son to see the Sam Noble museum because he missed out last time. (again I tend to keep pics of my kids to a certain page but I have tons of pics I think I took like 400 something and my son took around 600 LOL) I started doing photography as a theraputic thing for my anxiety /agoraphobia and it does help some for me. I get excited about adding to my collection. Longer trips like this take a day or two for me to get mentally ready for and I still don't go anywhere w/out my husband or sometimes I can stay somewhere for a short while with someone I trust but it is an improvement over being totally home bound from severe PTSD a few years back.

hot bird seeking shade under the tree

My youngest loved this there were a lot of fish in it. I have to agree with her. I want to build one. Our house gets paid off this spring so we'll see what we plan for our future then. 

 This was too cool

My youngest's favorite

My son had a blast playing with the effects on his phone and when he gets his uploaded ....which he apparently just suddenly got the urge to do...he has a T-rex with a white board effect on it that came out cool. 

We went to the museum first and ran out of time and so rushed over to my appt. There we spent forever and I was the last patient of the day so everyone in the office was in a great mood. It was catching :D They told me that there was a good possibility that the rounds of steroids I was on for multiple things could have affected the RA and may be why it was in remission. They said the antibiotics wouldn't have affected it but I'd just finished up several rounds one right after for Pneumonia, bronchitis, and then later Pleurisy which is lupus related. (the lining of your lungs becomes inflamed and sticks so that it makes it hard to breathe. It is excruciatingly painful and I used to get it as a teen all the time) anyway they had found that on X-ray and I had just finished them not long before my 1st appt with my RA dr. So they said that was a pretty good possibility but I appear to still be in remission which is good. I have to have paperwork sent from my foot dr about my stress fractures to him. Then when he was squeezing joints and pressure points somehow I guess he hit a nerve on my left shoulder and I haven't been able to use that arm much the last few days. It is getting better but it was so weird. Like if I try to lift anything with that arm it drops (the arm does) Guess just have to work it out. From the drs office on the way home we stopped at the Country boy store where my son was pushing my youngest around in a cart that the front part was made like a car with a steering wheel and she was having an absolute field day. She loved it. Then off to check out the nature center at lake Thunderbird but unfortunately it was closed so that is a trip we'll be planning for another time. They did however have a turtle pen out front that the boy scouts had made with their own special habitat and the kids found and pointed out all the turtles in it. Then we went down a little trail to the lake and checked that out. Wanting to go back it has been such a long time. As we had driven in the youngest was asleep and we couldn't get her awake to see that there were a lot of wild turkeys but she did get to see them on the way back out. 

pigeons catching bugs in a hay field

 the turkeys I say wild but pretty sure they really are used to people

purple thistle

Thunderbird lake

Lake

little bridge going out to a floating fishing dock

We plan on going back when we can spend a little time. Again we are tied down some by schedules which sucks but we do try to fit things in there. We got some life jackets for the kids for next time too.

Then we headed home and went by my MIL's house to meet up with her, my oldest, my grandbaby, and my friend and spent some time there visiting. We were pretty exhausted. Then the next day went out to the local lake for awhile (Tecumseh) and explored parts of that we hadn't been to before. They used to have a part of it gated off as a shooting range and you had to be a gun club member I think to go down there and it was open so we went exploring. 

I did not actually see the praying mantis when I first took this I was taking it of the water lilly 

 They have a lot of these growing in different places there now I love it

 water lilly

 inside of the other pavillion type building

 fireplace on the side

 an egret flying over water lillies

 I just loved how this looked

We spent some time out there enjoying just how peaceful it was. We did do some fishing but didn't catch anything just mostly enjoying the day. 

Youngest liked drawing with rocks

Sunflower season

dragonfly my son caught and then released

teeny little snails coming up out of the water (the little dots on the rock) 

little water frog

kids took to using nets to catch minnows

 sand plums

I actually thought they were wild grapes at first

feather (goose?)

tree that I am guessing had been lightening struck at one time 

Later that day after we got home went to a cook out with my MIL, friend, oldest and grandbaby. Definitely a full couple of days. So worn out today but it was a good time. 

