Hodge Podge answers

Joining in over at

From this Side of the Pond Blog

Hodgepodge Questions

1. If your life had a theme song for this past year what would it be? 

I can't think of any particular song. I like all different kinds of music. My favorite, I guess, would be Chris Stapleton's Music. The National Anthem at last year's superbowl made me so emotional.

2. Chocolate cake, chocolate milkshake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate truffle, chocolate mousse, chocolate candy bar or a fudgy chocolate brownie...of the chocolate treats listed, which one is your favorite? Which one have you tasted most recently? Or maybe you don't like chocolate???

All of the above. I love sweets.

3. What has surprised you recently? 

The lack of respect and compassion breeding in our society, a lack of trust in our government, the invasion of single males walking into our county from other countries.

4. September 19th is National Voter Registration Day in the US. Are you registered to vote in whatever state or country you happen to live in right now? If not, why not? Not counting a political race, what's something you've had to vote on recently? 

We live out in the country so we do not vote on any city ballots.  We never vote for regulations, limits, or fees that others in the city experience. I vote no on any new taxes, they never have enough, ever!  Our school taxes are enormous.

5. Do you like to hike? If so, when's the last time you went hiking and where'd ya go? If you're not a hiker are you a walker? Is walking (for exercise, etc.) part of your daily/weekly routine? 

I have not hiked in several years due to cranky bones. Tomorrow I am getting spine surgery that should help with that. We are surrounded by woods and creeks so I can hike just about anywhere I want.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Another Monday - Hello August!

Good Morning Neighbors.

August is here and I am excited for fall.

I hope I will be able to walk again without pain soon.

My hip surgery is scheduled for the 17th and I pray the pain will be gone shortly after.

I am joining in with Sandra over at

Family Corner Blog for her 

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY!

THE WEATHER:

Better than July, hot but tolerable, overcast skies and a nice breeze.

We might get rain on Tuesday but this is the Ozarks and

Mother Nature is moody, very moody!

OUT MY WINDOW:

Sitting at my dining table I can see our pond, blooming red flowers and kayaks.

Thehubs and I have created a beautiful yard and landscape.

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Blogging, reading and drinking coffee. 

Our sinuses are stuffed so we are waiting for our sinus medication to kick in.

Kitty has been outside and is now asleep in her bed.

Thehubs is working in his office and the house is quiet.

THINKING AND PONDERING:

Boredom.  A list of house work. Laundry. Pain in my hip, back and legs.

This summer has been spent inside using a walker and I have had very little communication to and from my normal world.  Work ethic is big here in Missouri. If my hip wasn't bone on bone, I would have been outside working with the others. It has been a very lonely summer.

Our 25th Wedding Anniversary was a bad memory and how to change the trajectory of our future.

Praying that our 26th Wedding Anniversary is a good memory.

LISTENING TO:

Nothing but quiet.

The sound of my home.

The wonderful cool air blowing through the air vents.

HOW AM I FEELING:

Pain, stopped up nose, ringing ears.

Like an alien in my own body.

Confused, too much stress and too little relief from it.

FOOD:

I have a freezer full of meat, and a pantry full of vegetables.

The fresh vegetables are tapering off.

I fried sweet potatoes last night for the first time and they were delicious.

Too hard to plan right now, our eating schedule is eat whenever.

The benefit of retirement I guess.

WHAT AM I WEARING:

Long gown pajamas with soft socks.

My favorite would be jeans and t-shirt.

ON MY READING PILE:

Blogs, Instagram

ON MY TV THIS WEEK:

Nothing, we rarely watch it.

Too much want, too much sex, too much of too much of everything.

ON THE MENU:

Not sure, have lots of food and will decide each day.

LOOKING AROUND THE HOUSE:

The house is good.

Dishes, laundry, general pickup and of course dirty toilets.

I will be needing to repot some plants.

Our bed is on the floor due to my hip so

my bedroom looks a bit un-done.

