The Life

Of Riley... no just mine and Frank's :-) Life has brought allergies... oh.. I think I mentioned that before. I think ragweed is the culprit. This is the ragweed we have around here.

Many people mistakenly call goldenrod ragweed. Here is an image of goldenrod. Goldenrod has bright yellow blooms. They are said not to be an allergen, but they begin to bloom the same time as ragweed. I think because people can more readily see goldenrod it is easy to blame allergies on them.

The blossoms of ragweed are very small. Some ragweed is growing in the train bed across the road. There are no train tracks any more. They were removed years ago. The bed remains and is suppose to become a Rails to Trails project.

I'm sure there are other allergens lurking about. Frank and I have swollen itchy eyes, drippy noses along with sneezing and a small bit of coughing. Sometimes I have no voice. We're not sick... just a bit miserable. It happens this time of year... these allergies. So we have to live with it.

When antihistamines are working we have managed to make pear preserves and sausage (in links and patties). Frank gave the sausage a little smoke in the early hours of this morning. We'll have some links in the morning.

Biscuits always go with sausage. We have both practiced our biscuit making. I'm so rusty at it! I think Frank did the better job at biscuit making today. Frank said both our efforts tasted better than what he calls replicated biscuits.

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Yesterday, I picked up my new spectacles. I had originally ordered trifocals. I was hoping they would be better than the last pair of progressive lenses that I had. I could not walk without getting drunk with them. I had done well with the two pair before that.

I tried for about three weeks and could not get used to the trifocals. So I took them back and got progressive lenses again. I think I'm going to do well with this pair. I really think the last pair of progressive lenses were just not made correctly and not adjusted correctly.

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I think Father tries very, very, very hard to help me become more patient.

I started the process for me to get Reclast IV the first week of June. Here on the 10th day of September the process was completed. I received the IV this morning. I was told I wouldn't be there more than an hour in all for the fifteen minute IV.

Umph... Two hours! I sat in the waiting area for fifty minutes. The tv was set to the Headline News station. I usually get my news on the local channel or from Good Morning America. Most of the time I only half listen... to0 much going on in the world that is depressing. I like uplifting news :-) Listening to this channel my thought was "they have put the National Enquirer in tv form?" The news sounded more like rumors than fact and the way they flashed from reporter to reporter seemed like a circus act.

Any who...I was called back and led to a room with a comfy recliner and I'm not saying that sarcastically, it really was comfy. Twenty minutes later and two sticks with needles the nurse practitioner gave up and left the room. She came back with not one but two lab techs. The nurse practitioner had blew one vein and the other needle just wouldn't go in.... I think the vein rolled. I have drank about three times as much water as I usually do over the last three days, so the cause shouldn't be dehydration for not finding a decent vein. The nurse practitioner said it was just something that happens with some people.

One more stick from the lab tech and the IV was started. I now have three little bruised spots to go with the bigger bruised spot that I received on Tuesday when I had a blood sample taken.

The nurse practitioner stayed the whole time the IV was going. While we talked the time passed quickly. Soon I was sitting in the doctor's crowded waiting room... staying as far away from his patients as possible.... waiting ten minutes just in case I have a reaction.

Mama started the process for the Reclast IV before I did and she still has not received hers yet. She is going through a different doctor's office. Mama and my brother haven't been able to get past the office operator to speak to a person about it. Mama said they were going to go up to the office and ask about it if they hadn't heard by today.

I do think Reclast will be the better way for me to go with all my stomach problems. I'm hoping next year that Father will think I've learned to have some patience. I really did stay pretty calm. I didn't get too upset when I was told to go to one waiting room and then was directed to another waiting room. I didn't keep asking the nurse if the nurse practitioner had forgotten about me. I didn't ask for the tv station to be changed. o:)

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I really shouldn't complain so much. This video has a good point about complaining.

Maybe... just maybe I'll make a little progress before I pass through this world in being patient and not complain so much :-D

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Mildred over at Nalley Valley mentioned a few weeks ago how she and Nalley liked Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce. I ordered a coupon for a free bottle of the sauce. The coupon came a few days ago. We found the sauce on the shelf of our local Wal Mart. The sauce is very tasty! Thank you, Mildred, for the recommendation.