Ferguson just my personal thoughts

I know this is all over the news but I had some thoughts I wanted to express on it.  Did the "kid" break the law? Yes. Was the cop in the right to shoot him? Still up in the air for me. According to the report he was shot from a distance so I am not sure if that warrants the 6 shots (each of which left several holes) Also it is my understanding that they caught him later for jaywalking and they didn't even know about the robbery at that time. ....
Now then... my problem with this situation is not the race issue that some are seeing with it (though  I do get where they are coming from) It is with the militarization of the police force. There are good cops out there. I see plenty. There are also the ones who are on a power trip those are the ones that concern me. I am wondering if they don't need to do some type of psych eval screening process that looks for that type of personality trait in someone they are hiring for that type of job position? Yeah you have to be able to know what to do in a situation and some of the decisions you have to make are life threatening ones and are split second. I can understand that but it is when you see the ones who continue to use force in a situation where it is not needed or where you've exceeded what you need to use and that that is an escalating problem you are seeing across the country this is something that needs to be addressed. When you see that now it is getting to where it is no longer one or two cops on a force that is guilty of this but at times an entire police force and they seem to have an attitude like they are above the law itself or are over stepping their bounds as a group they are starting to have almost a gang like mentality. They see the entire public as the enemy instead of people they are supposed to protect and serve. 
Now then let me get to this part....You may be seeing one thing on the news but unless you've been watching the live feeds from people on the ground you are seriously missing something. I didn't start watching til night before last and I'd been hearing conflicting reports but of course I'm not there I can't say one way or the other ...well I got curious and if you would like to see these feeds too you can watch on livestream look for Tim Pool who also does a split screen on youtube with another set of reporters if you check that out look for vice news. He seems to try and remain pretty unbiased which is refreshing. He tries to see both the point of view of the police AND the protesters. There is also I am Mike Brown on live stream which is the one I watched the first night. I am Mike Brown the other one isn't up live right now but there are past videos. I am just basing this off what I actually saw. I was watching as it got close to curfew and the police pulled in swat trucks on either side of the group of protesters (which by the way they make it sound like they are the same but the protesters and the looters are separate groups) and as curfew broke they slipped on the gas masks boxed in the protesters and squeezed in on them with the trucks and started throwing the tear gas causing the reporters who were in a cordoned off area to start coughing and such...and that went on for what seemed like forever with so much gas. This was without the protesters doing anything except refusing to leave. They started shooting live rounds  (I guess into the air though one came down and hit someone) and rubber bullets, and then every time you think they stopped with the tear gas here it came again several canisters at a time til you could see nothing. They came out at first as trying to claim it was smoke (it was obvious it was not) until people started picking up the empty shells and tweeting pics of them then they reversed their statement. Why lie?  Also right before it began besides the fact that they had media sectioned off to an area where they couldn't see much they also parked police vehicles purposely in the way and at one point had a row of geared riot police in the way. Not protecting them just in the way of view. Anyway they also broke out the sonic or LRAD guns and that was such a strange sound over camera. It sounded like bats chirping only louder. (we get them around here...the bats not the gun of course) They came on that crowd with full force when to all appearances they weren't doing anything other than breaking curfew. They claimed the crowd started it. Anyone watching can tell you otherwise. The ONLY thing they did was to tell them they weren't going to leave. That may be wrong but that was not a call for full force they were still being peaceful. The public has a right to peaceful protest. THAT is what bothers me is the sheer amount of force they started using when it wasn't needed showing off all that military surplus when all that really needed to be done was police presence. I could see doing something about the looters of course and situations like that but as I said that is NOT the same as the protesters. They (the police)  are creating more conflict with using violence to prevent violence. Do they not expect these people to want to fight back?! Last night they put the media in a parking lot at the command post and kept them waiting there for about an hour for someone to come out and talk. They weren't allowed to leave. (they were told they could but then orders changed and the ones that tried to got escorted back)  I will say I missed what happened before that (it was still before curfew) but the police again claim protesters started it. Protesters say otherwise but it all comes down to he said she said for that (I'm sure there is video showing one way or the other) There was a group broke off and started looting I guess tried to advance on the police control center which is not something I'd condone but I think it stems from the people feeling like they are not being allowed their civil right to protest peacefully (again deal with the looters and such separately and quit attacking the protesters!)  Last night I saw an older lady who wasn't from Ferguson who was trying to leave before curfew and got caught up in the commotion when the police got into it with a group of people that they told to disperse (I guess since it was before curfew they were not dispersing) she was trying to avoid being shot she just wanted to go home and had thought she had time to do so...to leave town and she called out for help and they told her no. She wound up getting hit with a rubber bullet as did a young girl who was standing next to her (the young girl was left limping) They left a body laying in the road for some time. There is just a whole lot wrong with this picture and if you think it doesn't affect you in some way think again. What if this was your town?  They were arresting people standing in their own yards. I can't say this is remotely like their situation at all but just what comes to mind when I try to picture it was when our own town (our section) was under curfew due to the tornado. We went outside and was walking around in front of our house (just our own house)  a little as there was no power and it was hot and my youngest was still a baby. We had several cops come down and we had to go inside. It was a scary moment because of the way they were acting and it is a strange feeling to not be allowed outside your own house on your own property. They are high on the offensive. Partly because of their job but that means you do not want to make a wrong move. In any case I could not picture  it being the way it is there. I would be terrified as a resident. Think about it. You have to go to something simple like the grocery store or something and you have to worry about getting caught up in all that. People do still have daily lives to live there. Even if it is before curfew.  That isn't why I say this affects everyone though. It is because situations like this is cropping up all over the place this just happens to have gone down in such a way that it caught more media attention and when I say that I am not so much talking about the shooting of an unarmed person I am talking about the police using all the military surplus stuff they bought up and starting to act like a militarized force. They are using unnecessary force. There are other people such as reporters and city officials? that got fired on with the rubber bullets or tear gas. Now they've got Amnesty International coming in and it appears National Guard. They did drop curfew. I am hoping maybe soon the peace will start to return to the town and for things to settle but I also hope this brings to light police..not military but police...what it means for them to be using such weapons that are meant for military. Again NOT police. 
Even our own small towns locally where I am are buying up the military surplus. Ours had one displayed at a local 4th of July festival. Granted that doesn't mean they are going to use it in the way this town did it is the corrupt ones I worry about. 
Also when working in Juvenile detention (and yes again I realize not same situation but...) we were expected to deal with juveniles who had been arrested for an array of things ... rape, burglary, stabbing, etc. You could not look at one person in the face and tell what it was they were there for but you could read their record and see how violent they had been and how they got that way sometimes from their history. In any case a lot of times we were on the unit with only one or two other people. At night you sometimes got left there alone locked in with only a radio and you had better have that radio on you. We were there with sometimes 18 or so residents and we sure as hell didn't have a gun.  Granted neither did they BUT they could sure overpower you in a hurry if they wanted. There were cases when that happened (not on my shift and pretty sure not on my unit) they could find something to use and they could hurt you.   Not to mention I am 5'3 and some of these residents were about as big as this kid was. There were several other specialists about my size or so and one had just had surgery recently. We did have self defense training. No not more dangerous than the cops job by any means but just saying that a gun is not always necessary to use.  ...This cop was out in the open, dealing with jay walkers, was he really so afraid as to have had to shoot 6 times and it appears aiming to kill? Maybe he did think the kid had a gun...I had a friend who was a cop for a time and he was taught to shoot in the shoulder to disarm them. What happened to doing something like that? They said he had been shot from a distance which does not sound like he was closing in on the officer but maybe I need to read more on that. What about a taser? I may watch again a bit tonight to see what happens and I will hope it is calmer for everyone. * I forgot to add they turned out the street lights in some areas last night and were using night vision