I ordered two prints from Kirklands for my birthday.

I love them but am hitting a blank when it comes to hanging them.

I hope to get my fall decor down this week.

I am hoping it cheers me up.

TO DO LIST:

Get some new glasses.

Paint light over kitchen sink.

Cook a meal for our neighbor that is so helpful.

Mail a card to a friend in need of some uplifting words.

Take Mom for ice cream.

DEVOTION:

Thank you for coming over to visit. I am glad you stopped by.

Jackie See

aka GeeDazee

Another Monday - the end of July

Today is the last day of July and I think everyone is glad to see it go. This week's temperature outside is expected to reach 108 degrees.  I have had an outdoor thermometer for almost 20 years and this is the first time it's used three digits. To sum it up, July was HOT, painfully hot.

I turned 65 and with that came all of the medicare mail. I am very popular right now with medicare solicitors. They call, they email, and the mail box if full.  So confusing, but I stayed to the helm and managed to get one that fits my needs. Now to notify all the medical angels that are in my life.

We lost a dear friend yesterday to a brain bleed after a fall. Another reminder to get out and visit all those who hold a place in my heart. However, as I age and my body fails, this is not an easy trip.

I also found out that I am in extreme need of two surgeries, hip replacement and 3 spinal fusions (I already have two). This will be my23rd and 24th surgery so nothing is going to surprise me.  But, this is the first time I have had to wait in a line for 2 months to get in.  In pain, and waiting my turn, another 2 months to go.

Now on to Happy Homemaker link up:

Come and join the party by linking up with

www.familycorner.blogspot.com

The weather:

inside it will be 76 degree and I pray that our ac unit survives. I also pray for those who are going to have to choose between paying their electric bill and other necessities. There are a lot seniors suffering with this economy right now and a $300-$400 electric bill will take a large percentage of their social security.

Out my window:

Looking out my dining room window, I can see the gorgeous flower pots of geraniums and hibiscus still blooming.   I love this view, even though our back covered patio is really thehubs mancave. In between flowers you will find yard tools, work gloves, shoes and a beer fridge! He loves it out there and usually has evening guests that stop by for a cold beer and to say hello.

Right now I am:

Doing laundry, dishes, preparing files for phone calls this afternoon, and emptying my mind of words. 

Thinking and Pondering:

How full of words I am and how it all feels raw. I want to get out of this survival mindset. I really need a break from my environment, the past year it hasn't been healthy for me. I've dreamed of getting in my car and driving away not even knowing where I am going, just driving. Then I wake up and everything is the same. Thinking about losing my legs and not being able to walk or work, scary thoughts right now.

Listening to:

My washer, dryer and dishwasher and the ringing in my ears. It is now harvest season for local fields and the dust in the air is high which makes our eyes itch, ear ring and our sinuses stuffy.

How am I feeling:

Trying to empty and organize my thoughts today. So many to do's and no one to help. It's lonely when you lose your children.

Food:

I have a refrigerator full of food. BBQ pork steak, Grilled filet mignon, grilled vegetables, fresh vegetables from our garden and several bags of delicious fruit. I am not a good eater. I lost my colon, then have had more surgeries that have ended up with me having a belly full of scar tissue. I eat about every two hours, small portions.  I usually divide a meal for thehubs into small portions for me and I eat one vegetable at a time throughout my day. At the end of the day I have eaten a full meal, just in 2 hour increments. I can't lose a damn pound... because I drink a gallon and of milk and 2 days. I love milk.

What I am wearing:  Lounging pajamas. I am cleaning house, even with a walker, and trying to get it finished before I need to make phone calls this afternoon.

On my reading pile:

My journal and some blogs. I enjoy reading everyday people doing everyday things. Like walking next door and having a glass of iced tea.

On my tv this week:

I don't watch much television. I use to watch the news but turned that off when I felt I was being told what they wanted me to hear. So we just leave it turned off. 