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For the Friday Shoot Out I will have to dig through my archives and hope that I have something worthy of posting.

I'm behind in reading my blog friend's blogs. I hope to catch up by the weekend.

Award - Weather - Life and Remembering

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Michelle at Chocolate and Marmalade Tea presented this award to me. I love Michelle's blog. She always lifts my spirits. Thank you, Michelle!



"This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."Now I'm supposed to find eight others to bestow this on. Here goes!

1. A Second Helping
2. A Mellow Life Is A Good Life
3. Daily Yarns 'N More
4. Creative Thoughts
5. Flip Flop Floozie
6. Life With Liza Ann
7. Seasons Of Life
8. Faith, Family, Food and Fun
Weather-

This week has been very warm... even for our Decembers. I think we hit 80° yesterday. At 1:30 pm we are at 75°. Tomorrow our weather will change. There is a 60% chance of rain. The high will be around 60° and the low around 30°. Then Monday it is suppose to be windy with a high of 52° and a low of about 29°. Tuesday's high will be around 58° and low of 41°. Christmas Eve we get warmer with a high of 68° and low of 43°... which is more like our winter temps.


Life and Remembering -

Life is getting better. I'm moving around easier. I just worry about Mama. Mama is getting confused when she is talking. I will stock it up to pain meds for now. She saw the surgeon this week and he said she seems to be healing fine. Mama tells me that her leg has swollen more again. I really haven't understood why she is having the swelling. She said she has increased her water pills. I tried to get her to get her family doctor visit sooner than the January 2nd appointment that she has.

I feel joy this time of year, but I also feel sadness. My thoughts turn to my Daddy that passed away in 2000. I do find joy in remembering him playing Christmas carols on his guitar and singing. I especially miss hearing him play and sing Silent Night. My sadness comes in knowing that he is only here in our hearts.

... brighter notes of my life. I got the carrot cake layers made and in the freezer. I have such a wonderful husband to help me out. Oh... I know he didn't read my post yesterday. Frank mixed sugar cookie dough up. The dough is in the fridge ready to bake. Now isn't that true love! The sugar cookies will get baked tomorrow.

As long as I can remember there has been sugar cookies in the cookie jar or can this time of the year. I said cookie can :-) At one time we had a huge lard tin that we painted and wrote COOKIES on. I made a lot of cookies back then. I'm not sure where we got the lard tin from because if we had bought the lard in that tin we would still be eating the lard. Frank was in the Army then so it might have been from the mess hall.

I did a bit of digging and found an old Polaroid picture. I wonder why we kept it. The picture was taken in December of 1971. I was somewhere between three and four months pregnant with our son and not the happiest camper... I had morning sickness from three months to end of pregnancy. I remember being frustrated. I had never frosted sugar cookies before. I cut out my own patterns for the cookies out of brown paper bags. You can see the large tin in the background with COOKIES written on it. I still have the green mixing bowl and the rolling pin. The handles are no longer on the rolling pin. I still have the green cake cover too. Remember when avocado green and harvest gold where the "in colors"? You can see my old checker-board cookbook sitting on top of the ice bucket. I still have the cookbook. We lived in a single-wide house trailer over in Bluff Creek Alabama then. I don't know why that counter is so messy. I usually kept it neat. Okay... go ahead and click on the picture for larger view.


It was fun remembering. The sugar cookies this time won't get frosted. These days I roll the dough into small balls in the palm of my hand and then place the balls of dough on cookie sheets... then I take a glass and dip the bottom of it in sugar and flatten the balls into nice rounds and bake. If I have any colored sugar around I might sprinkle the cookies with a bit before baking... a lot less frustrating :-)


One more thing to share today. A genealogy friend shares his grandmother's collection of Vintage Christmas Cards. I hope they brighten your day as you look at them.



We do not remember days; we remember moments. -- Cesare Pavese