First week of school

*see the tiny spider in the center? Okay so like two days of school LOL First day went good we weren't sure how the youngest would do since she just did half days last year but she loved it and she seems to really like her teacher which is great. I think I understood her to say she did have a couple of friends from last year and all ready has some new ones which is great. I had to go to physical therapy the same day which made it kind of hectic. (the car lines to pick up are crazy long) It took over the hour that they'd said because they had to do some paperwork but that went good too. They told me my shoes were probably helping to contribute to the breaks not healing because where they tie they sit and press down on it. Also the serious vitamin deficiency (since corrected) was contributing to the continued breakage and I've managed to get my calcium/D3 levels back up. I'm currently taking supplements for that. Basically I had a whole host of problems that were contributing to everything and now that after several years of fighting to do so I've managed to start getting into the roots of the problems and are getting those fixed so that everything else is falling in to place which is great. In physical therapy they hook you up to electrodes and create a pulsing shock that massages the muscle before they work on you combined with a heating pad. They have you do a lot of exercises and apparently there is a whole regimen for someone with a broken foot to do :) I seem to have a high pain tolerance (no complaints there) though I am on a constant dose of meloxicam too which may help. (though not complaining no pain=good thing) I did hurt the next day but nothing too bad as long as it is helping my foot I'm happy. I am learning some things to help keep foot problems down in the future too which is also always good. I have to say the people there are really nice :) Very comfortable atmosphere. In any case life all around is improving greatly. Starting to fall in to place a lot more and as a virgo I love some organization LOL :D 

I am still trying to get adjusted to these new hours and thankfully I only have PT 3x a week for at least an hour at a time so I have two other days to try and get other stuff done.  My youngest is still loving school. I hope they get the gravel spread out and the playground taken care of before it cools off some so they can actually get out there and play on it. My son starts his online school back first week of September. He says to quit reminding him LOL :D He has a project done for the fair and I still need to do mine. 

I've also been sort of busy with a situation with a friend I am trying the best I can to help them with. It is sadly like watching myself back when I was in Germany and when I first came back. So very similar and I hate watching them go through it. I keep wishing there was more I could do but I am doing all I can (we are in different states) I am hoping they let their friends that are closer to them help them too. I think they are willing just not sure what to do.  I just want to see them finally get back on the right track and to see them finally get to be happy. Positive thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and love and light and whatever positive energy anyone can send for them is welcome.I have given them all the information I find for them to use and I can't go in to more detail than that I just wanted to kind of not really vent...I guess get that out? It is hard for me because I know how hard it was when I was going through it and how alone I felt at the time. I've thought about working as a counselor or doing some volunteer work for project safe. I am not in a position to at the moment but it may be in my future. In the meantime I share my own experiences with those going through the same that I did and the resources that I can for them if they need it that seems to be something I tend to do for anyone. I know how to find them and sometimes people may not have the time etc. I hope if it can help anyone that it does so. I find it sad the number of people who find themselves in those places. I feel so strongly for them. Maybe some day I can put that to real use for others. On another note I have another friend who has finally found some happiness and I am so happy for them. There may be <3 a="" air="" all="" also="" always="" and="" awesome.="" beyond="" bit="" doing="" font="" for="" fortune.="" get="" good="" got="" great="" happiness="" hard="" has="" have="" in="" is="" it="" job="" just="" life.="" more="" nbsp="" negative="" of="" out="" own="" person="" positive="" put="" schooling="" see.="" seeing="" seems="" self="" similar="" situation="" so="" than="" the="" their="" them="" thing.="" this="" through="" time="" to="" which="" worked="">

 Hubby kept saying smile and honestly I felt like I was...

 then he caught me after that LOL  

In case you are wondering I don't tend to post pics of my kids anywhere other than on a private FB page for family and friends and on their own pages. My youngest doesn't have one yet but the older kids all got their own when they got old enough. So that is why you may not see them here except rarely.    I am getting excited about the local free fair. I dunno why it isn't like a big thing or anything but I really like it. Anyway I have a news related blog to do soon. 

Why so busy?

I often mention how busy we are. I wish very often for life to slow down a bit so I could take a breather and regroup. (It has slowed a little but still in the fast lane) Why are we so busy? Partly because in technicality we are taking care of 3 households. Our own of course, my mom, and my MIL (Who is actually pretty independent but still needs help at times and I don't mind) For my mom we have to schedule our day around her medications. We have to make sure someone is home to give them to her when they are due (3x a day) so sometimes we have to schedule around them. She also has to have someone prepare her meals and clean and do laundry and dishes etc all that good stuff. For all 3  households we handle getting everyone to appts, doing shopping, etc. So yeah that sort of makes it easier to understand why so busy all the time.  My mom can't do any of the things she used to and we are responsible for her care. The parkinson's has been rough on her. If you would like to know what Parksinson's is think Micheal J. Fox that is what he has. For more on this disease go to that link. *I had written this as a draft and left it up and wasn't done with it and shortly after it came out about Robin Williams having it. I'm sure that had to be a rough blow for him. She also has the Lupus and Sjogren's and several others things going on. Renal failure is a big one for her. Her kidneys are slowly failing we were actually told a couple of years ago she wouldn't be around much longer and our family managed to come in from their states to see her. Here she still is though. She does have some really rough times. She broke a hip back in January and actually recovered rather quickly from that. She is the last of her siblings now which is rather saddening. My aunt passed not long ago with a massive bacterial infection that they almost didn't even know about. She was in a car accident and they thought she had a concussion and they found it when they checked for that. She passed with in a day  or so. Sometimes people are handed some rough cards but sometimes there are gifts in those cards. Different ways of looking at the world through eyes other than your own is one. Empathy. Sometimes it makes you stronger than you thought possible and you are able to handle more than some people because you've all ready been through tough times you have more of an idea what to expect. You can also help guide others through those tough times or just be an ear when they need it because you truly do understand. In any case that is an inkling of why so busy. We are always doing something whether for ourselves or someone else and we cherish any little moments when we are NOT busy :) 

Back to school

 My youngest daughter's school is all decked out in lego people and lego blocks of all shapes and sizes. She LOVES legos. In a bit of a different way than her older brother ...I don't think he will ever lose his love for him I could see him being one of those people who work building the elaborate lego copies of real life buildings etc. He has made a huge plane before that was so detailed it had everything inside made to scale too and even had a turret type thing that worked. Though his real other love is aeronautics. Anyway.... she plays the lego games with him sometimes and she was pretty excited about that. (They also have my love of sims and their sisters' love of pokemon) One of my girls was more into the dance games/karaoke but she got into pokemon some too. Getting side tracked but all in all it kind of helps to get her excited about going. Her actual classroom is ocean themed. She went and met her PE teacher and he told her to save her energy for her first day. I think he'll be in for a surprise LOL She never runs out. My biggest worry is about her sitting still in class. I know she did okay at the Pre-K. Apparently she is a bit of the class clown though. I am hoping that she has some of the students she knew from there in her class this year it would help. I think it will help some too that she took speech over there so had to go to that school some last year. My son had to have it too and I remember he only needed it for a year or so. My son doesn't start til next month so he still gets some time to goof off though he is going to have withdrawals from his game I think when it starts. He tends to get bored. He has been teaching himself some coding too. He got glasses this summer so hoping that helps him some too. He'd been borderline needing them for awhile. 

 Also tomorrow I get to start my physical therapy which I am told will take about an hour *yay me* I don't know how often I will have to go yet. I have never been through it so I have really no idea what to expect. Hopefully it helps. I also go back to see my Rheumatologist this month. Curious how often they test to make sure the RA and all is in remission to make sure it still is. (blood work) They had originally found it via blood work in 2005 also when they found my lupus. I was pretty bad sick around then and it was affecting my liver at that time too. I had to be on potassium and my body had trouble absorbing it. This last time when they found out I was in remission my liver enzymes were too high which led to blood testing for Hepititis and such but all that came out negative. No clue why it was high but am grateful it wasn't anything like that. They put me on a medication for my arthritis when I went in (Meloxicam) which has so far been helping. We are wondering if the reason it went into remission is because I'd been sick for several months and had to be on multiple strong doses of antibiotics and steroids. I was suffering pleurisy not long before too which is usually lupus caused (I think there can be other reasons too) but that was diagnosed at ER via X-ray and I'd been on a strong steroid dose for that. I will have to remember to ask about it when I go in. We are planning on taking our son with us this trip and trying to go to the museum again since he missed out last time. (had to do end of the year school work and only had a couple days left) 

August 11 2014

I didn't think I'd get a chance to today but here I am finally getting to sit for a few. I went to the foot dr this morning and he really wants me to do physical therapy. I didn't know if I could due to schedule (always so busy!) and location but I found out later that there is one in the town I'm in that does it so I put in a call to see if he wants to go ahead and write the script and have me start it now since he really wanted me doing it though I go back in a month. Didn't help that my youngest dropped a big bottle of something on my foot last night on accident. He told me he wants me to wear the boot a lot more and then told me to get some wraps like they use on horses ankles and showed me how he wanted it wrapped on my foot for extra support. He seems kinda worried that it wasn't doing better but I know I've been pushing it more than I should so I will totally say my fault for not taking it as easy as I needed to be. (of course I hadn't realized that it was technically broken either which might have helped) He said really it would be best in a cast but they try not to do that. (hinders people too much I guess?) So it is boots, wraps, ice, and staying the heck off of it as much as possible. yay me. My Mom got her drivers license renewed. She looks so different in the photo and they couldn't even get her finger prints. (not sure what they did but they did something) I cut her nails for her and all. I really need to see if I can get her to let me paint them for her or something but I need to find some normal colored polish (I tend to go for blues or purples and such) She seems like she is losing her oomph in the idea of going fishing but hoping we can get her excited about that and take her. I think she'd enjoy it. I think the only problem is she doesn't want to have to go get her license even though I think it is permanent now and wouldn't be a big deal to get. I am going to see if I can get it for her. She sounded like she'd just be happy sitting out at the lake. I need to find a good chair for her. She's such a tiny thing anymore. She just celebrated her 76th birthday. It take a lot out of her to do much of anything it seems. I have a number for my dad I had spoke to him awhile back but not recently. (when she was in the nursing home for rehab on her broken hip) and I think she wants to talk to him but she can't figure out that she needs to dial 405 to call him.  Right now I am so tired I can't see straight so hopefully I will get a chance to catch a nap. I definitely need it. I forgot to ask about resuming belly dance but I can assume that is a no since I'm not supposed to be on it really so will have to wait and see. 

 Drawing I did on 2draw.net

One last blog for tonight (I think I'm making up for lost blogging time LOL)

 hat I made to go with my wrap gloves will come next. ...Anyway sorry for the multiple blog posts guys. I am getting it out of my system and I tend to be long winded when I type. I haven't had a chance to do much blogging and I don't expect to have a chance to do much of it this week but may have plenty to say after this week so bear with me LOL :) Plus I'm sitting here listening to glitch mob and sometimes that is inspiring in itself. A bunch of random stuff. I got my hubby hooked on those escape the room games I think. I finally started messing with my tablet more though I don't have the wifi finding capabilities my son seems to have. I swear anywhere he goes there is wifi. :/ I try it and *crickets* Yep. So ....I've decided that every parent should have school year goals kinda like what you might make for new years. (or well for whatever you might like maybe they would be seasonal instead or something...I kind of make those too) 

My goals for this school year are: *and don't forget your kids could make some great positive goals for themselves :) 

1. Of course get my art and crafts going as I've mentioned over and over but I have a lot of them I want to do and I have plans from contests to possibly selling online and/OR preparing for future crafts shows. We have a few coming up but if I can start now I can have some stock going for future years as well as my husband has some planned as well. 

a. Finish my large scale painting that I've had set aside for a few years now. It needs to be completed or at least updates done to it.

b. try my hand at glass etching I have the materials just need the time/space.

c. finish a few pairs of earrings and maybe a necklace or two. I have found a great source for glass beads and supplies for steampunk earrings that I want to try. 

d. Do some more loom crafting and hopefully learn some new types of knitting/crochet/looming.

e. I would like to try my hand at hair ornaments. (like what tribal dancers use) 

(and yeah there is a lot of other stuff but that is off the top of my head. 

2. get more organizing done with my house. I have ideas and such to maximize space and usage of space but need to get them done. 

3. Rebuild our front porch (that is on hold til we get something else done and then we can go ahead and complete it) 

4. pay off my house (happens this spring) and hopefully get some idea where we want to go from there and what all we want to do. 

5. Girl time! :) Have plans to go spend time over with my oldest and my friend and of course play with the grandbaby. 

6. Work on my dancing if I can (pending release from the dr to do so) 

7. Go on walks (again pending release but I can do them so long as I wear my boot) 

8. Fishing. 

9. When the kids aren't doing school go do some of the things we wanted to do during the summer but didn't get to and are still on our checklist. 

10. Clean out the shed. (o.o) and do some other decluttering. 

11. To be decided looks to me like plenty to concentrate on for now LOL :D 

I'd like to start writing too. I've had a story in my head for awhile but haven't typed it out or attempted to yet. 

I've been trying some new foods and such lately. Today hubby brought me home a salad that was grilled chicken and fruit (strawberries/blueberries/almonds/pineapple/ and poppyseed dressing) HOMG I think I'm hooked. I know people sometimes use fruit in their salads but didn't think I'd really like it. Well I do like it :) 

Also I intend to do my hair again here in the next couple of days. It is looking fall like so I am feeling that urge to go red. I have found that my hair makes me easy to find LOL I've had a lot of people come up and know who I am due to that which is kinda cool. I feel bad if I dunno who it is though right off but I do appreciate them saying Hi :) I've met a lot of great people on there and been lucky to meet several of them IRL.  I want to start doing my flowers and such again. 

Ok I guess I should go for now and get some stuff done. I've been picking at the house all day as much as possible til I finally gave up and came in here and started blogging when I wasn't able to get anything done for different disruptions.  I am also suffering I have two really big dr appts coming up quickly jitters besides just the school is starting OMG's. 

*random mushroom pics. My son found these in the park and they were so weird looking

these too there were some that looked like tongues sticking out

bubbles under the water formed by algae. 

Thoughts on spirituality

 I would like to say how much I appreciate when my higher power points me in the right direction keeps me on track and guides me down the right path. I used to pay rapt attention to it (in the form of that tugging at the corner of your mind feeling you get or intuition) and then I guess for a long time I didn't follow so closely as I did and I missed those little tugs at the corner of my consciousness. I've been working on de-cluttering in all senses and have found it has come back with a strength that is clarifying and I feel I am back on track.   Again everyone has their own paths. Their path is meant for them. You cannot walk someone else's or have them walk yours.  Your higher power may show itself to you in a way that speaks to your spirit in the form of one religion while mine may show itself to me in another as it speaks to my spirit in a way I can understand it. I get tired of hearing the my religion is right and yours is wrong debate. What gets me is when you hear it from people in a religion that has so many sects to it. (branches so to speak) which one is right? They each think they are. Seems too many focus on that. Live and let live. 

Anyway I appreciate when there is something we really need and we can't normally afford or it is hard to find and I'll get this strange urge to go to a certain place and lo and behold there it is and at a price we can afford. (usually hidden in the thrift store or something when it is something like that or someplace we don't normally go) We find our way to it or it to us.  I appreciate those moments. I try not to ask for them because to me that sometimes seems such a trivial thing to ask for but I appreciate it more than words can say. I will work harder to keep my mind clear and de-cluttered enough to feel/hear those little tugs when I get them. I will continue to work on my spiritual/mental growth and my physical health as they go hand in hand. I will continue to try and pass along what I can to help whomever I can. Whether it be in wishing light and love or whether it is in physical form or assistance. I will continue to learn and hopefully grow. 

I feel like the key to life is balance. It applies to pretty much any aspect of life. Patience is another. Trying to take a moment to see things from a perspective than your own (doesn't mean you need to adopt that perspective just try to get an idea of how the other side is seeing it so you can gain an understanding) Another I've found is do NOT adopt another's perspective or perception as your own. I know this sounds identical to what I just said but there is a slight difference. The first is understanding why a person may think/feel the way they do. The second one has more to do with not letting someone else form your opinion of something/someone FOR you. They may have their reasons for disliking someone or something or liking it and those should not be your reasons. Keep your sense of self. I've mistakenly passed judgement (also wrong) on someone based on things I was told in the past. Later to find out it wasn't true. I've also had people pass judgement on me for the same...basically listening to someone and changing their own opinions/thoughts based solely on words not on what they actually knew for themselves. Things that were not true but they decided due to the words they were told they must be. Later the person who said what they did retracted some of it but by then the damage was done and the person who passed judgement is stuck on the opinion they formed from before. It is one thing to take others opinions and perceptions into consideration but quite another to adopt said opinions/perceptions as your own without thinking/seeing/ perceiving with your OWN thoughts and senses. I see this doing a lot of damage in everyday society. People assume too quickly based on other peoples ideals and not their own. I've seen a lot of people going through this right now and it is sad to see. As conclusion show kindness and consideration to those around you. Stop and take the time to at least get a sense of why/how they feel what they do or act the way they do or think what they seem to be thinking. (it sounds complicated but it doesn't need to be) That being said don't make yourself a doormat either for others. Find your balance. 

Before school rush

 *skip past the lilly pad pic to skip the health issues part LOL With the start of school fast approaching we've been super busy squeezing in some fun time (still didn't do everything we planned but hey) getting supplies, getting appointments done much like everyone else really.  We finally got our fishing licenses which turned out to be way cheaper than we'd thought (if we had of known we'd have done it way way sooner ) Turns out fishing may be the one thing that will get my mom out of the house she wants to go really bad. Sooo we are hoping to take her by to get her license and then when school starts maybe take her when the weather is cool enough. She is honestly pretty fragile. She just celebrated her 76th birthday and we were told a couple years or so back that she basically wouldn't be around but she is still here and doing pretty good for all the health issues she's had. She suffers from Parkinson's which is something I may have to eventually test for. Right now I prefer not to think about it. My Rhuematologist put me on something for my arthritic pain and it seems to be helping enough to help me get around more. Though my severe D3 deficiency (almost very dangerously so) along with calcium deficiency has apparently had their own effects. 

 I have lost several teeth due to breaking (may also be attributed to Sjogren's) and this last one I had pulled had an unusually long root so it was quite an experience for the dentist as well to get it out. I was beginning to worry. I am still pulling bone and tooth shards out. Though I will say it feels a lot better. The other complication is my bones. My feet especially my right suffered fissures in the bones so that now I only put weight on my heel and my big toe on that foot. I was seen by the foot dr. who put me in one of those walking cast boots and unfortunately rubbed a hole in my leg the size of a quarter. (still healing) also not long after my hubby severely sprained his ankle and isn't supposed to be on his either so neither of us were able to stay off them as much as we needed. I had thought a fissure was not as severe as it was. I knew the bones were bending upwards in a bow shape which the dr pointed out and that that was not good and that my achilles tendon was way too tight (gave me exercises to do) and I knew fissures meant something like small cracks...I did not even realize that technically that means a broken foot. Especially when all the toes except for the big toe are involved (he checked) Sooooo guess I need to take it easier and wear the boot like I'm supposed to. I had thought for a broken foot they do a cast. They actually don't. Depending on the type they do like what they did with me. So anyways I go back in soon and see what he says about my healing. He did say it would be a long process. 

 Anyway enough about the health issues. Otherwise things aren't too bad. I have a ton of craft/art projects lined up that I am anxious to start on but am waiting on school to start (which it is next week) to start on any of those. I want to either maybe start selling them online or get a booth maybe at the flea market but I dunno if that is feasible or whatnot yet. There are a lot of things planned for when school starts. Fishing of course when we can. My son enjoys it and is good at it. (My oldest was super good she could kill/clean/ and cook them herself whatever she caught and she always caught decent sized ones) My 2nd oldest I think was always like me. She wasn't so fond of the killing them part. My youngest likes it but gets bored easily. This last time we went there were turtles everywhere. They would swim around the bobbers. We found lilly pads growing out at the lake and now we have ducks and geese out there sometimes too which I think is great. 

 (my son took this one with his phone)    We did a trip to the park where my son and I ran around and took pics while hubby sat with Abby (couldn't do the walking) Still hoping to stop off at the museum next time I go to the Rheumy. We aren't so much into big expensive type trips as we are about finding stuff people tend to forget is there or to not notice. (though I do want to make a trip to the zoo and omniplex...sorry it will always be omniplex to me and the bone museum.) Anyway. This summer hasn't been bad at all just busy but busy is the norm for us really. My grandbaby is growing like a weed of course and her Momma is doing good. My 2nd oldest is doing a lil better than she was. They had work but then the guy they were working for wasn't doing it anymore so it looked rough but her fiance found work. She is still looking for some herself and thinking about going back to school. 

My son still has about a month left before his schooling starts. Hoping for a good school year for both the kids. I swear though if my youngest is going through yet ANOTHER growth spurt. O.o She acts like she is and while she just turned 5 she is getting her six year molars. She gets mistaken for a 7 yr old all the time even the dentist told me that the teeth she has in are those of about a 7 year old. It is so weird. She is wearing the clothing size to fit too. 6x is too small and she is going to be very tall which is kind of interesting. My kids all seem to go in height from the oldest being the shortest to the youngest looking like she will be the tallest. In that order. LOL I think my son is disappointed because he liked being the tallest :) 

 He took this one too. The other day we went on a trip downtown in Shawnee which I hadn't been in forever. Finally got to revisit the old flea market. Seems so different in some ways. I love all the murals and such on the buildings I would have loved to have done one. We also went and checked out the discount walls thing. I didn't think we'd find anything we were looking for a toilet tank to replace my Mom's but they actually surprised me. They had that but they also had marble sinks and such for super cheap so if I decide to remodel/renovate this house instead of moving then I know where to find some of the things. Will do another post here soon. :)