On the menu:

listed above.

Looking around the house:

It is in good shape, just the usuals, laundry, dishes, and dirty toilets. Too hot to even go outside.

To do list:

To much to list. I am a caregiver to my Mom. and July wasn't good for her. I have been immobile and I only saw her once. August has to include new glasses, maybe a surgery I hope, dental repairs, and a promise to keep blogging. Hoping it helps me organize and understand my thoughts better.

Devotion:

~jackiesee~

Reading my words

Hello friends,

It has been quite a week, busy with doctor appointments and tests. 

But I will recap and tell you about it. 

I want to tell you this is going to be a format I hope to use to help me feel worthy again. No one's fault, just part of life. I spent my life in second and third place and now that I am all that is left, I am not sure who or what I am.  I am lost.

This will be part of my awakening journey.

Random thoughts, taking out the brain trash, so to say.

My week always starts on Monday or as I remember it's my Fosamax day.

I had an MRI on my spine and hips. I had tried to do it last week but my hip pain was too much and I tapped out after 32 minutes laying flat. So, the doctor sent me some pills to take prior to ease my pain and help me relax. 

They worked. 

But the rest of my day was a slow one.

It was so hot out, that staying inside reading blogs and napping was okay with me.

Poor hubs has been on watering duty all this week. 

It has been 104 degrees, 

one morning our patio thermometer read 116.

Tuesday was an office day. Gathering information and then sharing information. With 2 surgeries facing me and all the stuff they do to you once you reach that "age", there is a lot of files being shared. 

Again, it was too hot to go outside. The garden has been giving us beautiful tomatoes, cucumbers, and friends have been sharing eggs. I made a meal of tomato and bacon sandwiches (on homemade bread), boiled eggs, and fresh cucumber salad. I treated myself to a hot fudge sundae on the patio late that night.

Wednesday began early with my nuclear stress test. It was not fun. At its fastest, my heart only beat 77 bpm. I passed out and stopped breathing. It only lasted a minute and it began to get better and slowly the medicine began to fade. That was after 3 needle sticks to get a vein. It was another hot day so inside was better than outside.

I made tuna salad sandwiches on butter bread, with pickled beets and cold boiled eggs, and of course our gifts from our garden, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.

Thursday I was blessed with thehubs running errands for myself and my Mom. We both got new walkers.  Mom is so happy! She needs hers for balance and I need mine up to and after the coming surgeries.

I took care of the insurance paperwork and I was shocked at the difference in the cost, insurance verses cash. Insurance $138.00 - cash $85, same walker, same day, same place. Humm....

Today is Friday.

Thehubs and I are not on the same page at the same time regarding our workload.  I have been slowing down for a couple of years and spent a lot of my energy and time in trying to make our landscape easier to take care of as we age. We have a beautiful home that we built with the help of family. It sits on 2+ acres with one side of it being the family pond. Tons of weed eating, and mowing. Thehubs also mows the neighbors 5 acres and brushhogs the ditches along our roads.

He is 74 and I am 65.

I know I told him I would work in my gardens even if I had to work on my stomach with only one hand.  I don't want to give up gardening,

My body would like to clean one garden, not five.

PONDERING:

Jason Aldean's Song

"Try that in a small town"

click here to watch.

I live in a small rural town, 20 miles from any city.

We lie down dirt roads and river crossings.

It takes 20 to 30 minutes to get help from 911.

My need my neighbors and they need me.

We share food, time, kids, toys, rides, and more.

We go to church together; we go to school together.

We will protect each other.

I remember my grandmother lived in Los Angeles, California

and she walked each morning up to her local family-owned food market and bought her supplies of fresh fruit and meats for the day.

She lived right in the middle of traffic and noise but she had a neighborhood. A neighborhood that cared, neighbors that helped and shared and looked out for each other.  Neighbors who were proud to fly our American Flag in their yard.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED?

Moving On...

Positive thoughts for today: